The fast-moving world of dentistry

Many programmers do their jobs, do it well, but never train themselves beyond their time at work.

I was thinking about this at the dentist's office recently. My dentist is not young, but she follows the latest practices. She replaced drills with air tools, which offer precision and obviates the need for anesthetic. She installed a laser for some of the gum work. Numerous other improvements have been made over the years.

This is dentistry we're talking about. Not exactly a lot of unexplored frontiers here. Yet, she clearly spends many off-hours staying up to date, obtaining information, and training herself. All that occurs when the office is closed, and no patients are around.

If that's the slow world of dentistry, what are the implications for the fast-moving world of software development?

If you're serious about having a successful career as a programmer, you need to be training yourself. Don't expect to do it on your company's time or your company's dollar. If you really can't afford it, at least park yourself at your local bookstore and read the books for free. Most of them have free wi-fi, so take your laptop and do the exercises.

While you're on a project, marching to a deadline, you should already be fully trained in the skills you need -- just as you wouldn't want your dentist to be pulling that laser out for the first time when you sit down in her chair.