# stress Published articles for stress. This is one page of public article previews, not the complete archive. Follow Next page to continue. Summaries are not the original full articles. ## Code is the easy part, or how we refactored half the business to fix a janky script DevFeed: [Code is the easy part, or how we refactored half the business to fix a janky script]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: hi@swizec.com (Swizec Teller) Published: 2026-06-17T00:00:00Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Swizec Teller]() Topics: [Code](), [Python](), [Finance]() Tags: [automated](), [billing](), [code](), [pretty](), [python](), [stress]() ### AI overview A startup engineering war story about refactoring a Python-based billing and invoicing system that had accumulated undocumented business rules, manual workarounds, and operational stress. The team automated the end-to-end invoicing process; a test run took two days instead of a week, although the work was not yet complete. ### Source excerpt This is a classic startup war story: Someone had built a leaky rowboat. It worked! Then we started flying the rowboat as a Cessna. What we needed was an aircraft carrier. ## How Software Developers Can Use Career Risk to Their Advantage DevFeed: [How Software Developers Can Use Career Risk to Their Advantage]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Brian Jenney Published: 2026-06-14T23:22:06Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Brian Jenney]() Topics: [Development](), [Job](), [Software]() Tags: [career](), [developer](), [engineering](), [job](), [junior-developer](), [money](), [software-developer](), [startup](), [stress](), [work]() ### AI overview The article argues that software developers should distinguish between types of career risk and use calculated moves to improve their skills and opportunities. It draws on the author's experience leaving a secure job, becoming a junior developer, and later moving to a startup where learning and salary increased. ### Source excerpt And It's Quietly Killing Your Career ## Small projects, clear scope DevFeed: [Small projects, clear scope]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: hi@swizec.com (Swizec Teller) Published: 2026-01-10T00:00:00Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Swizec Teller]() Topics: [Programming](), [Code]() Tags: [manager](), [plan](), [project](), [scope](), [stress](), [structure](), [tasks](), [team]() ### AI overview An opinion piece argues that brief, deliberate planning can reduce stress and prevent scope creep in software projects. It recommends defining the goal, approach, completion criteria, exclusions, stakeholders, and tasks, with the team contributing to the execution plan. ### Source excerpt Minutes of planning save you days of programming. It is shocking how little planning it takes to make a big difference. ## Shucking WD Elements 20TB DevFeed: [Shucking WD Elements 20TB]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Tom Published: 2025-11-30T00:00:00Z Content type: tutorial Language: en Sources: [Tomasz Gągor]() Topics: [benchmarking](), [Testing](), [Synology]() Tags: [20tb-hard-drive](), [backup](), [badblocks-testing](), [bash](), [benchmarks](), [fio-performance](), [guide](), [hdd](), [linux](), [nas](), [nas-upgrade](), [performance](), [shucking-wd-elements](), [speed](), [standard](), [storage](), [stress](), [synology](), [testing](), [zfs]() ### AI overview A hands-on guide to shucking WD Elements 20TB hard drives for use in a Synology NAS. It reports average read/write performance just below 200 MB/s and describes stress-testing the drives before installation, including a workload adjustment that improved throughput to 200-300 MB/s. ### Source excerpt A detailed guide on shucking WD Elements 20TB drives, including testing, performance benchmarks, and stress testing. ## Business Model Innovation: Driving Resilience When Disruption Is the Default DevFeed: [Business Model Innovation: Driving Resilience When Disruption Is the Default]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: MICHAEL VALOCCHI, SENIOR CLIENT SOLUTIONS ADVISOR @ TOPTAL Published: 2025-09-01T04:00:00Z Content type: article Language: en Sources: [Toptal Blog]() Topics: [Resilience](), [Automation](), [Artificial Intelligence](), [SAS]() Tags: [ai](), [automation](), [business](), [corporate](), [global](), [innovation](), [management](), [resilience](), [stress](), [supply-chain]() ### AI overview This article explains why organizations must innovate their business models as disruption becomes constant. It discusses supply chain uncertainty, labor shifts, geopolitical instability, cyber threats, automation, AI, workforce retraining, customer relationships, talent, resources, and partnerships as factors in building resilience. ### Source excerpt Toptal's Senior Client Solutions Advisor explores how leading companies like SAS and ServiceNow successfully updated their business models--and shares advice for other organizations looking to do the