CC 003: Leveling Up, Mentorship, and Clean Code in the Browser with Chris Powers
Chris Powers is the author of Clean Code in the Browser for Clean Coders and VP of engineering for Thinkful. He starts the show by talking about the path he sees people following when they come through Thinkful, which includes weekly meetings with a mentor in the industry. Every person that uses Thinkful comes out prepared for an entry-level position or apprenticeship. Chris talks about the importance of having different levels of skill and experience in a team. He and Chuck discuss the different points at which people start caring about clean code, which is all based on a desire to improve their methods of doing things. He talks about different ways to approach refactoring and how clean code and working code go together. They discuss how the solid principles of clean coding play out in an object-oriented language like JavaScript and the shift in the identity of a frontend developer in the past 15 years.
For Chris, clean code is code that can be easily changed, and that is the ultimate goal. Clean code can be achieved through design principles and judgment. He and Chuck discuss how to know the right amount each to apply. Chris believes it comes down to solving problems you actually have and making the system legible. At Thinkful, they focus on quality, keeping your work in progress low, and delivering early and often. He talks about how to balance people’s desire to get more features and the need to slow down for business reasons and how to recognize friction between the two. Chris talks about how he takes the lead in writing quality software. The show concludes with Chris talking about some of his current projects.
Panelists
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Charles Max Wood
Guest
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Chris Powers
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