New developers mistakenly believe software development is all about for loops and if statements.

These are the fundamentals of writing code, but they’re only a small part of building software.

I’ve mostly worked with Java and it always confuses me when people describe other languages as “faster to write” than Java.

Do a few less characters make any difference?

After working multiple Java jobs, I realised that what slows down delivering new features isn’t how fast you can write code. At least not in the kinds of companies that use Java—normally well-funded companies that prioritise quality over rushing something out the door.

So if speed of coding isn’t the limiting factor, what is?

It’s everything else you don’t know exists until you land your first job:

  • Version control
  • Testing
  • Build automation
  • Continuous integration
  • Hosting

These are just a few ProLevel Practices—everything professional developers must know on top of coding.

Top-paying companies aren’t looking for hackers to churn out as much code as possible. Any developer can do that.

Instead, they want to delight customers by shipping features reliably. They need developers who won’t break existing features, introduce bugs, or degrade performance.

In other words, they need developers who follow ProLevel Practices.

But these kinds of developers aren’t as common as you think.

That’s good news for developers like you who want to write quality software. Developers who aspire to be not just coders, but true software engineers.

Supercharging your CV

Adding complimentary skills to your CV is how you get in the door of top companies. It’s how you stand out as a developer who brings value to a team, rather than being seen as a potential liability.

One of my goals is to simplify learning the ProLevel Practices that so many developers lack. There are many articles on my website to help with that.

But in this process, I realised there’s one more misunderstood technology—one so essential that if it vanished, software development would come to a standstill.

It’s the internet.

You can think of the internet as a platform—one on which everything we do as developers runs.

So why do some developers spend their entire career without properly understanding it?

They’re happy to:

  • Write code to send an HTTP request without understanding what HTTP actually is.
  • Discuss SSL certificates even though SSL is a dead technology.
  • Use 32-bit IP addresses without knowing what this number really means.

Developers with shallow knowledge of the internet are quickly weeded out in interviews.

It happened to me years ago.

One simple question turned an interview I thought was going well into a shambles.

“So how does DNS work?”

Not understanding this fundamental technology was an embarrassment—one that I vowed never to let happen again.

So I began to learn the fundamentals of the internet. That’s when things started to change:

  • I had confidence in interviews.
  • I landed jobs I enjoyed.
  • I became the top-earning developer on my team.

Everything I’ve learnt about the internet over a 13 year career will soon be available in one book called Internet Essentials for Developers.

Designed for developers of all levels, it helps you blend existing skills with the internet knowledge needed to achieve your career goals.

More interviews. More opportunities. More enjoyment.

Internet Essentials for Developers will be available in 10 days on 24th September 2024. You can learn more here.

There’s a lot of potential in the career path you’ve chosen. As you progress, you’ll see opportunities you never knew existed. I trust you to make the most of these.

It’s an exciting time to be a software developer.

Speak soon,

Tom Gregory