Just a random observation — I’m saddened when I encounter a management mentality that makes no effort to educate their junior devs so they can eventually become senior devs.
If you don’t have a decent knowledge of the programming language, framework and tools you’re working with, the way you “code” is like someone with a 3rd grade vocabulary trying to express a complex thought.
How do you educate junior devs?
- Code reviews by senior devs.
- Training sessions given by senior devs.
- Having time allocated to learn.
- Instilling an interest in learning!
Realistically though, nothing can overcome the “it’s a job, not a passion” attitude in the junior dev him/herself. If the junior dev has a passion for software development, they’ll most likely educate themselves on their own time, not just the company’s time.
But then, when they have learned, they’ll move on because the work environment suddenly becomes limited. An interesting dilemma for management, especially as they can now ask for a considerably higher salary than the company wants to pay for, which is why they hired junior devs to begin with.
Marc Clifton 