Coffee break #69. 5 unique ways to get a job in 2021. What is code churn and how to measure it

5 Unique Ways to Get a Job in 2021

Source: Dzone Applying for any job is difficult and tedious, but these tips will help you get closer to landing the job of your wildest dreams. There is a "basic plan" that is probably the hardest (and worst) way to get the job you want! It looks something like this:

1. Preparing a template resume.
2. Repeating the well-known text about “why you are perfect.”
3. Spreading this long-outdated information among 50 different companies, hoping to get someone's attention.

It might get you noticed by a hiring manager or two, but it's unlikely that the old ways of finding a job will help you stand out. Especially now. We encourage you to check out the five fastest and most effective ways to get hired and move toward your dream career.

Find your niche

With enough practice, you can master any skill in the world. However, inspiration cannot be taught. In most cases, the only deciding factor for leading companies will be genuine interest. Dig deeper and find what makes you an expert and highlight those key points in your resume. Remember that hiring managers are constantly looking for well-rounded talent. There is always a temptation to apply for multiple jobs. Applying for more jobs seems smart even if you have no qualifications or interest. This may improve your chances, but chances are you'll just end up wasting your time. It is better to apply for jobs that match your specialization, hobbies and interests.

Try to get a job at a startup

Okay - you've found a niche for yourself. Now understand what is happening in your industry. Follow popular blogs, publications and viral news related to your profession. In a short time, you will acquire a wealth of knowledge that will be useful during the interview process. One effective way to quickly gain quality experience is to join a startup. Early stage startups don't have a lot of money to hire experienced professionals. Therefore, it is easier for a young specialist to find a job here. By working at a startup, a newcomer will gain the experience he needs, which will help in his future career.

Increase your online presence and influence

Active social media profiles can be your advantage. This will make it much easier for you to promote your skills. This will also make it easier for you to communicate with potential hiring managers. Don't forget to regularly mention in your profile what you have already done and what you are going to do. It is also quite useful to join niche communities.

Improve your LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a social network created for the interaction of professionals. It provides an excellent opportunity to position yourself as a sought-after specialist. An upgraded LinkedIn profile will become a powerful online asset for your professional advancement. Here are a few steps to improve your LinkedIn:

1. Complete your LinkedIn profile as much as possible (and always indicate what you're looking for).
2. Create a reminder to update your LinkedIn profile every 12 weeks with what problems you're currently working on.
3. Post, share and comment. Remember to create relevant content - be it text, images or infographics.
4. Join niche online communities. Answer questions and offer suggestions that reflect your experience and knowledge. These groups are a great place to find like-minded people who share the same interests as you. Naturally, you can find vacancies there.

Prepare to the limit

So, you have received an email inviting you for an interview. First, try to understand the mission and values ​​of this company - something that many avoid and then regret. Then make your skills and experience seem “advantageous” to your potential employer. For example, you can tell how your work helped a previous employer. Focus on how you can save money or company resources and increase its efficiency. Most organizations want to see the value you provide, not just hear about it. The three most important additional factors hiring managers look for are:

1. Show them how you can save/earn money.
2. Show them how to make their existing process more efficient.
3. Find a way to prevent a future problem for the organization.

Conclusion

It all comes down to how well you sell yourself - no one can do it for you. Take advantage of the internet and play to your strengths. The key to success lies somewhere between identifying, leveraging and presenting your unique strengths to potential employers. I hope the five points highlighted here will help you get closer to finding your dream job. Make a systematic plan based on these tips and you'll be one step closer to landing a job in 2021.

What is code churn and how to measure it

Source: Better Programming Companies are constantly looking for ways to track, measure, and evaluate developer workflows. This helps improve productivity and code quality, reduce time to market, and increase profits. But measuring effectiveness is not always easy. Sometimes code churn analysis helps with this.

What is code churn?

