A guest contribution by Stefan Lieser, managing director of CCD Academy GmbH and one of the founders of Clean Code Developer Initiative.
In the past fourteen months, I have trained five software developers to become new Clean Code Developer Trainers in close cooperation with generic.de — two employees from CCD Academy GmbH and three from generic.de software technologies AG. In April 2022, I took on the challenge with enthusiasm. Our common goal was to train more trainers on the topic of clean code in order to be able to meet the increasing demand for experts. Clean code is a mandatory requirement in every software development project today. But many developers still have knowledge gaps here that need to be closed. This requires trainers who can impart the necessary know-how. The trainers who have now been trained are also able to support projects as consultants and provide important recommendations and impulses to the development colleagues.
“Many developers still have knowledge gaps when it comes to clean code that need to be closed. This requires trainers who can impart this know-how. ”
(Stefan Lieser, managing director of CCD Academy GmbH)
Clean code development is a discipline that values readable, understandable and changeable source code. With this approach, we can increase the lifespan of software systems and increase the efficiency of the development process. generic.de has been relying on the principles and practices of clean code development for many years. As founders of the initiative, Ralf Westphal and I were involved in training software developers at generic.de AG right from the start. The company now has its own trainers and can provide its developers with even better and more targeted support. I am convinced that this will further increase the quality of the development process, especially in regular project support and advice.
The training process was divided into several phases. In the first phase, future trainers received comprehensive expertise in the area of Clean Code Developer principles and practices as well as in the area of Design with flow design. In this phase, the aim was to close all gaps in content and round off the necessary know-how.
The focus was then on learning how to teach — i.e. how to teach clean code principles and flow design as a trainer. Expertise is a necessary requirement, but does not yet automatically enable the transfer of knowledge. The phase was primarily characterized by practical exercises in which the prospective trainers presented topics, taught exercises and moderated reviews. In joint reflection rounds, feedback was given openly and mercilessly, which enabled participants to develop further.
As an instructor, it was inspiring to see how the trainers grew and developed over time. Her determination and ambition to master the Clean Code principles and flow design were impressive. We had many intensive discussions in which the trainers also put my knowledge to the test. In addition, we created numerous designs using Flow Design, which gave me the opportunity to critically examine individual aspects of the method again.
For me as well as for the new trainers, the project was a great success and I am looking forward to further expanding the Clean Code Developer Initiative together with them. I am particularly pleased that flow design is becoming more widespread as a design method in this way and that more developers have the opportunity to get to know this pragmatic approach and use it in projects.
Together with CCD Academy GmbH, we are still looking for trainers and very good software developers who we can train as trainers. We would like to start another training team by 2024 at the latest. We will once again bring together a group of our own participants with external participants to create an inspiring learning situation. If you are interested, please contact me at stefan.lieser@ccd-akademie.de.
I am also looking forward to continued close and good cooperation with generic.de. Here, the topic of clean code is really taken seriously and lived out. If you need project support, you're in good hands here 🙂
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