Developer Onboarding Guide¶

Welcome to the developer onboarding program! This comprehensive guide will help you build a solid foundation in engineering principles, development environments, and web technologies.

Table of Contents¶

Week 1: Introduction & Setup
Week 2: Programming Languages Fundamentals
Week 3: Operating System Basics
Week 4: Web Fundamentals
Week 5-6: Practical Projects & Code Review
Ongoing: Continuous Learning

Week 1: Introduction & Setup¶

Day 1: Welcome & Company Introduction¶

Objectives:¶

Understand company mission, values, and culture
Meet the team and understand organizational structure
Set up communication channels

Tasks:¶

Complete HR onboarding paperwork
Get access to company email and communication tools (Slack, Teams, etc.)
Meet with team lead and assigned mentor
Review company handbook and policies
Understand project workflow and development process

Resources:¶

Company documentation
Team directory
Project management tools guide

Day 2-3: Account Setup & Access¶

Objectives:¶

Get access to all necessary development tools and systems
Set up version control accounts

Tasks:¶

Create/configure GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket account
Get access to project management tools (Github Project)
Set up company VPN if required
Access to documentation repositories
Join relevant team channels
Get access to staging/testing environments

Day 4-5: Development Environment Setup¶

Objectives:¶

Set up local development environment
Configure IDE and essential tools
Learn version control basics

Tasks:¶

Install required software (see dev-environment.md)
Laravel Herd (for PHP development)
MySQL/MariaDB
Node.js and NVM
Git
Configure your IDE (VSCode, PhpStorm, etc.)
Set up debugging tools (see debuging.md)
Install WordPress debugging plugins:
User Switching
Query Monitor
WP Crontrol
WP Console
WP Mail Logging
Clone your first repository
Learn basic Git commands (clone, pull, push, commit, branch, merge)

Learning Resources:¶

Version Control Essentials:¶

# Basic Git workflow
git clone <repository-url>
git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name
git add .
git commit -m "Your descriptive commit message"
git push origin feature/your-feature-name

Week 2: Programming Languages Fundamentals¶

Day 1-2: HTML & CSS¶

Objectives:¶

Refresh HTML5 fundamentals
Master CSS3 and modern layout techniques
Learn responsive design principles

Tasks:¶

Review HTML5 semantic tags and structure
Study CSS Flexbox and Grid layouts
Learn BEM naming methodology
Complete the responsive layout exercise
Play Flexbox Froggy game
Play CSS Grid Garden game
Complete HTML & CSS Quiz

Learning Resources:¶

See html-css.md for detailed resources including:

MDN Web Docs tutorials
Flexbox and Grid guides
BEM methodology
Code standards and best practices

Practice Exercise:¶

Create a responsive three-column layout that stacks vertically on mobile devices.

Ideas to Explore:¶

What are semantic tags? Why are they used?
What are data attributes in HTML, and how can they be used in JS?
What are the differences between different position values?
What are pseudo-classes and pseudo-elements in CSS?

Day 3-4: JavaScript¶

Objectives:¶

Understand JavaScript fundamentals and ES6+ features
Learn about closures, event loop, and asynchronous programming
Practice clean coding concepts

Tasks:¶

Review JavaScript basics and ES6 syntax
Study closures and scope
Learn about the event loop and asynchronous JavaScript
Understand promises and async/await
Fix the Array Sum Function (Problem 1)
Solve JavaScript Type Coercion exercise (Problem 2)
Complete JavaScript Quiz

Learning Resources:¶

See javascript.md for:

ES6 tutorials
Clean code concepts
ECMAScript history
ESNext features

Key Concepts:¶

Closures: Functions that remember their lexical scope
Event Loop: How JavaScript handles asynchronous operations
null vs undefined: Type differences and use cases
Type Coercion: Implicit and explicit type conversion

Practice Problems:¶

Fix the array sum function bug
Understand type coercion with different operators

Day 5: PHP & MySQL¶

Objectives:¶

Refresh PHP 8 features and best practices
Understand MySQL fundamentals
Learn clean code principles in PHP

Tasks:¶

Learning Resources:¶

See php-mysql.md for:

