{"id":4679,"date":"2021-04-19T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T10:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/uncategorized\/what-is-a-typical-day-in-the-life-of-a-web-developer\/"},"modified":"2023-09-21T11:17:54","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T09:17:54","slug":"what-is-a-typical-day-in-the-life-of-a-web-developer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/web-development\/what-is-a-typical-day-in-the-life-of-a-web-developer\/","title":{"rendered":"What's a Typical Day in the Life of a Web Developer?"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re considering a career in web development, you\u2019ll no doubt want to know what\u2019s it really<\/strong> like once you land that first role.<\/p>\n

To provide some real-life insight, we asked our in-house web developer Sam to talk us through his typical working day.<\/p>\n

Having originally trained as a musician, Sam decided to make the switch to web development. After taking the CareerFoundry web development program<\/a>, he started out as a junior developer and now leads a team of three.<\/p>\n

Here, he tells us how he goes about his day, what challenges he faces and what keeps him motivated. If you\u2019d like to follow in his footsteps, scroll to the end of the article to watch a video he made about how to become a web developer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Over to you, Sam:<\/p>\n

A day in the life of a developer: Sam’s routine<\/h2>\n

8.45am<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I usually get into the office somewhere between eight-thirty and nine, before the hubbub starts. This is the best time to get some peace and quiet, and gives me the chance to get organized for the day ahead.<\/p>\n

I spend about 45 minutes sifting through my emails and Slack messages.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a zero-inbox person, so the only emails in my inbox are open tasks that I need to work on or respond to\u2014everything else is archived. I\u2019ll then check for errors and bug reports to see if any issues cropped up while I was gone, and prioritize my to-do list accordingly.<\/p>\n

9.45am<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Time to grab a coffee before our team meeting. Each morning we get together for an hour or so to discuss our weekly sprint goals.<\/p>\n

We talk about what we did the day before, what we\u2019ll focus on for the day ahead, and any obstacles we\u2019re currently facing. This allows us to make sure we\u2019re on track as a team and to plan the rest of the week.<\/p>\n

10.45am<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Now the real work begins. With the first meeting out of the way, I\u2019ll get stuck into my high priority tasks. This might be something left over from the day before, or an urgent bug that needs fixing. In the absence of emergencies, I simply make a start on my to-do list.<\/p>\n

We use a project management tool called Ora<\/strong><\/a> for agile planning and time tracking, so I\u2019ll get the next project from Ora and start tracking my time. At this point, I tend to stick my headphones on and work independently to a bit of classical music.<\/p>\n

We do also practice pair programming<\/strong><\/a>, so depending on the task at hand, I might sit with one of the other developers so we can work on it together. This is a fairly common practice in the web development industry, and basically enables us to pool our knowledge and brainpower to find the best solutions.<\/p>\n

Once I\u2019m done with a task, I submit my code for review. I upload it to the testing server and to GitHub<\/a> with a comment on what I\u2019ve done and why, any changes I\u2019ve made and instructions on how to test it. I\u2019ll then mark it for review so that my team sees.<\/p>\n

We operate a policy whereby all code has to be reviewed by at least one other team member, which is why version control systems are vital tools<\/a>. Once I\u2019ve submitted my code for review, I\u2019ll stop the time tracking in Ora and move that task to the QA column.<\/p>\n

1pm<\/strong><\/h3>\n

By now I\u2019m pretty hungry and ready for a break, so we all head out for lunch.<\/p>\n

I tend to go out for lunch as I think it\u2019s really important to get out of the office and interrupt your workflow for a bit. We talk politics, philosophy, bitcoin, and family life over burgers before heading back to the office.<\/p>\n

2pm<\/strong><\/h3>\n

After lunch, I grab my second hit of caffeine before the next round of meetings begins. Next up we meet with the design team<\/strong> for project handover.<\/p>\n

They present their UI designs, walking us through everything, and we can ask questions and start thinking about how we might translate their designs into code.<\/p>\n

The meeting lasts about an hour, and once it\u2019s finished, we make a card in Ora summarizing this particular project. It\u2019s then added to our backlog of tasks.<\/p>\n

3pm<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Back at my desk, I take the next card from the sprint planning column in Ora and start the time tracker.<\/p>\n

The time tracker helps us plan our time more efficiently\u2014we get a good overview of how much time we\u2019re spending on what, and we can make realistic estimates for future projects. Once I\u2019ve finished my task, I\u2019ll move it to the QA column in Ora.<\/p>\n

5pm<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I spend the last hour of the day tying up any loose ends and getting ready for tomorrow.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll check the projects that I submitted before lunch to see if they\u2019ve been reviewed yet. If they have, I\u2019ll go through the feedback and apply all the changes requested, and then re-submit for further review. I\u2019ll then attend to any bug fixes or requests from the other developers, and review any code that has been submitted.<\/p>\n

If I have time, I like to end the day by watching a video tutorial. At the moment, I\u2019m learning about frontend testing with Jest<\/strong>, a testing framework for the language JavaScript<\/a>.<\/p>\n

6pm<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Around six, I close my laptop and head home. I generally don\u2019t work overtime unless there\u2019s something really urgent to deal with.<\/p>\n

As long as I\u2019ve wrapped everything up and know what I\u2019m doing the next day, I\u2019m ready to leave on time.<\/p>\n

6.30pm onwards<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Some evenings, I\u2019ll work on freelance projects after I\u2019ve had dinner and spent some time with my family.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, I like to unwind by watching TV or playing piano. Generally, I try to take a break from programming\u2014however, ideas often come to me as I\u2019m in bed falling asleep, so I grab my phone, type out a quick email to myself and send it to my work address.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t have my work email or calendar on my phone, as I prefer to have some separation and try to leave my work in the office as much as I can.<\/p>\n

The day in review<\/h3>\n

Reflecting on a typical working day, I\u2019d say I spend 50% of my time on project work, 25% in meetings and on general communication, and the remaining 25% working on immediate requests and bugs.<\/p>\n

My daily toolkit consists mainly of Ora<\/strong> the project management tool, Slack<\/strong> and Gmail<\/strong> for internal communication, GitHub<\/strong> for code version control, Atom<\/strong> for text editing, Google<\/strong> Keep<\/strong> for note-taking, Zeplin<\/strong> and Sketch<\/strong> for design hand-off, and Google<\/strong> Drive<\/strong> for anything miscellaneous.<\/p>\n

The biggest challenge to my productivity on a daily basis is definitely the ad-hoc<\/strong> requests<\/strong> I get from other teams. Slack can be really distracting, but it\u2019s also a communications tool we just couldn\u2019t do without.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to manage other people\u2019s expectations<\/strong> and to balance the act of responding to urgent error reports, and knowing when to shut yourself off and focus on the larger projects.<\/p>\n

Finally, I wouldn\u2019t be nearly as effective at my job if I didn\u2019t like our product. Being passionate about what the company does keeps me motivated from day to day: I go to work each morning knowing that what I\u2019m working on has a direct and visible impact. I can see things improving as a result of my work, and that\u2019s really satisfying.<\/p>\n

Wrap-up<\/h2>\n

I hope you enjoyed reading about Sam’s day, and got a lot of insights into what a programmer’s day-to-day is actually like.<\/p>\n

If you were intrigued want to learn more about web development, then why not try it for yourself? Try our free 5-day coding short course<\/strong> <\/a>to see if the life as a web developer could be for you. In it, you’ll get to grips with building and styling your first website with the languages HTML, CSS, and adding functionality with JavaScript.<\/p>\n

Just want to read more about the world of coding? Check out these articles:<\/p>\n