A bunch of programming advice I'd give to myself 15 years ago
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Re: A bunch of programming advice I'd give to myself 15 years ago
#2I rarely see advice with which I wholly agree. This is one of those rare times that I fully agree with everything g. Good seasoned advice from someone that has been doing this fo r a while.
Re: A bunch of programming advice I'd give to myself 15 years ago
#3Those are way too abstract advice when you start programming.
You can only understand them because you lived those situations, which implies experience you don't have.
I would say (specifically to my young self):
- There is no substitute for doing. Less tutorials, more coding.
- Stop being obsessed with quality: you are not at the level where you can provide it yet. Do dirty. Do badly. But ship. Some people will be mad at you, and they are right. But do it anyway. Yes, reboot the servers with users on it. Yes, commit the spaghetti. You'll reach the level you want to avoid doing all this.
- The users don't care about the tech. They care about the result.
- Doing something for the hell of it is worth it. Just make it separate from the point above so they don't conflict.
- Programming is a battle against complexity. Again and again. Put that on a post-it. Make your decisions based on it. You will suck at it, but try.
- You have imposter syndrome because you are an imposter. You are really bad. It's ok, doctors hurt people for years while learning to save them. Don't sweat it. It will come.
- You need faith it will work out. On the long run, you'll get better at this. But in the short term also. You'll find the bug. You'll figure out the solution. It will happen if you keep at it even if it can be frustratingly long and unfair. Even if it doesn't feel like that right now.
- The right team is way more important than the right tech. If you are alone, get in touch with people who will lift you up from time to time.
Re: A bunch of programming advice I'd give to myself 15 years ago
#4Those are way too abstract advice when you start programming. You can only understand them because you lived those situations, which implies experience you don't have. I would say (specifically to my young self): - There is no substitute for doing. Less tutorials, more coding. - Stop being obsessed with quality: you are not at the level where you can provide it yet. Do dirty. Do badly. But ship. Some people will be m…
A bit snarky, but I would add
- don’t read opinions from a list and take it as gospel. Adapt to the jobs you’re in, and you’ll develop your own opinions, but now with experience to explain why. Opinions are formed by getting repeatedly hit with the consequences of your (and other’s) decisions, and everyone just has to take enough hits till the pattern seeking area of your brain takes over.
Re: A bunch of programming advice I'd give to myself 15 years ago
#5Those are way too abstract advice when you start programming. You can only understand them because you lived those situations, which implies experience you don't have. I would say (specifically to my young self): - There is no substitute for doing. Less tutorials, more coding. - Stop being obsessed with quality: you are not at the level where you can provide it yet. Do dirty. Do badly. But ship. Some people will be m…
* This * - The users don't care about the tech. They care about the result.
Re: A bunch of programming advice I'd give to myself 15 years ago
#6[deleted]
Re: A bunch of programming advice I'd give to myself 15 years ago
#7Those are way too abstract advice when you start programming. You can only understand them because you lived those situations, which implies experience you don't have. I would say (specifically to my young self): - There is no substitute for doing. Less tutorials, more coding. - Stop being obsessed with quality: you are not at the level where you can provide it yet. Do dirty. Do badly. But ship. Some people will be m…
These seem just as abstract as mine, if not more so, plus at least I provided examples where I could. Feels weird to criticize my post for general advice + examples, then come up with your own general advice without examples.
Also this was just an analogy I know, but doctors definitely don’t hurt people for years while trying to save them, very different profession from ours, if anything doctors earlier in their career have been shown to have better results.
Re: A bunch of programming advice I'd give to myself 15 years ago
#8Those are way too abstract advice when you start programming. You can only understand them because you lived those situations, which implies experience you don't have. I would say (specifically to my young self): - There is no substitute for doing. Less tutorials, more coding. - Stop being obsessed with quality: you are not at the level where you can provide it yet. Do dirty. Do badly. But ship. Some people will be m…
A bit snarky, but I would add - don’t read opinions from a list and take it as gospel. Adapt to the jobs you’re in, and you’ll develop your own opinions, but now with experience to explain why. Opinions are formed by getting repeatedly hit with the consequences of your (and other’s) decisions, and everyone just has to take enough hits till the pattern seeking area of your brain takes over.
I agree, and would say is equivalent to:
> - There is no substitute for doing. Less tutorials, more coding.
Re: A bunch of programming advice I'd give to myself 15 years ago
#9Those are way too abstract advice when you start programming. You can only understand them because you lived those situations, which implies experience you don't have. I would say (specifically to my young self): - There is no substitute for doing. Less tutorials, more coding. - Stop being obsessed with quality: you are not at the level where you can provide it yet. Do dirty. Do badly. But ship. Some people will be m…
I have a very severe case of impostor syndrome. :(
Re: A bunch of programming advice I'd give to myself 15 years ago
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
A bit snarky, but I would add - don’t read opinions from a list and take it as gospel. Adapt to the jobs you’re in, and you’ll develop your own opinions, but now with experience to explain why. Opinions are formed by getting repeatedly hit with the consequences of your (and other’s) decisions, and everyone just has to take enough hits till the pattern seeking area of your brain takes over.
I agree, and would say is equivalent to: > - There is no substitute for doing. Less tutorials, more coding.
Yes true. Mostly just opining on the “list of everything you gotta’ know” is a bit TOO concrete IMO. (As opposed to too abstract)
I was quoting out of similar things years ago at the start of my career, “it should be done this way because X said it” didn’t help me at all.
It feels like insulation against being called too junior, since, you can just wholesale adopt someone else’s list of ideas and you’re good. But making mistakes because you’re new to the career is precisely what forms the base of those opinions in the first place.