have an exit strategy. development is something people are passionate about in a love it / hate it way. it's a hard job. that means you have to be able to get out of it someday. sure you might be promoted, but that's not within your control. so i saved, i bought a cheap to rent out most of it to roommates. in a few years i wont be doing it for the money anymore.
Ask HN: What is your best advice for a junior software developer?
111–120 of 460 posts
Re: Ask HN: What is your best advice for a junior software developer?
#112Write as little code as possible. But make sure that whatever code you do write is readable.
Re: Ask HN: What is your best advice for a junior software developer?
#113All that code you write for the man you'll never see again when you leave. Limit your pride, but not your quality of work of course. This includes limiting overwork. If your financial situation and the market allows for it, find a job that is not over taxing, and if you're a programmer by hobby and have the time, write some open source stuff. Aside from career benefits, it is fulfilling to review code you wrote in the past instead of just corporate memories of it. It's extra rewarding if you're like some people that, while you improve, your past code is still of very high quality. If you're the type that relishes leaving a legacy, just be mindful of its visibility.
Re: Ask HN: What is your best advice for a junior software developer?
#114Save 25X your annual spending and you can retire. If you invest to earn 7%/yr (on avg), you can withdraw 4% forever. Read the book The Simple Path to Wealth, or the basics in this blog post. http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-sim...
Could anyone explain this a little for me, please? Does this mean you save 93% of your income and only use 7%? From the website, there is a graph that shows how many years you supposedly have to save for retirement but it does not take into account the actual amount you make. As a "junior" dev, if you save 97% of X peanuts you still have peanuts.
It means calculate what you spend annually, and save until you have 25x that amount.
Re: Ask HN: What is your best advice for a junior software developer?
#115Learn sales, marketing, design, basic accounting. Basically learn everything tangential so you know why you are writing code not just how to write code. It’s a means to an end. It could be as simple as reading books or as intense as taking online courses.
Re: Ask HN: What is your best advice for a junior software developer?
#116As you start to gain some experience it can be tempting to think your particular philosophy, framework, solution to a particular problem is the right one. Over time, you'll find lots of you assumptions and beliefs that you thought were beyond doubt change. Keep an open mind and don't assume you're right.
Re: Ask HN: What is your best advice for a junior software developer?
#117On the slightly more negative side: everything management tells you that's not in an email will have "never happened" when it's convenient. When you have a conversation with anyone where you think a plan was verbally agreed on, before doing anything your first action is to go back to your desk, write it in an email, send it to them as confirmation and find at least 1 other person, ideally in your reporting line, whic…
I have never had to do this nor seen anything like this behavior in my 6 years of work in the industry. This sounds incredibly in bad faith, and I would probably take it as a signal to go job search for a better work environment if I witnessed this in my day to day.
I think that's naive. The parent comment phrases it a bit more cynically than I would have, but it's in everyone's best interests to casually document plans and intentions. People forget, people misremember, people promise things without fully thinking through the implications in the moment. A friendly email restating the key points of a discussion is conscientious, professional, and keeps everyone on the same page.
I'd personally be very suspicious of anyone who tells you not to do that. There is literally no downside unless you're trying to hide something.
Re: Ask HN: What is your best advice for a junior software developer?
#118Know your tools. Be a good teammate - this is a team sport. If you're going to do something more than once, automate it. Get paid for the lines of code you don't write, rather than the ones you do.
Re: Ask HN: What is your best advice for a junior software developer?
#119Polish your communication skills. Writing in particular. It will help you, and help others, when you explain yourself or create documentation.
Re: Ask HN: What is your best advice for a junior software developer?
#120Hands off the keyboard.
There's a lot of learning to be had in taking the time to read and understand others code, in taking the time to really grok any brownfield system that you're working on, and in spending some time with the documentation.
There's a lot of work you can save yourself by taking the time to assemble a clear plan of attack before you start hacking.
(And if you're doing BDD, writing Gherkin files counts as hacking.)
There's a whole lot of rework, wasted effort, and end-user aggravation that you can save by really getting to know the business domain you're operating in.