Following our article "How to choose hosting for a website?", this week, with the end-of-year holidays approaching, we have written our "5+1 Christmas gift ideas for a programmer": six tips to make a friend, partner, colleague or relative who writes code, for work or for passion, happy!
And, unlike many other blogs, once again we have done it without referral links. We noticed that searching Google for "gift ideas for programmers" brings up a flood of articles full of links: if you click or tap on them and end up buying, the blogger earns a commission. In our view, for obvious reasons, that rather damages credibility (it's fair to suspect an interest, isn't it?).
As far as we are concerned, what drives us to write is certainly not earning from referral links but being useful.
So in this article you will find some ideas we think are suitable for programmers, a profession that, as a software house with two decades of experience, we know very well. And as always we will do it as part of our free IT knowledge-sharing activity: in practice, before helping you give a gift to whoever you like, we are giving one to you. Without asking anything in return.
1) A book
We'll spare you the speech about how important reading is, but it really is, especially for a programmer. This is not the right place to recommend a technical book, as it might not fit the recipient's favourite development environment. So we will just recommend a few that, besides enriching knowledge, lead you to explore new horizons in the world of programming. Only disclaimer: they are in English. But any self-respecting coder must speak it, otherwise what kind of coder are they?
- Code Complete by Steve McConnell: practical methods and approaches for writing high-quality software. The author offers clear, practical advice on code design and writing, covering everything from algorithms to error handling. An essential reference for developers looking to improve their coding skills.
- The Pragmatic Programmer by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas: practical advice and fundamental principles for pragmatic programmers. This book provides a shrewd approach to software development, offering best practices and strategies for tackling a developer's daily challenges.
- Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship by Robert C. Martin: principles for writing clean, understandable code. Martin explores the fundamental principles of writing code that is clear, readable and effective. The book focuses on how to write code that not only works, but is also easy to maintain and understand.
Finally, as Microsoft fans, we can't help recommending this "bonus": The Old New Thing by Raymond Chen. It is not strictly a programming book but a collection of curiosities about software development, in particular Microsoft Windows. The author, to whom we dedicated a recent social post, has been a senior Microsoft engineer for years and still writes a well-known blog full of anecdotes about this incredible world.
2) An online course or a cloud service
An unusual but useful and original idea that could make a coder happy is giving them the chance to broaden their skills with a subscription to an online training platform.
There are several; the best known are Udemy and Coursera.
This gift gives access to courses on specific topics or new emerging technologies and, in many cases, to certifications that can be "spent" on the job market. It is an intangible gift, so it can be enjoyed remotely, with no shipping costs and practically in real time. So if 25 December is just around the corner when you read this article, why not choose an online course and avoid the anxiety of a physical parcel that probably wouldn't arrive in time?
Since it is not easy to choose the right course, it would be best to know the coder's skills and weaknesses very well, even better if the giver is a technical person. Otherwise, some platforms let you buy gift vouchers. Just send a digital card, or a paper one if you can, and the gift is ready. The recipient can freely choose what they want.
Similarly, why not give a cloud service?
Here too there is plenty of choice, and you can often generate and send a discount code. Gifts likely to be appreciated include vouchers for Microsoft, Amazon, Adobe, Canva and Dropbox.
Another alternative is video games, if you are sure the coder in question likes them.
3) A tech experience
A great idea is to give experiences related to technology, such as tickets to conferences, hackathons or workshops dedicated to coding.
These events offer the chance to network and keep up to date with the latest trends in the sector.
As with the two previous points, just find an event you think they will be interested in and buy the ticket, making sure it can be given as a gift (usually possible).
Not sure they can go? Choose the online version.
Most events now have a version, albeit limited, that can be watched in streaming or on demand, in a reserved area with exclusive content. It's not the same, but it avoids the risk that the programmer can't attend in person.
A small extra tip: marketing and communication are often among a coder's weak skills. Many coders can't sell themselves. So why not encourage them to attend national events such as the Web Marketing Festival? The same applies if you choose a book or a training course.
4) A very "nerdy" gadget
A good option, probably the most common one, is to give a tech gadget.
Yes, but which one?
In general we suggest avoiding useless objects and choosing accessories and peripherals that improve the work environment, such as ergonomic mice, quality mechanical keyboards, good microphones, high-resolution webcams or, if the budget allows, extra monitors. Indeed, a second monitor always comes in handy for a programmer: they can work on the code on the main one and see the results on the second, without switching windows every time.
