Creating a standard off of a hunch is a risky endeavour, especially if that standard is meant to be used by everyone.

For instance, there is no way I could write a standard today on the proper implementations of TypeScript.  I do not know enough to do it.  T-SQL coding?  For sure, I’ve used it at length and could throw something together.  But am I the guru and all knowing power behind T-SQL?

Not a chance.

But I have foundational knowledge to start something that can be built on and grown for years to come.  Building standards for a group is not an easy thing and is made tougher when a strong desire exists to create something that is immediately applied.  As developers we need to recognize these facts – standards have a valid place in our work life but when they are built off of something we don’t understand and don’t have the basic knowledge in place to understand, we are doing more harm then good.

And conversely to this point – creating a standard is not about you being a Guru or Expert in that particular technology – it’s about you caring enough to see people doing things in the same way where everyone benefits and your team continues to evolve.  So although I am very for having knowledge before creating standards, don’t get into the trap of assuming that you need to have all powerful creation knowledge in order to start writing that standard.

All it takes is something as simple as Notepad (++) to start putting some ideas together.

 

 

Want more? Check out my book Code Your Way Up – available as an eBook or Paperback on Amazon (CAN and US).  I’m also the co-host of the Remotely Prepared podcast.

Author

Write A Comment