Sprint Retrospective #6

During our last sprint we added some new features to our Tabs component. We were able to include buttons for adding and deleting tabs as well as a checkbox that selects a new tab when it is added. We also added some extra form fields within each tab. I think this was a very successful […]

Apprenticeship Patterns – Dig Deeper

This apprenticeship pattern discusses the importance of digging deep into the tools, technologies, and techniques that you use. If your knowledge is superficial, you will have trouble fixing subtle problems and won’t even be aware of how little you know. You must have the depth of knowledge to understand why things are the way they […]

Sprint Retrospective #5

During Sprint #5 my team continued development of the Tabs branch in the AMPATH project. During our last sprint, I pushed a simple tabs component to Github. This sprint, we refactored the code to add a forms component for each tab. Overall, this was a very productive sprint. The tabs component that I had originally […]

Apprenticeship Patterns – Craft over Art

This pattern is about the conflict between creating software that is beautiful and creating software that is useful. While you may find opportunities to do something truly fantastic, a craftsman should always focus on delivering value to the customer rather than advancing his or her own self-interests. You must find a way to balance the […]

Sprint Retrospective #4

Sprint #4 was a very productive sprint for my team. We were able to get a lot of research and planning done in regards to the tab component that we will be creating for the AMPATH project. We also narrowed down the exact functionality that this component will have and discussed how it will interact […]

Apprenticeship Patterns – Practice, Practice, Practice

This pattern discusses the importance of practicing when it comes to improving your skills as a software developer. Many people’s daily programming activities do not give them the space to learn by making mistakes. If you find this to be the case, it is important to find an environment where you can practice without interruptions […]

Apprenticeship Patterns – Use the Source

Use the Source is about the importance of reading other people’s code. Reading code is important because it is the only way to truly understand a system. Without studying and emulating examples of good code, you may never realize the bad habits that you have. A good practice is to read the code of the […]

Apprenticeship Patterns – Rubbing Elbows

The Rubbing Elbows pattern is a solution to the problem of productivity reaching a plateau. If you always develop software by yourself, you may eventually get the feeling that there are superior techniques that you don’t know about. In order to fix this, you must rub elbows with another software developer. This means you must […]

Sprint Retrospective #3

During our third sprint we finally got an idea of what we will be coding for this project. Greg Shmidt from AMPATH sent us videos that showcased wireframes of the electronic medical record system that they are requesting. The main thing that I did during this sprint was watch these videos and start planning with […]

Apprenticeship Patterns – Retreat into Competence

The Retreat into Competence pattern describes what you should do when you feel overwhelmed with how little you know. Every apprentice will eventually feel ignorant or incompetent compared to the craftsmen they will meet. This should not be a reason to worry as it is a normal and inevitable phenomenon. However, when it happens you […]