Comments on: “Publish or perish”

By: DeShong.net » Technical New Year’s Resolutions 2010

DeShong.net » Technical New Year’s Resolutions 2010 — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 04:49:08 +0000

[...] goal to write for php|architect was realized in October with the publication of “Make It Mobile with PHP and Open Source [...]

By: Kevin Haynes

Kevin Haynes — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 21:20:35 +0000

Congrats with the article Brian. As a former Schematician, it’s definitely cool to see my colleagues representing the community well. It’s inspiration to get my act together to get something published. Looking forward to catching up at one of the conferences in 2010. Give my best to the old gang.

By: Brian DeShong

Brian DeShong — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:23:48 +0000

@Rob: Thanks! And yes, developers and tech-minded people that can communicate with both their teammates and clients is a HUGE plus. All things equal between two candidates, I’d choose the one that was a more effective communicator.

Agreed on the medium of publishing, too…that’s a great point. A prolific blog is worth just as much (probably even more!) than a printed article.

By: Rob...

Rob... — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:57:26 +0000

Congratulations Brian! I’m looking forward to reading it when the magazine arrives.

From a hiring perspective, I don’t need rockstars either. However I’m more likely to hire a senior developer who is able to communicate his/her knowlege as I need them to be able to defend their decison amongst their peers. I would also need them to be mentors to the more junior members of the team.

A developer who is published has a portfolio they can show to prospective employers to prove their competency at this aspect of the role. It doesn’t really matter if you have published to a magazine, a book or on a blog though.

Regards,

Rob…

By: Yannick Warnier

Yannick Warnier — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:33:22 +0000

I agree with Sebs argument, except that the idea is that the people who have become experts are actually able to discuss the point without spending too much time writing or preparing the publishing step. But there is clearly abuse of the principle, all over.

By: Jeff Carouth

Jeff Carouth — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:08:41 +0000

Great advice. I published my first article with php|architect in November 2008. It was a great feeling; not because I like my name in print—ok, maybe I do—but also because it provided me a way to contribute back some of the knowledge I’ve gained because of other authors, bloggers, coders, etc.

Best of luck in your goals for more authorship in 2010!

By: Ben Dunlap

Ben Dunlap — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:08:16 +0000

I’ve always had a negative sense of “publish or perish” because of personal ties to the academic world, where some professors are far more committed to their research than to their students — really the same problem that @Sebs is concerned about.

On the other hand, technical articles and conference talks can be really valuable to those of us who labor in the fields and will probably never be on the lecture circuit. So thank goodness for people who can do good work /and/ speak & write well about it.

By: Brian DeShong

Brian DeShong — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:04:31 +0000

@Sebs: Certainly it’s not for everyone. And if a given speaker or author isn’t actually producing work on a daily basis, then that’s a whole separate issue. The point is to be good at your development/architecture job (where “good” also calls for responsibility), but also open to talking about it in a public setting.

By: Sebs

Sebs — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:13:16 +0000

I have one clear problem with the whole idea:
Some people are more on conferences and more writting papers than really doing work.
That is not what the pro’s are that we hire. We don’t need rockstars, we need people who develop products.