Gregory Witek - Not Only Code

Python gotchas for JavaScript developers

Python and JavaScript are close languages, yet they have a couple of surprising differences. In this article I list and explain a few of them

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What does an Engineering Manager do?

In this video I'm talking abouet engineering management - who is an engineering manager? What does an engineering manager do? Do engineering managers write code? After a short walk around Amsterdam I'm going to tell you about different hats that engineering managers need to wear depending on kind of a

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How I got my first jobs as a sofware developer

There are tons of different ways to get a job as a programmer - here's how I got my first couple of jobs without applying for them on the website

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Finding job as a junior developer - tips from tech recruiters

In this video 4 tech recruiters and managers share their tips for junior software developers who are looking for a new job

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How to choose best job offer - interview with tech recruiter

In this interview with Matt Barr, tech recruiter from Amsterdam, we talk about how to choose and negotiate a job offer that will make you happy

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We moved to async stand-ups and never looked back

I tried improving stand-ups in 3 different companies. Here's how it went and why I believe async stand-up is a good idea

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How to pass job interview - chat with tech recruiter

In this video I'm talking to Ross Inman, experienced tech recruiter. Together we discuss best practices to pass the job interview as a software developer.

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Tech interview tips for developers

In this video I'm interviewing Bart van de Garde. Bart is an experienced CTO and software engineering manager with past positions at bol.com, VONQ and experience in e-commerce, recruitment and game development. Currently as a freelance CTO and IT consultant he helps organisations to connect business, technology and people.

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Job application tips for developers

In this video I'm interviewing Angus Mackintosh, a tech recruiter working in Amsterdam. Together with Angus we discuss job application best practices: where to find job offers, how to decide when to put more effort into application and how to ensure our resume gets noticed. Angus also shares some great

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How to mentor bootcamp graduates

This post was inspired by "How Dev Bootcamps Are Failing Their Students" by Tyler Hawkins (and yeah, I started writing it 3 months ago, something something about unfinished projects). Software development bootcamps have passed their hype stage and now they're somewhere around the trough of disillusionment and the plateau of

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Agile estimation: points vs t-shirts

In this video I'm talking about Agile software development and in particular about how t-shirt size estimation compares to story points estimation.Estimating software delivery tends to be tiring, mundane and thankless task - we always feel we're not accurate enougn, we always feel we should do better, yet we

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Why we use points in Agile estimation

In this video I'm talking about why we use points estimation instead of estimating how much time will features take to implement. This is something I often need to explain to junior developers and I believe it deserves a few minutes video. Agile software development, while in my opinion strongly

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How to talk to micromanager

This video is a 2nd part about dealing with micromanaging boss - in previous episodes I explained what are common symptoms of micromanagers and why people become micromanagers. This week I'm talking about different ways to talk to micromanager in order to get more independence and more decision making power

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Is your boss a micromanager?

In this video I'm talking about micromanagement. A lot of people ask - is there something wrong with me or is my boss a micromanager? I'm here to answer this question - I'll explain what is micromanagement, how micromanagers stiffle their teams and why people become (conciously or not) micromanagers.

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Dealing with deadlines - Things Developers Hate

Deadlines themselves are not a bad thing - they allow company to have some predictability, they let us understood how much ahead or behind we're with our work, they can be very useful. However, besides real deadlines we also have something I call bullshit deadlines - made up by stakeholders

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5 ways to improve programming skills

In this video I'm sharing 5 ways in which you can improve programming skills.Working on your programming skills can help you to work better, start taking more responsibilities and at some point also get promoted! If you have any other ideas that worked for you and you want to

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Is passion required to be a good programmer?

In this video I'm talking about passion and why, contrary to a popular opinion, I believe it is not necessary in order to be a good software developer.

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Beyond semantic versioning

An idea on how to improve software versioning and managing dependencies came to my mind a few days ago. I'm yet to figure out how it would exactly work, but I thought I'd share it first.

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3 Non-obvious Skills for Programmers

In this video I'm sharing 3 skills that I believe are not appreciated enough among programmers and which can help a lot in becoming a better developer

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Why Python has won among dynamic languages

Recently I've been reflecting on the (loosely defined) quality and popularity of programing languages. Despite growing appreciation for static typing and compilers (whether in fully-compiled languages like Java or with JIT recently introduced in PHP or Ruby), 2 dynamic, scripting languages pushed their way up in the popularity rankings in

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Programming injuries - fix your habits before it gets bad

In this video I'm talking about 2 health problems common among programmers: RSI (specifically wrist pain-ralated) and lower back pain. I'm talking about minimizing the issues via building good habits and choosing proper equipment.

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Improve your communication skills

In this episode I'm talking about a few common communication problems I have noticed around me during my career, and about how to improve your communication skills. NotesImportanceno matter what size of your company or project, you have to communicate with others your peers your manager your clients your colleagues

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Good code, bad code

In this video I present 4 characteristics of good code (on top of the ones I had presented before) and 3 questions I ask myself whenever I finish writing or reviewing code.

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Choose your next programming language

In this video I'm talking about how to choose your next programming language. There are many options to choose from and depending on your motivation and goals, you might want to explore different directions. While I believe there is no correct answer here, I believe that my advice can help

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When you're not ready for your new role

What happens if you get promoted to a role for which you're not ready yet? How to deal with influx of new responsibilities?