PHP 8 tutorials
Clean code concepts for PHP
MySQL tutorials
Language references

Ideas to Explore:¶

How does PHP handle type conversions?
What is session management in PHP?
Compare PDO vs mysqli extensions
Learn about PHP regex functions

Week 3: Operating System Basics¶

Day 1-2: Command-Line Interface (CLI)¶

Objectives:¶

Master terminal/command-line operations
Understand file system navigation
Learn shell scripting basics

Tasks:¶

Learn basic CLI commands (cd, ls, mkdir, rm, cp, mv)
Understand file permissions (chmod, chown)
Practice using grep, find, and pipe operations
Learn about environment variables
Create simple shell scripts

Essential Commands:¶

# Navigation
cd /path/to/directory
ls -la
pwd

# File operations
mkdir new-folder
touch new-file.txt
cp source.txt destination.txt
mv old-name.txt new-name.txt
rm file.txt

# Searching
grep "search-term" file.txt
find . -name "*.php"

# Permissions
chmod 755 script.sh
chown user:group file.txt

Learning Resources:¶

Linux Command Line Basics

Day 3-4: Process Management & System Monitoring¶

Objectives:¶

Understand processes and threads
Learn process monitoring and management
Study inter-process communication

Tasks:¶

Learn about process lifecycle
Use ps, top, htop commands
Understand background and foreground processes
Learn about signals and kill command
Study cron jobs and task scheduling

Process Management Commands:¶

# View processes
ps aux
top
htop

# Kill processes
kill PID
killall process-name

# Background processes
command &
bg
fg

# Cron jobs
crontab -e
crontab -l

Key Concepts:¶

Process vs Thread: Processes are independent, threads share memory
Signals: SIGTERM, SIGKILL, SIGINT
Cron Jobs: Scheduled task execution
IPC: Inter-Process Communication methods

Day 5: System Resources & Performance¶

Objectives:¶

Monitor system resources
Understand memory and CPU management
Learn performance optimization basics

Tasks:¶

Monitoring Commands:¶

# System info
uname -a
df -h
free -m
du -sh *

# Logs
tail -f /var/log/syslog
journalctl -f

Week 4: Web Fundamentals¶

Day 1: How the Web Works¶

Objectives:¶

Understand the client-server architecture
Learn about HTTP/HTTPS protocols
Study request-response cycle

Tasks:¶

Learn how browsers work
Understand HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH)
Study HTTP status codes
Learn about HTTPS and SSL/TLS
Understand cookies and sessions

Learning Resources:¶

MDN: How the Web Works

HTTP Methods:¶

GET: Retrieve data
POST: Submit data
PUT: Update entire resource
PATCH: Partial update
DELETE: Remove resource

HTTP Status Codes:¶

2xx: Success (200 OK, 201 Created)
3xx: Redirection (301 Moved, 302 Found)
4xx: Client errors (400 Bad Request, 404 Not Found)
5xx: Server errors (500 Internal Server Error)

Day 2: Domain Name System (DNS)¶

Objectives:¶

Understand how DNS works
Learn about DNS records
Study domain resolution process

Tasks:¶

Learn DNS hierarchy
Understand DNS record types (A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT)
Practice using dig and nslookup commands
Learn about DNS propagation
Understand hosts file

DNS Commands:¶

# Query DNS records
dig example.com
nslookup example.com
host example.com

# Trace DNS resolution
dig +trace example.com

DNS Record Types:¶

A: Maps domain to IPv4
AAAA: Maps domain to IPv6
CNAME: Canonical name (alias)
MX: Mail exchange
TXT: Text records (SPF, DKIM)

Day 3: Web Servers¶

Objectives:¶

Understand web server functionality
Learn about Apache and Nginx
Study virtual hosts configuration

Tasks:¶

Learn web server architecture
Understand Apache vs Nginx differences
Study .htaccess rules
Learn about virtual hosts
Practice server configuration basics

Web Server Concepts:¶

Apache: Module-based, .htaccess support
Nginx: Event-driven, high performance
Virtual Hosts: Multiple sites on one server
Reverse Proxy: Load balancing and caching

Day 4: Rendering Engines & Browsers¶

Objectives:¶

Understand browser rendering process
Learn about different rendering engines
Study browser developer tools