same. ## Checkpoint #4: Berlinterop DevFeed: [Checkpoint #4: Berlinterop]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Nixo Rokish Published: 2025-06-19T00:00:00Z Content type: news Language: en Sources: [Ethereum Foundation Blog]() Topics: [Ethereum](), [Development](), [Network](), [Testing]() Tags: [blockchain](), [consensus](), [development](), [ethereum](), [github](), [hardening](), [network](), [research-development](), [stress](), [testing](), [upgrade]() ### AI overview Ethereum's Checkpoint #4 reports on Berlinterop, an interop hacking week where core developers and researchers worked on Fusaka implementation, devnet progress, gas-limit increases, and longer-term research directions. The article also describes stress testing and plans to consult the public governance process before finalizing changes. ### Source excerpt Ethereum's weekly All Core Developer calls are a lot to keep up with, so this "Checkpoint" series aims for high-level updates depending on what's happening in core development. See the previous update here. This is a special edition of the series! Kicking off Berlin Blockchain Week, ethereum core... ## Accidents Happen. What If Your Postgres Database Could Recover Instantly? DevFeed: [Accidents Happen. What If Your Postgres Database Could Recover Instantly?]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Carlota Soto Published: 2025-03-10T19:42:16Z Content type: article Language: en Sources: [Blog -- Neon Docs]() Topics: [Databases](), [Database](), [web applications](), [Amazon RDS](), [cloud-infrastructure](), [Demo](), [simulator]() Tags: [amazon](), [amazon-rds](), [backups](), [database](), [outage](), [postgres](), [product](), [production](), [recovery](), [scale](), [simulator](), [snapshots](), [storage](), [stress](), [web-app]() ### AI overview This article presents an Outage Simulator demonstrating Neon's Instant Restore for Postgres databases. A social media web app loads data from Neon, simulates a database failure, and restores service in less than a second by creating a branch from the point in time before the failure. The article explains that Neon's copy-on-write branching and shared storage avoid copying the full database, enabling fast recovery even for multi-terabyte databases, unlike traditional backup-based restores and services such as Amazon RDS. ### Source excerpt We all have experienced what happens when a production database goes down--it's not fun. No matter the cause, the result is always the same--high stress, downtime, and a rush to restore everything as quickly as possible. How long would it take to get your Postgres database back onl... ## Freelance Web Developer: Charge by Time, not Value DevFeed: [Freelance Web Developer: Charge by Time, not Value]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Robin Wieruch Published: 2024-11-04T11:50:46Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Robin Wieruch]() Topics: [Web](), [React](), [client]() Tags: [cost](), [developer](), [estimations](), [freelance](), [freelance-developer-hourly-rate](), [freelance-developer-rate](), [opinion](), [react](), [requirements](), [stress](), [time](), [web]() ### AI overview A freelance React developer explains why charging by time can be preferable to charging by value. The article argues that time-based billing helps account for scope creep, feature creep, and unreliable project estimates. ### Source excerpt Freelance Developers have to rate their services by time or by value. Here I, as a freelance React developer, want to argue in favor of charging by time ... ## 4 Essential Skills For Navigating Workplace Pressures DevFeed: [4 Essential Skills For Navigating Workplace Pressures]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: jesalg Published: 2024-05-03T00:00:00Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Jesal Gadhia]() Topics: [integrity](), [communications](), [trust](), [reliability]() Tags: [career](), [challenges](), [coaching](), [collaboration](), [communications](), [emotional-intelligence](), [integrity](), [leadership](), [stress]() ### AI overview This article applies the four agreements from Don Miguel Ruiz's book to workplace pressures. It presents integrity, clear communication, emotional self-management, and avoiding assumptions as practical ways to handle difficult professional situations. ### Source excerpt Manage the stresses of complex problem-solving, tight deadlines, and high-pressure situations at work with integrity and emotional intelligence. ## 💚 A Developer's Guide To Setting Boundaries DevFeed: [💚 A Developer's Guide To Setting Boundaries]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Richard Donovan Published: 2024-03-20T15:02:05Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [The Modern Software Developer]() Topics: [Development](), [code productivity]() Tags: [developer](), [mental-health](), [practical](), [productivity](), [stress](), [work]() ### AI overview A practical guide for developers on setting and communicating personal boundaries to protect