An interesting alternative? Help them create a quiet, peaceful place to program by giving them noise-cancelling earphones. They will help them immerse themselves completely in their work, work that, take it from people who know about coding, requires a great deal of concentration.
In any case you'll find plenty of peripherals on Google, but you can go straight to marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon: they are all well organised for this kind of product. You'll be spoilt for choice.
In general, we invite you to consider an aspect we think is crucial and makes choosing easier: a programmer is usually a nerd! So they will very probably appreciate tech tools that make their experience more efficient and comfortable.
By the way, do you know where the word "nerd" comes from?
Its origin is somewhat obscure, but it is thought to have come into use in the United States in the 20th century. According to one theory, the term "nerd" was coined by the writer Dr. Seuss in his 1950 book If I Ran the Zoo. However, the original meaning is somewhat different from how the word is commonly used today: in the book, "nerd" (as well as "nerkle") describes an imaginary creature with an eccentric, funny appearance. Others believe it may derive from "nut" or "nert", which in 1950s college slang meant a strange or eccentric person. Still other sources claim that "nerd" was used to describe socially unpopular or awkward, unfashionable or odd people.
Whatever its true origin, the meaning of the term has undergone, particularly in recent years, a transformation from a negative connotation to a positive one. Whereas it once meant "loser", today it is often used for passionate, competent people in specific fields such as computing, programming and technology.
For this reason, a gift such as a portable hard drive, a T-shirt or a USB-heated mug bearing the word "nerd" or "geek", or indirectly referring to "geek culture", is often appreciated.
5) An SBC
What is an SBC? We wrote a social post about it some time ago: it stands for Single Board Computer. In practice, it is a very small but very complete computer with interesting performance. And the best news is that it costs very little!
You may think: "OK, but why buy a computer for a programmer who already has one?"
Simple: programmers are often also hardware enthusiasts and rarely resist the pleasure of "tinkering", of owning a mini computer like this to play with not only for programming but also to experiment with home automation applications.
We are clearly talking about a development kit such as the Raspberry Pi, which we recently talked about in relation to its latest version, or Arduino. Little technological gems offering endless possibilities for DIY projects and electronics. Or for setting up a mini server to run your own websites locally.
The applications are endless, and we are sure a programmer will hardly fail to appreciate such a gift!
5+1) A job interview
The final gift we want to suggest is a little unusual.
We know how important it is for a professional programmer, or one who would like to become one, to find a good job, one that values them. That is why, besides following one of the first three points, we suggest helping the coder you care about by giving them a... job interview!
But where do you buy a job interview?
Actually you don't buy one, and we hope no company ever thinks of selling one, because that would be crazy and unethical.
What a company can do, if anything, is give its time to consider applications. Italian innovation needs it. Not by chance, many companies in our sector already do so; we ourselves are looking for some coding profiles and welcome good applications for possible hiring.
Here you can see the profiles we are looking for.
So the gift we suggest giving a programmer is to dwell on the message, on the wish you can give them.
People who are looking for a job without finding one are not always in that situation because of insufficient hard skills, but because they may have lost hope of finding one.
Even in IT, although it is a less critical sector than others, it's not all roses, and there are many cases of programmers who cannot find a satisfying job, end up discouraged, stop looking or do so half-heartedly, without initiative and therefore not very effectively.
So when we say "give a job interview", this is exactly what we mean: don't just give them a material gift, but encourage them to keep putting themselves forward, without losing hope of finding the ideal job, in the new year too.
Give awareness
A gift you could give them is to make them "aware" of what is new in the world of work and of how people find jobs today (very differently from the past), encouraging them not to isolate themselves, to focus on networking in a positive, proactive way, and also to work on their often neglected soft skills.
Explain that a CV is no longer enough, that you also need to be active online, on platforms that we at ESSE I have recently started using more often, such as LinkedIn. That a coder must necessarily become an IT consultant (read more here).
Because what is often most appreciated at Christmas is not so much the tech gadget. Of course it's always nice to receive one, but without words of help and positive gestures it risks feeling "an end in itself".
We believe in it, and perhaps a nice gift you could give your coder friend is to put them in touch with us so we can believe in it together.
To begin with, by introducing them to this blog. And then... who knows!
(photos: Midjourney)
