When a new year is round the corner, it’s time for web developers to set some new objectives and resolutions for their life and work
1. Exploration of a new Field
It is useful to learn a new framework or methodology or even a new language to put into practice in daily work. However, there is need to explore some exciting new fields; for instance, back end developers can start front end type of development and front end developers can look into the user experience. Writers can go into content techniques or enhance their flare for designing and explore several other avenues.
2. Explore new frameworks and methodology along with Language
Change is the only constant as far as web development is concerned. For instance, NodeJS never existed some years back and so did JavaScript; yet today, you just cannot ignore it. Stay with the times and try to learn all about the new technologies. Back end developers can learn Node.js and JavaScript or Ruby and Rails. In case of front end developers, they might need to learn the new HTML5 APIs or the CSS3, though they might not use it on a continual basis. Workflow also needs to be revaluated incorporating new tools for more efficient job completion.
3.Community Engagement
You need to engage more with the community through the web. You could start interacting through social networking sites, such as Twitter, read posts and contribute by adding comments or even write your own blog or take part in code sharing sites, such as Github, attend user groups and webinars. Increase your networking for mutual benefits by increasing referrals and enhancing personal relationships with others.
4.Look After Yourself
You might be dedicating long hours by working hard at your computer. In fact, you might even forget some personal work, such as showering or eating forgetting yourself in the process of contributing to the web. In fact, it makes you a hero, but that’s not much good if you are not taking care of yourself. You need to sleep and eat well. Make your work place as comfortable as possible. An ergonomic workplace can make your work more effective.
5. Educating the Rest
When you teach others, you actually learn more. If, say, you have been writing for Nettuts+ for the past few years, you probably know everything about it. When you write down how something works, you obtain a better understanding of the topic. Teaching a topic leads to a better understanding. Apart from this, you can get the satisfaction of having imparted your skills to someone else and helped him.
6. Improving your skills
You can, of course, learn new things, but you also need to improve the tools you actually use every day. Don’t just continue with the patterns or techniques that you are familiar with, but learn new ones. For instance, you can learn more about JavaScript designs techniques. Are you quite familiar with functional programming or object oriented PHP? What about SQL joins? You might not be using several of the features offered in the text editor merely because you don’t know how to. Though they may not represent any advanced technology, they are features that you have not incorporated; hence, take time out to become familiar with the software and languages already existing.
7. Making use of Enhance Programming Practices
Focus on the practices in coding. When you start a new project, make sure to implement code versioning right from the start, instead of going halfway through the project only to find that you have not tried certain features in the initial areas of the project. The project history becomes much neater too. Commenting is another programming practice that you need to make use of. You might create some intelligent code, but when you come back to it after a week or so, it may puzzle you as you are not able to figure out what you have done. Leaving meaningful comments for your own understanding could be a good start. Along with comments, you also need documentation, as it could prove invaluable. The amount of documentation depends on the project publicity, but over-documentation can never be an issue.
8. You need a Break
Go take a walk. All that has been said above has to do with enhancing your skills as a web developer. Well, here’s a new one. You need a break by not being a developer at times. Have an interesting hobby that is completely unconnected with web development and even computers. You could do gardening, cooking or even play the piano. This is your break, but you might find yourself struck by solutions to your programming problems during this time off from work. You need to take both regular breaks as well as those long vacations once or twice a year.
9. Side Income
In case you are Nettuts+ developer who offers work for clients, even freelancers, you surely need some passive income. There are ten marketplaces offered by Envato, where you can market your skills and make some side income for yourself. You can create a theme for Themeforest or even create a script for CodeCanyon – the sky is the limit. Even if you are not able to find your niche in the Envato marketplace, there are limitless possibilities for earning additional income, such as writing a tutorial for Tuts+Premium, if you are passionate about teaching.
10. Time Management/Resource Management
Web developers and every knowledge worker needs to manage their time and resources better. Especially if you are a freelancer, your time management skills could be a crucial factor in your earnings. Make use of all the new fun techniques that you have learned and use them to bring in some more income. Beware of the internet, as it could also be just a powerful distraction.
So these are the list of top ten resolutions for a web developer. If you have any of your own to add, feel free to share them with me.