time, energy, mental health, and work-life balance. It describes common boundary violations and suggests calmly stating limits, expressing concerns, and proposing solutions aligned with personal values. ### Source excerpt Words < 1000 - Read time < 5 mins ## Stressing the JVM GC on Android DevFeed: [Stressing the JVM GC on Android]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Amanjeet Singh Gurtatta Published: 2024-03-10T08:49:55Z Content type: tutorial Language: en Sources: [Amanjeet Singh]() Topics: [Android](), [Java](), [Code](), [now-in-android]() Tags: [adb](), [android](), [android-vitals](), [anr](), [fragmentation](), [gc](), [java](), [leak](), [memory](), [memory-leak](), [mobile](), [mobile-performance](), [now-in-android](), [outofmemory](), [performance](), [stress](), [stresstest]() ### AI overview This tutorial describes GCStress, a Java application that deliberately creates garbage-collection pressure through repeated random byte-array allocations and cache removals. It explains how to integrate it into Google's Now in Android app, trigger it with an Android broadcast and adb, and observe effects such as skipped UI frames, possible ANRs, and potential out-of-memory errors. ### Source excerpt This post talks about a way to stress Java garbage collector. ## Managing Stress in Software Development with Breathing Techniques DevFeed: [Managing Stress in Software Development with Breathing Techniques]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Richard Donovan Published: 2024-02-23T14:02:16Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [The Modern Software Developer]() Topics: [Development](), [Software Engineering]() Tags: [coding](), [development](), [health](), [stress]() ### AI overview This article explains how occupational stress affects software developers, including the effects of prolonged fight-or-flight activation and accumulated stress. It recommends breathing techniques such as the physiological sigh to promote relaxation and reduce stress. ### Source excerpt Words < 1000 - Read time < 5 mins ## Breathing Techniques for Focus and Stress Management in Software Development DevFeed: [Breathing Techniques for Focus and Stress Management in Software Development]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Richard Donovan Published: 2023-11-07T10:22:50Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [The Modern Software Developer]() Topics: [Software](), [coding]() Tags: [developer](), [focus](), [optimisation](), [software-developer](), [stress]() ### AI overview This commentary discusses deliberate breathing as a way for software developers to support focus and manage anxiety and stress. It recommends nasal breathing and describes claimed effects on breathing efficiency, oxygen delivery, and sleep-related focus. ### Source excerpt Hi there, welcome back to The Modern Software Developer. ## Scaling Findmypast for 1921 Census release - Part 3 DevFeed: [Scaling Findmypast for 1921 Census release - Part 3]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Mike Thomas Published: 2022-04-26T00:00:00Z Content type: article Language: en Sources: [Findmypast]() Topics: [Deployment](), [Hardware](), [Kubernetes](), [Network](), [virtual machines](), [Amazon Web Services](), [Linux](), [sql-server](), [Windows](), [ASP.NET](), [C#](), [.NET]() Tags: [aws](), [blog-post](), [c-sharp](), [chaos](), [deployment](), [findmypast](), [hardware](), [infrastructure](), [k8s](), [kubernetes](), [load](), [net](), [network](), [release](), [sql-server](), [stress](), [testing](), [virtual-machines](), [windows]() ### AI overview Findmypast describes the infrastructure challenges involved in scaling its service for the 1921 Census of England and Wales release. The third post in the series examines network timeouts and throughput problems during stress testing, leading the team to investigate hardware, Hyper-V, virtualized networking, Kubernetes, AWS, and related service infrastructure. ### Source excerpt Findmypast (FMP) released the 1921 Census of England & Wales at midnight on Jan 6th 2022 to an eager community of genealogists. The preparation of the census - preservation, digitisation and transcription took three years of hard work. Aside from the data preparation, we also had technical challenges to address. Specifically, could our services deal with the projected increase in users for the first few days of 1921 launch period? This post is the third in a series that details how we approached scaling our service to deal with a projected day one 12x increase of users. Digging deeper into the infrastructure We left the second blog post in a poor position, our scaling efforts were not going well; network timeouts and throughput issues dogged each and every one of our stress test game days. At this point, we started to suspect the issue was related to hardware rather than the services. We started to dig deeper into all layers of the network stack, along with looking at the new Hyper-V hardware. Before we dig too deeply into the things, lets recap on