Life Cycle of Development

N2IT

I was just curious if any experienced scripters, developers etc had thoughts about the life cycle of development. I don't mean SDLC, what I do mean is the experience one gains while honing their skills.

The reason I ask this question is I find myself stealing a lot of code and getting it to work, more often than developing my own code. That doesn't mean I don't customize or reinvent different scripts out there to work for me. But it feels like I am usually hacking code together and automating through the hack and slash method.

I am able to piece together scripts in Powershell and Jscript, with VBA I am a little more familiar with the object library and can automate some data cleaning efforts through the use of VBA. This also includes automating some billing systems through the use of ADO / DAO and SQL.

It's been ~3 years off and on, depending on the project(s) but it doesn't seem like I am making huge strides. Is this normal for the mere mortal? In fact I feel my SQL skills are far greater, (in fact I know they are) compared to my procedural coding.

Any recommendations on how to push through to the next level? I take on projects as much as possible and keep my scripts for review at a later date. Maybe it's a matter that I reached a certain level and I am unable to push beyond that, or maybe I am impatient. That's probably more realistic.

Does it require an insatiable passion to continue to create projects on our own, pushing yourself harder and harder each project?

Personally for me to move up to the next level of BA I am really going to have to learn to code at a much more professional level at the place I work. Senior BA's and Architects are expected to be able to deliver automation.

Thanks for any follow up I appreciate it.

alias454

Most things come down to focus. It's a hard spot to be in but coders get good at coding because that's what they do all day; admins get good at adminary because that's what they do all day. It seems simplistic but practice really does make perfect. If you want to hone your coding/scripting skills, start solving more problems with code/scripts.

Regards,

N2IT

Thanks for the follow up, I appreciate your insight.

myUsrNme

Something I like to do when I'm stuck and end up grabbing code from someone else is to type it all out manually instead of just copying and pasting. Of course this all depends on the time you have and the amount of code you're using. But I've found that when I do that and work through each line and ask myself why they did it that way it builds a deeper understanding of what's going on and allows me to do it all myself later on (for the most part anyways). Also, if I'm really thinking of a problem sometimes I'll write the problem areas out by hand. I'll write out a few different versions of it trying to make sure that all my bases are covered.

Of course, alias454 is right, the more you practice the better you'll get and I'd say your biggest problem is that you only do it off and on. If you were able to play with it more often I don't think you'd have much trouble at all.

YFZblu

For automation and tools, I just refuse to re-use other people's stuff. I get more satisfaction doing it myself, and learn more in the process.

alxx

Its good to do it yourself, but learning from others can help you to pick up better and smarter ways to do things or see how good/bad/terrible yours and others code is. Working on a team and doing pair programming or extreme programming can be great experience - seem to get a lot more done in less time.

I've ended up working on digital signage and you get both development and escalated support for both the software(server and dmps/endpoints) and network/distribution. Though not so much network admin. Mostly python on windows and linux for server/distribution code, python, php, asp, nodejs and javascript(bootstrap, jquery etc) for the front end/user pages and lots of mysql. I prefer full stack python if possible and on linux.

Learning good debugging and troubleshooting skills is essential for both.

N2IT if you want to practise grab a raspberry pi or similar(oddroid, banna pi etc or use an old pc) and code up a few home automation projects or similar or a network monitor or home sensor box

N2IT

I just had a fun automation project dumped in my lap, more proof of concepts, but working solutions that require database update, user forms, report driven solution. This will extend me and then some so this should be a good learning experience.

You all brought me good luck