Collaboration
What does collaboration mean?
Collaboration means working with different people. In our case working on a software project or something related to it.
Why is collaboration important?
Collaboration is essential because it allows a team consisting of different members to build things together. Each member has their own individual strengths and weaknesses so collaborating also helps balance them in a project so you don't have major flaws in a particular area.
How to be a good collaborator?
While there's certainly different interpretations on that ;) there are a few things that apply universally:
- Behave civil
- Be open minded
- Give constructive criticism
- Be aware of the (social) context you're in
- Participate actively in the group
- Be honest (don't be cruel - there's a difference!)
How do you collaborate?
Depending on in which area of programming you are you'll come into contact with tools both for code collaboration as well as other means of collaborating.
The most popular tool for code collaboration is by far Git. Check out the lesson from The Odin Project for that.
Tools for other kinds of collaboration e.g. communicating requirements of a project include Jira, Slack, Teams etc.
In your career as a programmer you'll often have to use different tools to collaborate with people. Even with those outside of your area of expertise.
So be mindful about who you're talking to, as you might have to adjust phrasing so that everyone gets the information relevant to their part in the project.
