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4 Reasons Why Every Developer Should Blog

Keshav Malik on June 30, 2022

Developers spend a lot of time in isolation, focusing on their code and the challenges associated with it. With so much thinking time dedicated to ...
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Paul J. Lucas

This argument seems to assume that developers work on open-source software. I'd wager that most developers work on closed-source software and so can't blog about it publicly.

This argument also seems to assume that all developers are good writers. Based on many blog posts on this site, they're not; or the writing itself is OK, but the formatting is terrible and becomes too much of a distraction.

Lastly, not all developers want to blog. It's often difficult just to get many developers to write comments and documentation!

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Chun Fei Lung

Yeah, not everyone should blog.

Writing good blogs takes a lot of time, which is fine if you like writing and are fairly good at it. Blogging can also be a good idea if you want to improve your writing skills. But you shouldn’t blog only because you feel you have to; bad blogs can even harm your chances of getting hired!

Fortunately, there are plenty of other things besides writing that one can do to “build a brand” (which in my experience isn’t actually that important).

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Barry Michael Doyle
  1. It is very possible to blog about concepts you learn at work without sharing your "not for public" closed-source software.

  2. A good way way become better at writing is by practice. Improving communications skills through writing will help in a developer's career.

  3. Fair enough. Sometimes I don't want to code but oh well, it pays the bills.

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Paul J. Lucas
  1. Sure it's possible, but harder. Anything you write for public consumption that involves anything from your job should be run by your legal department to clear it first. Disclosing anything that could be considered proprietary is a fireable offense. (I know people this has happened to.)
  2. This works only if readers take the time to critique the writing. Otherwise you could muddle along writing poorly thinking you're doing great for years.
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theinfosecguy profile image
Keshav Malik

Very well said Paul! 👏

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dnasedkina

Thanks for bringing this up, exactly what I had in mind (about NDA and stuff).

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Shshank

Totally agree with this, I personally tried many times to start blogging, but due to lack of time, I failed to do so. But will try to be regular and give back what I learned from such an amazing community.

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theinfosecguy profile image
Keshav Malik

Yes, you are right. It's really difficult to be consistent with blogging. :)

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Andrew Baisden

These are all solid arguments. I try for everyone to blog I know that not everybody is going to be keen to go down this route. But in one case you become better at reading and writing your own documentation.

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Keshav Malik

Yes, right Andrew!

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David Morris

Every dev should be writing! The medium is not as important as the action. The biggest benefit is personal and cognitive. There are a number of studies that show how writing, using a pen is best, improves retention, allows the brain to categorize and organize thoughts and patterns. So, get out the pen and paper, or stylus and tablet and start writing.

Also, the act of writing does have a positive impact on ones communication skills.

Whether it is private (journal) or public (blog), writing is an essential tool in anyone's life.

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Goran Kortjie

It definitely takes time blogging, I agree that it provides a timeline of your journey and when you stuck referring back to your own works feels so good.

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theinfosecguy profile image
Keshav Malik

Exactly :)

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Brad

Don't forget... a developer could build their own blog, so it's another project idea :p

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Keshav Malik

Well Said Brad :)

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Yash Chaudhari

I think opening an own insta page and post coding or tech related content is also a good thing.

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adriens
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Jorge Tovar

Writing here count as a blog?

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Jagad Yudha Awali

Of course, you are free to select any platform, or perhaps you want to develop your own 👀

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vkostunica

blogging takes a lot of time and energy, you have to do it for years, also you should think about making your own business and not strengthening resume for all your life, making your own business is best item in resume

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Paul J. Lucas

Another thing is that a lot of the blog posts I see are flat out wrong. In many cases, they even get the simple stuff wrong. (If I had a nickel for every wrong explanation of const in C/C++, I'd be rich.) And then such blogs cause the wrong information to propagate. The value of traditional reviewers and editors in peer-reviewed publications has unfortunately gone way down ever since blogging became a thing.

If you're going to blog, please make damned sure that what you're writing is actually true. Check the language standard or specification.

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Keshav Malik

I totally agree with you on this Paul. Before you post anything to educate others, it's important to make sure the content is right for the end reader.