iamacp.com – I Am A Computer Programmer
All about the daily work issues of a Java/J2EE Computer Programmer

Wow, it’s hard to believe that 2008 came and went in a blink of the eye. This year was truly a turning point in my career for the better. I now find myself in a better situation than where I was just a few months ago. 2008 was the year I found happiness in my career and learned some valuable lessons about IT.

In 2008 I had the following accomplishments:

•    I started my blog which gave me a chance to share my knowledge of IT with the world.
•    I left my old dead end job in August to pursue further growth.
•    I got a contract with a large company in Tampa in September.

This had several other positive effects on both my personal and professional life including:

•    This allowed me to live one of my dreams of living in Florida that I’ve had for years.
•    It allowed me to make quite a bit more money as a consultant that I did as a permanent employee.
•    I work less hours usually for greater pay.
•    I get treated far better than I did as a permanent employee.
•    I actually got a chance to drive cross country which was awesome.
•    I discovered that just how much easier it is to meet people in Florida compared to Indiana.

The best pieces of advice I learned in 2008 was the following: Jobs will come jobs will go.  Loyalty to a employer is worthless.  Companies really only care about themselves. Do whatever it takes to find happiness in both your career and personal life.

There are many ways to write cleaner code. This google tech talk videos focuses on writing clean code using unit testing.

Programmers like myself struggle to right clean code that works on a day to day basis. Here is yet again another google tech talk video that focuses on creating clean code.