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Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

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Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#161

Post by randcraw »

johnfn wrote: post #27
arnoooooo wrote: post #3

I wish I had taken the time to understand LISP earlier.

Why?

I'm no expert in Lisp, but I'll hazard an answer. Compared to modern languages, Lisp is uncomplicated and follows a small coherent set of principles that allow the writing of code to flow. In contrast, coding with objects is inherently constipated -- so much of the language's state and organization is hidden you don't tend to remember where it's all been tucked away. I find myself unable to employ natural idioms as readily as I can in a non-OOPL, and that interrupts my train of thought.

And IMHO, design patterns make the constipation worse.

Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#162

Post by noir_lord »

tonescience wrote: post #134

Sitting in front of a computer 60+ hours a week is not great for your body. Take the time to understand good ergonomics, buy yourself a great keyboard (like the Kinesis Advantage), and ditch QWERTY.

Exercise as well, also Yoga, Pilates or whatever doesn't really matter which just stretching your body properly a few times a week makes a massive difference.

Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#165

Post by ifend »

tjansen wrote: post #94

Make sure you're not the only person who can work with your code. Make yourself easily replaceable, on a project level. Otherwise you will get calls during your vacation; you may not be able to work on other projects, switch teams or even get promoted - or if you do, you will still be supporting the code you wrote years ago on the side.

This. Ensure you have someone that can replace you so you can quickly move on to better things when they come up.

Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#166

Post by kzisme »

bitL wrote: post #56

There is no future in software development as a job. Move to a management position quickly, network, make friends with decision makers, don't spend too much time on crafting your skills, your reward for perfection will be more insane work and crazy interviews where one part not 100% done kicks you out. Work on your appearance, kiss up, lift, dress properly, use anti-aging cosmetics, make cool looking hairstyle, wear…

> If you really need to make software (like I do), make your own company and license/sell your work instead for >500% more than what would be your salary.

The hardest part about this (for me) is finding a project/product to begin working on.

I'm assuming you came to that sort of idea while working for others (which seems like the best way to learn).

Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#168

Post by runeks »

Haskell.

I spent at least five years chasing down "AttributeError: X has no attribute 'Blah'"-errors in Python at runtime, and came to think that this was what programming was. Three-or-so years ago I discovered Haskell, which transforms these types of errors into compile-time errors, preventing me from building the program as opposed to a sudden runtime crash.

I wonder just how many hours I've wasted doing this completely meaningless task. It's not really a problem while your programs stay small but, as they grow, I found it became the main source of time spent programming, taking away precious time defining the actual application logic.

Mind you, Haskell is fairly extreme in this regard, and I'm sure there are languages which take a similar approach, without the mathematical certainty of Haskell. But, as I've become used to the precision offered by Haskell, settling for something with fewer guarantees -- but more libraries and easier-to-digest documentation -- would feel like a great loss to me.

Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#169

Post by quarterlife »

jackmott wrote: post #140

I spent a long time never bothering to master semi-advanced text editor or ide features. Like really simple stuff like moving forward/back by a word at a time, deleting a word at a time, hopping to next/prev brace/paren, renaming globally, doing everything without needing the mouse, multi-select etc. You can go even deeper and get into deep VIM style skills but there are many very easy things to learn that let you do…

I agree with this. For the past 6 months I've been trying to master emacs and, from a personal point-of-view, seen my productivity climb. Learning emacs helped with a lot of other programs too. For example, C-a takes you to the front of the line and C-e takes you to the back which works by default in my terminal.

Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#170

Post by kidproquo »

yonah wrote: post #84

I've been coding professionally for 20 years, a lot of the comments below are legit, but I figured I'd add one or two more: - As many people point out, the languages don't matter - something better and newer will come along, and you'll need to adapt, but that's not where programmers provide value - they provide value in understanding how to solve the problems that the business side is facing. It's easy to find someon…

I completely agree on every point here. BTW, what training would you recommend for the management route?
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