our existing hardware setup. For the search backend, we use SOLR with a cluster of bare metal machines to index and retrieve search results. This was one area where we knew in advance that we needed more resources, so we scaled the cluster into AWS for extra compute. The majority of the Findmypast service runs on K8s, but not on bare metal. The K8s cluster is composed of Linux virtual machines running on Hyper-V. Our Hyper-V setup consisted of two clusters of bare metal machines, however both clusters were running different versions of Hyper-V We also have some areas of the site still running Windows servers with a Microsoft .Net/C# stack with SQL Server backend. These are also virtual machines running on the same Hyper-V hardware. The internal services, staging environments, etc also run as virtual machines under Hyper-V. So, SOLR aside, Hyper-V managed pretty much everything, from our internal deployment process to the ## Scaling Findmypast for 1921 Census release - Part 2 DevFeed: [Scaling Findmypast for 1921 Census release - Part 2]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Mike Thomas Published: 2022-03-02T00:00:00Z Content type: article Language: en Sources: [Findmypast]() Topics: [systems](), [Testing](), [GraphQL](), [Kubernetes](), [Deployment]() Tags: [automated](), [chaos](), [engineering](), [findmypast](), [graphql](), [infrastructure](), [k8s](), [kubernetes](), [load](), [performance](), [stress](), [testing]() ### AI overview Findmypast describes the second phase of scaling its service for the 1921 Census of England and Wales release. The engineering teams ran coordinated load-test game days against production, targeting up to four times normal January load. The first test day kept the site generally responsive but exposed failures in a GraphQL service and other performance and Kubernetes configuration issues. ### Source excerpt Findmypast (FMP) released the 1921 Census of England & Wales at midnight on Jan 6th 2022 to an eager community of genealogists. The preparation of the census - preservation, digitisation and transcription took three years of hard work. Aside from the data preparation, we also had technical challenges to address. Specifically, could our services deal with the projected increase in users for the first few days of 1921 launch period? This post is the second in a series that details how we approached scaling our service to deal with a projected day one 12x increase of users. If you haven't already, I'd suggest you read the first post which details the initial scaling steps taken by our engineering teams. Stress testing "game" days We ended the first post detailing that the load tests created by the teams were effective at testing the service in isolation. The next step was to get all the teams together and run their load tests at the same time against our production service. While still not a realistic example of a user journey, it would still test how our systems as a whole responded to the increased load. Game day # 1 Initially, we set a simple schedule of a load test "game day" each month. Scheduled for Thursday 8th April and spread over two hours we planned to run 3 load tests. Each was 20 mins in duration and we aimed for the first test to add 2x our normal load, the next test was 3x and the final test was 4x the load. Note that "normal load" means the load we would normally expect in a typical January. (1921 Census was launched in January). We have seasonal visitor patterns with more visitors during (the northern hemisphere) winter months than summer. When we set our targets for the load test, we aimed for 4x the normal January load, not the current April load. Overall, the first stress test game day was a success - the site stayed alive and generally responsive. But we did learn a few things from the first day: One of our key services that deals with GraphQL quer ## Scaling Findmypast for 1921 Census release - Part 1 DevFeed: [Scaling Findmypast for 1921 Census release - Part 1]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Mike Thomas Published: 2022-01-31T00:00:00Z Content type: article Language: en Sources: [Findmypast]() Topics: [data](), [Kubernetes](), [Testing](), [Back end](), [telemetry]() Tags: [chaos](), [data](), [findmypast](), [infrastructure](), [k8s](), [kubernetes](), [load](), [metrics](), [performance](), [release](), [stress](), [testing]() ### AI overview Findmypast describes how its engineering team prepared for the 1921 Census of England & Wales release, anticipating a 12-fold increase in users. The article covers a scaling working group, performance improvements, service metrics, chaos and stress testing, and mapping dependencies across nearly 140 Kubernetes-based microservices. ### Source excerpt Findmypast (FMP) released the 1921 Census of England & Wales at midnight on Jan 6th 2022 to an eager community of genealogists. The preparation of the census - preservation, digitisation and transcription took three years of hard work. Aside from the data preparation, we also had technical challenges to