It has been a while since my last blog post here. Re-reading my old posts makes me realize how little I knew then and how far I have come over the last few years. That is one of the things I enjoy most about being a web developer, it forces you to constantly learn and improve. I have always said that is one of my personal life-long goals; to never stop learning and improving.
I recently had a conversation with my mom about that too. She was saying that even as a little kid, I was always wanting to learn something new. So much so that she said they often couldn't keep up. As a father of two young girls, I'm amazed at how fast they learn and really how smart my girls are. Hearing some of the stories my mom was telling me about me at their age made me realize that this life-long goal of mine has really been ingrained in me from before I even realized it.
I find it very intriguing how smart children really are and how important enforcing the desire to learn is at such a young age. It seems like something we don't even realize most of the time. It also makes me think about conversations I've had with co-workers. There are so many times that we've worked with people that did not know something, and instead of trying to figure it out or learn, would ask somebody else. At my last job, (FYI, I've been working at Metal Toad Media since August), I was the person everybody asked. The thing that drove me nuts about it was that I often did not know the answer myself. I would use trial-and-error and/or Google and read to find an answer. That isn't to say people shouldn't ever ask, but it just seems that there are more and more people that don't have that same desire to learn. Even if they don't have that same passion, I can't seem to understand why they don't use the resources already available to them, and apparently I'm not the only one that feels that way. I'm not that mean-spirited to actually send somebody such a link, but I can see how some people might. I guess it just makes me see how important it is to instill and encourage my kids natural passion for learning and imagination.
Working at Metal Toad has been an eye-opener as well. My last job was so hectic and we were always under pressure to get things done "quick and dirty" and then "we can clean things up later". Later never came and while we were always told to do good work and only deliver something we could say we were proud of, it seemed to be an illusive goal. It is no wonder I grew tired of the way things were and grew to despise how I had gone from a company where I was able to learn and grow to a company that was behind the times with no plans to improve. Metal Toad has been such a contrast to that, it has literally been a culture-shock. Not only does Metal Toad encourage R&D time for each of its Developers, every week, but its pretty much a requirement. It allows Metal Toad to stay on the cutting-edge, and ensures that its Developers are the best in the business.
Along with R&D time, we are encouraged to blog regularly. In fact, at my first review, their only "complaint" was that I had only 1 blog post. The company holds blogging as a great way for developers to document what they have learned and over time it also helps establish the company and the individual as an expert in their field. Just like a doctor writes in a medical journal, a developer should blog.
This is something I have not been as good at, and in an effort to get better at it, I am going to start. At first, when reading my older posts, I was tempted to think that I would sound silly for "not knowing" and was discouraged. I'm realizing though, that it doesn't matter what I don't know now, it only matters that I will learn and get better. In fact, it will probably help me grow faster, and might, if I'm lucky, help somebody else.
So, expect more soon, both here and on my Metal Toad blog. This blog will probably be a little less formal (as you can probably see already), and will probably contain a few personal rants, definitely a few mistakes and a lot of learning.
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