Communicate consistently.
Ask HN: Senior developers, what would you tell a younger you?
81–88 of 88 posts
Re: Ask HN: Senior developers, what would you tell a younger you?
#82Avoid the desire to do a rewrite. Knowledge is baked into the existing code that you could be tossing away for no reason. If things are reasonably encapsulated, there is absolutely no reason to rewrite everything.
I cringe when developers call for a rewrite. It's a massive red flag to me that they aren't team players and will be lazy. They won't take the time to read or understand things. Rewrite calls make more sense after they have read the code in the first place to being with.
Re: Ask HN: Senior developers, what would you tell a younger you?
#83Don't let imposter syndrome hold you back - it's not bad to check yourself, and imposter syndrome can certainly help you as well - but when it prevents you from even trying to get ahead, it can delay your career trajectory significantly. Be confident in what you do know.
This is a good one -- I think there's a point after a few years where one realizes just how little they actually know, even if they are otherwise quite proficient. It's ok to not be the smartest guy in the room or have the ability to come up with your own algorithms, compilers, etc...
keep on learning and make use of what you learned, and don't be afraid to be less than perfect and make mistakes.
Re: Ask HN: Senior developers, what would you tell a younger you?
#841. Be very careful around people who are charismatic; make sure their actions correlate with the things they say.
2. Your manager can make or break your career. If you have a bad manager, you need to get out or you will always be disappointed when it's time for promotions and raises.
3. Soft skills matter way more than the hard ones. You don't have to be a good public speaker, but you need to know how to navigate difficult situations.
Re: Ask HN: Senior developers, what would you tell a younger you?
#85* If you look around and your the best person on the team, start looking for another job -- it will be a lot harder to get better if you dont. * Switch employers every 2 years. Do not have loyalty unless you have stock options. * Contribute to open source for the learning experience * Use what works, dont focus on the hot new trends (redis, mysql, django, ror vs express, mongodb, etc.). * learn at least one functiona…
> * Use what works, dont focus on the hot new trends (redis, mysql, django, ror vs express, mongodb, etc.).
You consider mysql, django, and ror as "hot new trends"? What databases systems and web frameworks do you consider not to be "hot new trends"?
I first used mysql 15 years ago, and it was already an established project at that point.
Re: Ask HN: Senior developers, what would you tell a younger you?
#86* If you look around and your the best person on the team, start looking for another job -- it will be a lot harder to get better if you dont. * Switch employers every 2 years. Do not have loyalty unless you have stock options. * Contribute to open source for the learning experience * Use what works, dont focus on the hot new trends (redis, mysql, django, ror vs express, mongodb, etc.). * learn at least one functiona…
> * Use what works, dont focus on the hot new trends (redis, mysql, django, ror vs express, mongodb, etc.). You consider mysql, django, and ror as "hot new trends"? What databases systems and web frameworks do you consider not to be "hot new trends"? I first used mysql 15 years ago, and it was already an established project at that point.
no, im saying express, mongodb, etc. edis, mysql, django are new are established
Re: Ask HN: Senior developers, what would you tell a younger you?
#87* If you find yourself doing maintenance work, move to a new job
* Study new things 8 hours per week
* You are not the R&D department for the next cool thing, use established tech to build your own cutting edge product.
* Take stock in lieu of salary and go all-in
* Focus on reduced cycle time for development; e.g., develop against small representative datasets
* Learn new programming languages regularly; i.e., don't be a C# expert without also knowing python, R, scala, perl, Go, etc..
* Relationships are very important, learn to be social, it isn't always easy
* Learn to ask questions rather than make statements with your team members
* Never make things personal or question people into a corner, the goal is larger than the current issue
* Long-term employment in technology isn't. You really need to try out new companies from time to time and challenge yourself.
* Be a servant leader to everyone around you.
* Mind dependencies, resolving constraints gives you immediate freedom and accelerates progress
ps: great thread.
Re: Ask HN: Senior developers, what would you tell a younger you?
#88You will learn far more and work on more interesting things by doing side projects than you generally ever will at work. This will result in having a better resume and getting more interesting jobs as a result.