address. Specifically, could our services deal with the projected increase in users for the first few days of 1921 launch period? This post is the first in a series that details how we approached scaling our service to deal with a projected day one 12x increase of users. In the beginning... ..way back in Nov 2020 the release of the 1921 census was just over 13 months away. Within engineering, our thoughts started to turn to ensuring that Findmypast was fit to meeting the anticipated increase in load. We knew from previous incidents that the reliability and performance of some of the services can cause issues when under load, so, within engineering, we started a scaling working group to address not only these specific issues, but to prove to management and our external stakeholders that the system as a whole was resilient and could perform well under load. The expectations for the working group was to: Champion performance improvements within the team. That is, evangelise scaling to the team, make sure that backend improvement work was added to backlogs, scheduled into sprints, etc. Ensure that the key metrics for each service owned by the team were correctly instrumented, visualised and alerted upon. Schedule time for chaos and stress testing team services. The initial meeting set the goals and expectations for the team and also discussed a few incidents that caused a site outages due to cascading failures and the like. Essentially, we highlighted the things that have gone wrong in the past and the discussed areas that would have limited the blast impact of the outage. We also re-visited our documentation, we have almost 140 micro services running in Kubernetes (K8s) a ## Shucking WD Elements 14TB DevFeed: [Shucking WD Elements 14TB]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Tom Published: 2021-11-12T00:00:00Z Content type: tutorial Language: en Sources: [Tomasz Gągor]() Topics: [RAID](), [benchmarking]() Tags: [amazon](), [backup](), [backup-storage](), [how-to](), [linux](), [performance](), [raid](), [raid-setup](), [shucking-wd-elements](), [storage](), [stress](), [stress-testing-drives](), [wd-elements-14tb](), [zfs](), [zfs-performance]() ### AI overview A practical account of shucking WD Elements 14TB external drives for use in a RAID setup, with discussion of ZFS, drive reliability, stress testing, and performance considerations. ### Source excerpt Learn how to shuck WD Elements 14TB drives for use in a RAID setup, including stress testing and performance considerations for ZFS. ## Stressing memory on Android DevFeed: [Stressing memory on Android]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Amanjeet Singh Gurtatta Published: 2021-10-15T19:58:26Z Content type: tutorial Language: en Sources: [Amanjeet Singh]() Topics: [Android](), [Tool](), [observability](), [x86]() Tags: [android](), [crashes](), [devices](), [instrumentation](), [memory](), [mobile-performance](), [native](), [performance](), [processes](), [stress](), [stresstest](), [test](), [tool](), [x86]() ### AI overview This article explains how Android memory pressure can affect application processes, including native-memory risks and process killing by LMKD. It introduces stressapptest as a tool for reproducing memory pressure on test devices and validating instrumentation and crash-related behavior. ### Source excerpt This post talks about stressing memory on any android device and what happens when device is under memory pressure. ## Burnout in Software Development - Survey Results 2021 DevFeed: [Burnout in Software Development - Survey Results 2021]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: umer Published: 2021-10-01T00:00:00Z Content type: article Language: en Sources: [Code Ahoy - Articles]() Topics: [Development](), [software-development](), [Software Engineering]() Tags: [article](), [covid-19](), [developer](), [developer-burnout](), [development](), [remote-work](), [software-development](), [stress](), [survey](), [work]() ### AI overview This article presents results from a developer survey examining whether the shift to remote work during COVID-19 worsened burnout. It also explains burnout, its symptoms, and common workplace causes such as excessive workloads, unclear expectations, and insufficient support. ### Source excerpt Burnout is very common in software development. Intense mental focus, heavy workloads, never ending roadmaps, under-staffed teams, unclear targets, and many other factors lead to developer burnout. I have experienced burnout in my career, perhaps twice. Early on, I had mild symptoms and my manager recognized it and helped me manage it. Later, after a very long stretch of working very long hours, 7 days a week on some super unrealistic goals with very little support, I ended up getting a bad case of burnout. It took me weeks to recover from it. When COVID-19 forced remote work shift began in companies, it was a step in the right direction by giving developers the flexibility to work from anywhere. However, I started hearing more and more about