Churn is an indicator of how much code the developer writes in vain ( from English churn - shake up, mix; in short, return to the code and change something in it - editor's note ). Thanks to it, you can find out how many times the developer deleted certain pieces of code (for example, a function, file or class) during the first 2-3 weeks after writing. These metrics vary among team members, depending on the experience and complexity of the project. There is no exact indicator of what churn of code should be considered normal. Removing and editing is a common process as code is regularly tested and optimized, especially when solving problems or after adding new code. However, an excessively high code churn rate or sudden changes in this metric may be a symptom of problems affecting the development team.

What does churn code mean?

Excessive or irregular code churn may indicate that the developer is struggling and needs additional support such as mentoring or pair programming. It can also mean that the person is a perfectionist or tends to reinvent the wheel in solving problems, wastes valuable time and achieves little with their efforts. Leaving things as they are can lead to job dissatisfaction and burnout. Constant edits may indicate that the team lead needs to more clearly formulate what the “done” and “finished” statuses mean for tasks. Churn code also provides insight into current workloads and resource allocation. Toby Osborne believes that changing the code may provide useful information. For example: “In the last two weeks, home.html has changed 50 times and website_controller.rb has changed 20 times.” These statistics show:

• where more tests may be needed (because the code changed frequently there);
• which part of the project is the most difficult for the developer.

These factors are important: they help determine whether the project needs to reallocate resources, more rigorous testing, or a shift in the project deadline. Research shows a strong correlation between a large code churn rate and the number of defects found during testing. Timing is also important. The code should become more stable as the deadline approaches, and if the opposite happens every time, this indicates that it may have defects after release. High code churn can also indicate internal team communication problems, where a large amount of code output is considered a good result.

How does code churn relate to refactoring and technical debt?

Refactoring source code is necessary to maintain code quality, security, and performance in the long run. It turns messy, incorrect and/or repetitive code into clean code. It solves standardization problems that can arise when multiple developers contribute their own code to a project. Refactoring improves the readability and maintainability of the source code. Without regular refactoring, developers end up with enormous technical debt. Debt grows because there is no longer enough time to refactor, and this makes development difficult, especially if it is built on legacy code. Very often the problem is where to start when it comes to reducing technical debt through refactoring. Pay attention to the image. In it, measuring churn complexity on an XY graph is a way to prioritize important and urgent code refactorings. It demonstrates that the files that cause the most problems are complex and frequently used files. Using such a metric will help identify code “hot spots” that need to be addressed first in any refactoring effort. It's worth emphasizing that code churn is not always problematic. It's normal during the prototyping and design stages for the developer to spend time researching and testing.

How to measure churn code

You can't reduce the code churn without measuring it. So, the first step is to measure this indicator. You need to determine the optimal churn metric in your team and find problems and areas where it exceeds this metric. There are different software for measuring this metric depending on whether you want a free or paid tool, the size of your company, and your budget. Typically, such software determines how many lines of code have been changed (added or deleted) in the system over a certain period, usually several weeks. If you're working in git, you can use the git-churn script to see how many times you've changed a file. As an alternative, Patrick Mevzek suggests using the command:

git log --format=oneline [path_to_file]

There is also churn-php . Pluralsight Flow aggregates historical git data into reports, highlighting team productivity and process efficiency. CodeScene uses predictive analytics to find hidden risks and social patterns in your code. It measures the number of lines of code added and the number of lines removed. Stepsize calculates code churn for code associated with technical debt. For SaaS developers, Azure DevOps Server comes with a built-in mechanism for measuring churn code. It allows you to create reports that reveal:

• the number of files with a particular file name extension changed in a particular build;
• the number of lines of code in the source database for a specific assembly;
• what changes have been submitted and what are the details of each change? (For example, who made the change, what files were changed, and on what date was the change made?)

Conclusion

Churn of code can have a significant impact on a team's productivity and efficiency. It can also be the result of external factors, such as introducing new data or responding to customer feedback. Churn of code can indicate where communication needs to be improved. If high churn is due to a lack of skill or knowledge on the part of the developer, support should be provided. This will ultimately improve team morale and performance, which translates into achieving more important business goals.