Dev Fundamentals

Dev Fundamentals

What this is

An outline of the skills you have hopefully picked up during your education. If everything here looks familiar, great. If not, read up on the topics you are missing: each one links to good places to learn more.

Who this is for

Developers who are starting their first job, and the colleagues who onboard them. The material is technology-agnostic: it applies whether you end up working with .NET, Java, Python, JavaScript or Go, in the cloud or on premises. Examples assume a Windows workstation, with Linux literacy treated as a basic requirement.

How to use it

  1. Browse the areas above. Each topic is short and covers only what you need to know, why it matters, and where to learn more.
  2. Every topic shows the expected level a new developer should reach: Awareness,Working or Proficient. See the explanations below.
  3. Use the self-assessment checklist to find your gaps, and look up unfamiliar words in the glossary.
  4. Rate your own confidence on each topic: Not reviewed, Unfamiliar, Familiar orConfident. The progress page shows where you stand.
  5. Practise. Each topic is meant to be tried, not only read.

Levels and confidence

Expected level

Shown on every topic: what a new developer should reach in the early phase of the role. Each level builds on the previous one.

Awareness
You know what it is, why it matters and where to find more. You can follow a conversation about it.
Working
You can do the common tasks on your own, using documentation when needed, and explain it to a colleague.
Proficient
You do it confidently and correctly without help. Gaps here block daily work.

Your confidence

Your own rating of each topic, saved in this browser only.

Not reviewed
You haven't looked at this topic yet.
Unfamiliar
New to you, or you would struggle with it. Read up on it.
Familiar
You know what it is and could use it with the documentation open.
Confident
You can do it without help.