Tasks:¶

Learn about rendering engines (Blink, WebKit, Gecko)
Understand Critical Rendering Path
Study browser developer tools
Learn about browser caching
Practice performance profiling

Browser Developer Tools:¶

Elements: Inspect and modify HTML/CSS
Console: JavaScript debugging
Network: Monitor requests
Performance: Profile rendering
Application: Storage and cache

Day 5: Email Systems & Security¶

Objectives:¶

Understand email protocols
Learn about email authentication
Study web security basics

Tasks:¶

Learn SMTP, POP3, IMAP protocols
Understand SPF, DKIM, DMARC
Study common web vulnerabilities (OWASP Top 10)
Learn about XSS, CSRF, SQL Injection
Understand CORS and security headers

Email Protocols:¶

SMTP: Sending emails (port 25, 587)
POP3: Retrieving emails (downloads)
IMAP: Retrieving emails (syncs)

Web Security Essentials:¶

Input validation and sanitization
SQL injection prevention
XSS protection
CSRF tokens
Secure password storage

Week 5-6: Practical Projects & Code Review¶

Project 1: Build a Responsive Website¶

Objectives:¶

Apply HTML, CSS, and JavaScript knowledge
Create a fully responsive multi-page website
Follow best practices and coding standards

Requirements:¶

Features to Implement:¶

Navigation menu with mobile toggle
Hero section with call-to-action
Feature cards or service sections
Contact form with validation
Footer with social links

Project 2: PHP & MySQL Application¶

Objectives:¶

Build a CRUD application
Implement database operations
Apply security best practices

Requirements:¶

Suggested Projects:¶

Todo list application
Blog with posts and comments
Simple inventory management
Contact management system

Code Review Process¶

Objectives:¶

Learn code review best practices
Give and receive constructive feedback
Improve code quality

Tasks:¶

Code Review Checklist:¶

✓ Code follows style guide
✓ Functions are small and focused
✓ Variables have meaningful names
✓ No hardcoded values
✓ Error handling implemented
✓ Security best practices followed
✓ Comments for complex logic
✓ No console.log or debug code

Ongoing: Continuous Learning¶

Daily Practices¶

Tasks:¶

Read technical articles and blogs
Follow industry leaders on social media
Participate in team discussions
Ask questions when stuck
Document learnings

Weekly Goals¶

Tasks:¶

Monthly Reviews¶

Tasks:¶

Additional Resources¶

Recommended Blogs & Websites¶

Online Learning Platforms¶

Communities to Join¶

Stack Overflow
Reddit (r/webdev, r/PHP, r/javascript)
Dev.to
GitHub Discussions
Local meetup groups

Books to Read¶

"Clean Code" by Robert C. Martin
"The Pragmatic Programmer" by Hunt & Thomas
"You Don't Know JS" series by Kyle Simpson
"Eloquent JavaScript" by Marijn Haverbeke
"JavaScript: The Good Parts" by Douglas Crockford

Assessment & Certification¶

Week-by-Week Quizzes¶

Final Project¶

Build a complete web application that demonstrates:

Full-stack development skills
Clean code practices
Security best practices
Responsive design
Database integration
Version control usage
Documentation

Completion Criteria¶

Support & Help¶

When You're Stuck¶

Search first: Google, Stack Overflow, documentation
Try debugging: Use browser dev tools, debugger
Ask your mentor: Schedule time with assigned mentor
Team chat: Post questions in team channel
Pair programming: Work with a teammate

Mentor Meeting Schedule¶

Week 1: Daily check-ins
Week 2-4: 3 times per week
Week 5-6: 2 times per week
Ongoing: Weekly 1-on-1s

Success Tips¶

Ask Questions: No question is too small or silly
Practice Daily: Coding is a skill that improves with practice
Read Code: Learn from others' code in the codebase
Document: Keep notes on what you learn
Be Patient: Learning takes time, don't rush
Stay Curious: Explore beyond the curriculum
Collaborate: Work with teammates, pair program
Give Back: Help other new developers when you can

Feedback¶

We're constantly improving this onboarding program. Please share your feedback: - What worked well? - What was confusing? - What would you add or change? - How can we improve?

Welcome aboard, and happy coding! 🚀