Don't optimize too early, no matter how bad the itch (or clever your solution). Chances are that part could change and your optimization could have implications elsewhere or on features not yet added
Ask HN: Senior developers, what would you tell a younger you?
31–40 of 88 posts
Re: Ask HN: Senior developers, what would you tell a younger you?
#321. Negotiate for your salary. Once got an offer I accepted which turned out to be (at least) 20% below what company was willing to pay me if only I'd asked.
2. Always test your code, and if you're writing in language you're new with get someone else to code review it. Especially if you're bugs are likely to break your company's main customer.
3. Technology is worthless if it doesn't help you achieve your goals. Software is worthless if it doesn't help you achieve your goals. Figure out your goals first.
4. Put another way, ask "why", don't just code.
(These are all based on actual mistakes I've made. You can get the full story of these and other mistakes I've made at https://softwareclown.com).
Re: Ask HN: Senior developers, what would you tell a younger you?
#33Don’t ever bother learning or using object-oriented programming.
Care to explain?
I've wasted many, many years thinking OOP is the right way to do things and just realized in 99% it's the wrong approach to develop software. In the end you always end up in a big mess of classes, dependencies. And every now and then new there are new best-practices, design patterns or solutions to fix the problems only to make it even more complex.
Please watch this video. I don't agree 100% but with most of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM1iUe6IofM
Re: Ask HN: Senior developers, what would you tell a younger you?
#34* Get it to work first. Make it pretty later.
* Don't waste time & energy learning trendy tech. Hold your excitement and ask yourself: "what can I do with it that I can't do with my existing arsenal and is it worth the ROI?"
* Learn to identify companies that are nothing more than feature factories
* Ownership is better than a paycheque. It means control over your decisions and work quality.
* When working at corp/consulting, focus on the things you can control and the people you can influence. The rest is out of your hands and not worth the emotional investment.
* Learn to let go. Tech gets out of date. Software you spent years working on gets replaced. Stuff stops working because of dependencies down the line. Nothing lasts forever.
* Focus on getting better and investing in yourself.
Re: Ask HN: Senior developers, what would you tell a younger you?
#35Don't spend so much time coasting in jobs you're not really interested in, because you think it's the best you can do, and it pays well. The years go by fast. Be dogged about building skills in areas of real interest, getting into that sector, and meeting people who are focused on similar things.
Re: Ask HN: Senior developers, what would you tell a younger you?
#36For god's sake, don't pick up that Php job.....
Re: Ask HN: Senior developers, what would you tell a younger you?
#37Focus more on people skills. Took me too long to figure that one out. :)
Always be working on the "soft skills" (people skills, communication skills, writing, etc.) The "hard skills" may come easy for you, but they will only take you so far in life.
Re: Ask HN: Senior developers, what would you tell a younger you?
#38* Learn to be a better writer from start
* People are more important than code
* Don't fall in love with specific technology
* Do not rush, force yourself to slow down
Re: Ask HN: Senior developers, what would you tell a younger you?
#39* choose work for the people, not the money
* always be learning, but focus on architecture and design, not implementation specifics
* work hard, but make sure you don't forget to live
* always do a good job, never burn any bridges, and in 10 years things will be great
Re: Ask HN: Senior developers, what would you tell a younger you?
#40Seek out and deliver value. Know why and how what you're building is valuable.