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Ask HN: I'm a solo junior dev, what should i focus on?

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Re: Ask HN: I'm a solo junior dev, what should i focus on?

#11

Post by mod »

basdevries wrote: post #9
valarauca1 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really do support your last statement (even if you made it as a joke). OP stated s/he comes from an OOP background, and expanding into FP is a big step into expanding the ways you think about programming, and gives you new tools to solve problems with. My job is still OOP, but the experience I've gained learning FP has helped me a lot to come up with different solutions I may have never thought up before.

I am excited to dive into FP, however, there doesn't seem to be a 'good' language yet. I noticed that oCaml is running up but that's still a bit too much 'scientific' as you might say. eg it doesn't really come close to anything web/app related. If I'm wrong, please tell me! I'd love to do FP.

A lot of people are swearing by Clojure.

I've been learning, myself, and really enjoying myself.

It seems to have a pretty solid web ecosystem, can use the best parts of java, and is a lisp with optional mutability for when you feel you need it.

I'm not disappointed I chose it, I can say that much.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a solo junior dev, what should i focus on?

#12

Post by pil4rin »

Depends on your planned career path- do you want to run a business, or be a developing badass? Few can do both extremely well- If its development, move towards learning more about Software architecture, including SOLID principles, Patterns, best practices(as it pertains to Computer Science as a whole, not a particular technology or framework). While doing this, blog about it so your current and future clients can see your humble nature (rare for up-and-coming- to experienced developers) and progress. More importantly, if you think about doing a personal project or have an idea for an app- don't focus on making money, focus on the knowledge and experience gained through the work itself.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a solo junior dev, what should i focus on?

#13

Post by pil4rin »

pil4rin wrote: post #12

Depends on your planned career path- do you want to run a business, or be a developing badass? Few can do both extremely well- If its development, move towards learning more about Software architecture, including SOLID principles, Patterns, best practices(as it pertains to Computer Science as a whole, not a particular technology or framework). While doing this, blog about it so your current and future clients can see…

also- check out meetup, find others in your area that are interested in development and grow together.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a solo junior dev, what should i focus on?

#14

Post by victorhn »

pil4rin wrote: post #12

Depends on your planned career path- do you want to run a business, or be a developing badass? Few can do both extremely well- If its development, move towards learning more about Software architecture, including SOLID principles, Patterns, best practices(as it pertains to Computer Science as a whole, not a particular technology or framework). While doing this, blog about it so your current and future clients can see…

how do you learn how to make software architecture decisions and learn solid principles? I am struggling with this myself, my current position is about solving bugs and maintenance, and while this may be a godd position to learn how more seniors implement certain features i often feel that i am not learning how the decisions about the architecture, and due to the senior members working remotely it's difficult to ask them about it.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a solo junior dev, what should i focus on?

#15

Post by brudgers »

valarauca1 wrote: post #5
basdevries wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How should one go about 'training' that? Is it experience, or are there books etc? I'd love to dive into that.

Tons of online resources. Books are all a bit dense. The ones I'll suggest are bit hard to get into, I'm a huge fan of The Art of Computer Programming Vol 1-3 all a master piece, but very very dense, very very mathy and challenging even if you've taken college level discrete mathematics courses. But a HUGE amount of the field is contained within them, and the information density is staggering. Donald Knuth's writing…

If I were to recommend three of the four volumes of TAoCP, I would drop Volume 2: Semi-Numerical Algorithms in favor of Volume 4a: Combinatorial Algorithms, Part 1. Developers, junior or otherwise are simply less likely to find themselves in situations where there is a good reason to implement a psuedo-random number generator or a complete numeric system than to wind up dealing with problems of non-polynomial order or boolean functions.

Of course, I don't know why anyone would recommend three but not all four if that were an option, so I guess I really could just say, there's no reason not to get volume 4a too, for a person heading down that road.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a solo junior dev, what should i focus on?

#16

Post by lukaslalinsky »

I think the best way to learn to be a better programmer in your position is to find a more stable job with a good team of people. Learn from other people's experiences and mistakes. Working as a freelancer early doesn't have many advantages if you want to build a career, in my opinion.

Other than that - Keep trying different things. Go deeper with the frameworks and libraries you use to understand why do they work the way they do. Read about things that are interesting to you and you have some use for. When you have a problem, don't just "fix" it, understand exactly where, why and when it's happening.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a solo junior dev, what should i focus on?

#17

Post by MalcolmDiggs »

lukaslalinsky wrote: post #16

I think the best way to learn to be a better programmer in your position is to find a more stable job with a good team of people. Learn from other people's experiences and mistakes. Working as a freelancer early doesn't have many advantages if you want to build a career, in my opinion. Other than that - Keep trying different things. Go deeper with the frameworks and libraries you use to understand why do they work th…

I'd agree with that. My first 4-5 years as a programmer were solo. Then I worked on a team for a year. I learned more in that year than I had in the other years combined.

If being on a team fulltime isn't possible, you can always contribute to guided/managed open-source projects in your spare time, or go to meetups, hackathons etc. Anything you can do to get around more-experienced devs will help you in the long run.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a solo junior dev, what should i focus on?

#19

Post by codygman »

valarauca1 wrote: post #10
basdevries wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am excited to dive into FP, however, there doesn't seem to be a 'good' language yet. I noticed that oCaml is running up but that's still a bit too much 'scientific' as you might say. eg it doesn't really come close to anything web/app related. If I'm wrong, please tell me! I'd love to do FP.

Common LISP is a great language, but it spoils you since it has so few restrictions, its kinda in a class of its own because its just so unrestricted. Scala is a fine language, but limited, largely serves as gate way drug to other FP languages. Its a very good starting point. Haskell is odd and the type system is I feel restrictive. Also the community is really addicted to big mathy words. I do love its notation at t…

> Haskell is odd and the type system is I feel restrictive.

Can you elaborate on this? After using Haskell for some time now I can't seem to come up with use cases where the type system is/would be restrictive.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a solo junior dev, what should i focus on?

#20

Post by codygman »

hackerboos wrote: post #18

You need a mentor. Freelancing as a junior dev is not a good move. Find a full time position somewhere that will train you and give you access to more experienced developers.

As a counterpoint anecdote, I did freelancing as a junior dev and believe I've turned out alright ;)
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