Jovan Cicmil's Blog - Software Development

Most people go into freelancing with the wrong mindset. They ask the wrong question. That question is: How can I find a client that will pay me more than my boss did, for doing the same work? The question implies that you’re a finished product, ready to be swept up by the highest bidder in the open market. But it doesn’t work that way. Not in the first year or two, anyway. When you ...

I’ve been a freelance web developer since 2011. In 2020, I started freelance writing on the side as well. I started unintentionally when a startup approached me to write for them, having been impressed with a piece I wrote here on Medium. Since then, I have found writing to be both a welcome change of pace from coding and a lucrative business. After two years, here’s how freelance ...

A lot is written about how to find cutting-edge work in software development. “Learn this tech over that tech.” “Take this bootcamp.” “Buy my ebook.” You know the drill. Even more is written about how to make a certain amount of money in tech. Apply to this company. Jump through hoops. Silicon Valley. Buy my other ebook. Not nearly enough is written about finding work that is ...

Fear of responsibility is part of human nature as much as fear of the dark. We software developers are no different. I have made many excuses in my career, especially early on. Later on, I have heard many excuses from the standpoints of a colleague, team leader, and client. Here are some of the most common programmer excuses along with a translation from dev-speak into human English and ...

If you asked a random person the question “are software developers rational as a whole”, you would very likely get an affirmative response. That response would show ignorance of the periodic pseudo-religious movements within the industry. One of the current religions is test-driven development. If you write tests after you write the actual code that performs the task at hand, you are now ...

Recently, I came across my notes from a technical interview I did back in 2017 with a funded tech startup. The interview consisted of a 30-minute video call, followed by a coding assignment that took about 2 hours, and a 30-minute feedback session the following day. Despite doing well on the call and having a stimulating discussion with their CTO, I did a pretty mediocre job of the coding ...

Back in 2011, I was a university graduate with a very foggy look at the future. The field of study that I had chosen at age 18 now seemed like a foolish choice. Even though it was an engineering degree, in my country it resigned me to office work in one of maybe a dozen telecommunications companies. This is not what I had envisioned when I left high school. I was lucky enough, however, to ...

Companies that want to hire you will often use an argument consisting of two logical fallacies, wrapped in a veneer of condescension. Specifically, they will tell you that you have to choose between security and freedom (false dichotomy fallacy). They will base their pitch on the presupposition that working in a team is more productive and more secure, and then proceed to ask you whether ...