How to act like you (maybe actually) care about your work – Ann Arbor PUG 2012

This was a 'full strength' version of my talk on how to be a better developer. If you haven't seen it, check out my essay on the topic.

Video

http://vimeo.com/54379268

Slides

Additional Resources

7 Comments

  1. Marion
    November 18, 2012 @ 9:06 pm

    Very good topic. I believe this information can be valuable to both new php developers and seasoned ones. For the new developers, incorporating these ideas into their “what to learn” list, will help them develop good habits early on. For those already developing in PHP, I can easily imagine that some are good in a few of the good practices you point out, but do not put forth the time and effort to become efficient in the others.

    As a first-time presenter, you did very well giving the presentation. A few things to work on to improve presentation skills are : try not to have ANY ‘uh’ or ‘you know’ comments (wasn’t bad though), and be prepared for those words that won’t come to you when you’re in the spotlight by either getting them on your slides somehow, or having a cheat sheet on hand to glance at. I too often have the same thing happen to me just in conversation, so I understand it.

    Reply

    • Jacob Mather
      November 18, 2012 @ 10:23 pm

      Thank you so much!

      Yeah, I agree with your points on where I can improve, and plan to add quite a few more slides for the next time I give this talk.

      I honestly was expecting (by most metrics I’ve seen) that the talk would go much further with 109 slides, but apparently not with how I use them, or else I would have added more.

      It was really bad with the “uh” and “um”‘s at first because I hadn’t prepared how to introduce myself — arg! 😀

      Reply

  2. Jeremy Anderson
    November 28, 2012 @ 1:46 pm

    I just started the video, 6 minutes in, and I can already tell this is good stuff. Well done, and thank you. I will share this with some folks.

    Reply

    • Jacob Mather
      November 28, 2012 @ 2:02 pm

      Thanks Jeremy! I appreciate the feedback!

      Reply

  3. PHP Digest: Simplified Password Hashing, Creation of PHP Framework Using Symfony2 Components, Xdebug Tutorial and Much More | Zfort Group Blog
    December 4, 2012 @ 5:18 am

    […] How to act like you care about your work – a full strength version of the talk on how to be a better developer. […]

    Reply

  4. Kate
    December 6, 2012 @ 10:36 am

    Thanks for sharing! This info was included into a digest of the best PHP news and releases: http://www.zfort.com/blog/php-digest-december-4-2012/ Check it out, I bet this digest is going to be interesting for you!

    Reply

    • Jacob Mather
      December 6, 2012 @ 10:43 am

      Thanks for including me in your wrap-up!

      Reply

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