burnout. In this article, I will share results of a developer survey we did to explore if COVID-19 is somehow making the burnout situation worse. What is burnout? Burnout is a form of exhaustion caused by constantly feeling swamped. It's a result of excessive and prolonged emotional, physical, and mental stress. In many cases, burnout is related to one's job. Burnout happens when you're overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to keep up with life's incessant demands. If it sounds very broad, it actually is. Burnout doesn't have a test that your doctor can prescribe and be certain whether you are suffering from it or not. Regardless, if it's not identified and addressed, it will continue to grow until it grinds you down and become the new normal. When that happens, it is not easy to pull yourself back out. It might take many months or even years to shake it off. Here are some of the common symptoms of burnout: You stop enjoying working on things you used to enjoy and lose motivation for weeks. You feel exhausted or fatigued all or most of the time. You have low energy at work and at home. You struggle to sleep and wake up feeling tired. You don't feel a sense of accomplishment or feel sort of hopeless about results. (The sy ## Deep dive into Temporal stress testing DevFeed: [Deep dive into Temporal stress testing]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Manu Srivastava Published: 2020-09-10T04:00:00Z Content type: article Language: en Sources: [Temporal Blog]() Topics: [Testing](), [Scalability](), [reliability]() Tags: [reliability](), [scalability](), [stress](), [temporal-concepts](), [testing](), [workflow]() ### AI overview This article describes how Temporal stress-tests its workflow system while it acts as both a database and a service orchestrator. It explains the rabbit scenario, which creates an exponential burst of workflow load, and discusses how testing helps identify issues missed in small-scale deployments. ### Source excerpt Explore the process of stress testing workflows, ensuring scalability and reliability while acting as both a database and service orchestrator. ## Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Programming DevFeed: [Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Programming]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Published: 2015-12-27T12:00:00Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Jake Yesbeck]() Topics: [Programming](), [Learning](), [Software](), [Tech Debt](), [Code]() Tags: [bug](), [competition](), [efficiency](), [learning](), [patterns](), [process](), [programming](), [software](), [software-engineer](), [speed](), [stress](), [tech-debt](), [work]() ### AI overview This advice article reflects on starting a career in software engineering. It encourages new programmers to work steadily instead of competing on speed, explaining that rushing can increase stress, bugs, and technical debt. It also recommends continuous learning and asking questions without fear of judgment or impostor syndrome. ### Source excerpt If by some magical event I could go back in time to the day before I started my first job as a software engineer, this is what I would say. Drive Slow I mentioned a similar message in a previous post and I believe it is worth repeating. When starting a new job or a new career, it is easy to place external pressures on ourselves regarding time. This is a common issue that can arise when comparing one's own work with those around them. As the new employee, noticing and measuring your own speed and efficiency against existing personnel can feel like the correct thing to do; however, chasing the "competition" or "proving that you are just as fast as them" will only result in high stress levels and bug riddled software. The people who seem "fast" or come off as a "10x engineer" were not born that way. They took their time and learned their craft. And with that, they have slowly accelerated their process and patterns to make them appear extremely quick and efficient. Deadlines should be thought of as real and valid; however, working at lightning speed to try and meet those deadlines will end up causing more work in the long run. What would be better, missing a deadline by a day or making a deadline and incurring so many bugs and tech debt that it takes two weeks to clean everything up? ABL Glengarry Glen Ross's iconic scene has very clear message: Always Be Closing, meaning that one should constantly strive to be in the process completing a sale. When starting out writing software and even after years of doing it, a similar attitude can be extremely helpful: Always Be Learning. From day one to day one thousand, learning and absorbing new information is very important. A key to learning new things is in asking questions. When starting a new job or a new career, there seems to be a stigma attached to asking questions. We are all under the impression that "they hired me to do this job, they must assume I know exactly what I'm doing." This mentality can inhibit our natural in