Joanie Davis

Using the Socratic Method in Pair Programming

Use the Socratic method in pair programming sessions to improve your understanding of your thought process, and grow a junior developer's skills.

Development Practices

Three Ways to Develop, #3: The Swarm

Getting more than two developers together in a "swarm" is a valuable tactic that can improve context sharing and team decision-making.

Development Practices

Three Ways To Develop, #2: Pair Programming

Pair programming is a very effective development approach. But knowing when to pair is just as important as knowing how.

Development Practices

Three Ways to Develop, #1: Working Solo

Writing software on your own doesn't have to be a bad thing. In fact, it has several distinct advantages, in the right situations.

Project & Team Management

A Growth-Oriented Approach to Onboarding New Teammates

With the right attitude, onboarding a new team member can help improve your code, improve your process, and prompt more ownership in your project.

Developer Tools

Connecting the Intellij IDEA Debugger to a Maven Execution

A quick and easy tutorial on how to set up debugging functionality for a Maven project in JetBrains' IntelliJ IDEA using mvnDebug.

Growing as Makers

A Blog Post Writer’s Toolbox

Stephen King's "On Writing" describes a writer's toolbox. I outline the most important tools and explain how to leverage them while writing a blog post.

Growing as Makers

Dungeon Master Skills You Can Bring to Work #6 – Teamwork

Teamwork is an important skill in a D&D campaign or an important project. You're on the same team. Play to your strengths. Keep focused on the end goal.

Growing as Makers

Dungeon Master Skills You Can Bring to Work #5 – Adaptation

Adaptation is an important skill in an agile project. Be willing to be wrong. Cultivate excited exploration. Take a break to process information.

Growing as Makers

Dungeon Master Skills You Can Bring to Work #4 – Communication

Communication is a key part of any group collaboration. But knowing what to say, and when not to overshare, is just as important as knowing how to share.

Growing as Makers

Dungeon Master Skills You Can Bring to Work #3 – Preparation

Always take the time to prepare for an event, a meeting, or a D&D game. This will make the experience a better, more productive event.

Growing as Makers

Dungeon Master Skills You Can Bring to Work #2 – Deliberation

The more opportunities you provide a team to participate in the decision-making process, the more they will buy into the determined course of action.

Joanie Davis

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