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Ask HN: What is your best advice for a junior software developer?

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Re: Ask HN: What is your best advice for a junior software developer?

#131

Post by sanitycheck »

alias_neo wrote: post #80
ck425 wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disregard that first piece of advice. You'll hear a lot of bullshit about how only people who love programming and want to spend all their free time building things should be software engineers. Ignore them, ignore the imposter syndrome and make sure you have a life outside of work - preferable doing something that isn't just more programming. It'll make you a more rounded individual and in the long run a better deve…

I'm not suggesting someone spend all of their time writing code outside of work, I certainly don't, so please don't label what I'm saying as such, or as "bullshit". Yes employers pull that crap, and want you to sell your soul, that's not what I'm suggesting. I don't think programming is something you become good at simply by doing your 9-5. I've worked with a lot of 9-5'ers and they're rarely the best or most rewarde…

I don't disagree with most of what you say, however: If you have a (code) problem at the end of the day it's often best to just stop - maybe even finish early. When you sit down in the morning more often than not it'll seem much easier to fix, your subconscious will have been working on it overnight.

That's better than sitting there for another hour or two in the evening getting increasingly tired and ineffective, missing dinner, annoying your partner, etc.

Re: Ask HN: What is your best advice for a junior software developer?

#132

Post by XorNot »

Bahamut wrote: post #99
XorNot wrote: post #49

On 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'm probably over-selling malicious - other posters have covered the mundane reasons better.

But anytime I've suddenly been stuck feeling "wait how was I doing the wrong thing?" the overwhelming reason has been traceable to the fact I can't point to any specific bits of correspondence which justify why I was doing something a particular way because it was all ephemeral.

For me, it's a workplace confidence builder - there's not a lot of light between a manager forgetting something you said, or hearing something different, from your perspective when the question posed is "why did you do a thing?". In those moments, being able to point to specific records of correspondence means the discussion now has a concrete starting point - even if it's going to turn out you absolutely misinterpreted what was asked.

Re: Ask HN: What is your best advice for a junior software developer?

#134

Post by ajcodez »

ajcodez wrote: post #115

Learn 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.

Also - Learn how to set up and configure servers not just how to write code but how to run code and keep it running. If you know how to use basic programs like SSH and NGINX it can only help you.

Also - I have been coding for 10 years now (as of September). It’s interesting to see as I gain experience the biggest differences looking back are (1) I choose to use more git branches and release 1:10 ratio smaller commits. (2) I try not to ever go back to “refactor” or clean up code and instead spend time on changes to accomplish the next feature or bug fix. (3) I never plan ahead and think “what happens if ...” instead focus on the present. In reality the future often never comes or it looks different than expected.

Re: Ask HN: What is your best advice for a junior software developer?

#138

Post by whamlastxmas »

RightMillennial wrote: post #121
baccredited wrote: post #70

Save 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...

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the math. Are you suggesting that you spend only 1/26 of your after tax income, and save the hypothetical remaining 25/26?

He's saying if my expenses are $30,000 a year I need to save up $750,000 and I can retire.

Re: Ask HN: What is your best advice for a junior software developer?

#139

Post by c2h5oh »

Be happy about working on things that are feel way to hard - it means you're learning fast.

Write code for fun. Find a hobby away from computer for sanity.

Consider the risk of burnout - even with great mentor and challenging work a toxic environment is not worth it long term.

Care about ergonomy of your workspace now - adjusting height of monitor costs you nothing, good keyboard and wrist rest cost less than you make before lunch. Carpal tunnel, ulnar neuropathy and back problems will start hitting you and your friends when you are teaching peak of your career and are no fun in general.

Re: Ask HN: What is your best advice for a junior software developer?

#140

Post by niroast »

rkangel wrote: post #127

Read at least HackerNews and possibly some other tech news site regularly. And then make sure to not get too caught up in the hype for new stuff. As someone working in technology, you are going to be learning new stuff continually (or your usefulness is going to diminish over time). By keeping up to date with tech news, you get a lot of context for what people are using, what's coming down the pipe etc. You may end u…

Do you have any recommendations for news sites that focus on embedded software? I've recently started a career focusing on embedded tech but most of the interesting stuff I've come across online seems to be confined to blogs from the 90's/00's
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