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Ask HN: How can I grow as an engineer without good seniors to learn from?

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Re: Ask HN: How can I grow as an engineer without good seniors to learn from?

#271

Post by DelightOne »

humanfromearth9 wrote: post #232

I'll speak for software development, but in principle it's the same for any other domain. Read about your technologies. A lot. When I started working (about 3 to 4 years) , I spent 20-30 minutes a day reading DZone articles about Java, software design, architecture, OOP. Persist and do it daily. Repetition and habit are key. And be focused. Understand everything in every article, do not accept not understanding every…

> And be focused. Understand everything in every article, do not accept not understanding everything.

I read my first programming books that way. Always ask "Why is that word here" and "Why is that ! there". Made me see details.

Re: Ask HN: How can I grow as an engineer without good seniors to learn from?

#272

Post by ffsm8 »

maerF0x0 wrote: post #264
__loam wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe it was Knuth who said practice informs theory and theory informs practice. You need both.

And there's an adage updated with modern understanding "Perfect practice makes perfect" . It's not just repetitions but ensuring you train the patterns you wish to do automatically next time. Excellent code is slow to write, the first 10 times, but eventually it's just as fast as junky code.

You should keep in mind that code quality is mostly subjective.

You can create a PR that coworker 1 loves because it hides the complexity and then have coworker 2 come in and say that it's complete garbage, because while the complexity is hidden, it still has to be understood in this context, only increasing the difficulty of working with the project

I.e using a state-machine vs a switch/case to determine a status attribute.

Both viewpoints are valid. Some code is objectively terrible, but most discussions on code quality are massively overblown

Re: Ask HN: How can I grow as an engineer without good seniors to learn from?

#274

Post by jcutrell »

Use ChatGPT / Claude differently. Instead of prompting it to help you code, prompt it to coach you as a junior engineer, and to stay broad. Focus on principles, etc. Remind you of different pros and cons, and discuss things thoroughly with you. Explore alternatives, etc.

This kind of prompting changes the conversation entirely.

Re: Ask HN: How can I grow as an engineer without good seniors to learn from?

#275

Post by Ilikenewaccts »

If you're truly a leader then hire one. You should always strive to hire people smarter than you, that's a talent in of itself, and a good senior manager will reward you for doing it consistently. It's a great market to find people with experience right now.

Re: Ask HN: How can I grow as an engineer without good seniors to learn from?

#276

Post by [deleted] »

xmprt wrote: post #245
dahdum wrote: post #204

> But even then, I'm afraid I am not producing the software to the highest standards of the industry Realistically, you’re not, but does that matter at all to the company? I’ve had your role in a small company, the job wasn’t really about the tech. Unless there is a dedicated product manager, that is your role now too, and it’s one to take seriously. You have enviable freedom, do not waste it. Be straight with your b…

It probably doesn't matter to the company but it matters a lot to OP's career growth. If they ever want to switch to a different company then it's important to have strong tech fundamentals unless they're just going to stay in the oil industry.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How can I grow as an engineer without good seniors to learn from?

#277

Post by bunderbunder »

jjice wrote: post #235
humanfromearth9 wrote: post #232

I'll speak for software development, but in principle it's the same for any other domain. Read about your technologies. A lot. When I started working (about 3 to 4 years) , I spent 20-30 minutes a day reading DZone articles about Java, software design, architecture, OOP. Persist and do it daily. Repetition and habit are key. And be focused. Understand everything in every article, do not accept not understanding every…

> Application of theory is key. I often see people either get caught up in theory without practice, or proclaim that it's all about experience. Actual time spent writing code is probably the most important thing, but having some foundational ideas and getting to skip some things you've have to painfully learn yourself by reading and then getting to apply them directly is huge.

There has actually been some research on this. I didn't save the link, but the paper I found showed that time spent reading code is a much stronger predictor of skill development than time spent writing code.

I'm guessing in practice it's probably comparable to music and language learning, which seem to work similarly in this respect. You do need to spend time practicing by doing, but having that be most of your skill development time is sub-optimal for people who aren't already at an advanced level. Most your time should actually be spent carefully observing what the experts are doing. Because that's what builds the intuition you need to critique your own performance. Which, in turn, acts as an enormous force multiplier for your active practice.

That's arguably why contributing to open source projects is such a great method. Because, unlike drilling yourself on practice problems, the vast majority of time spent contributing to an existing project will be spent reading and understanding the code that's already there.

Re: Ask HN: How can I grow as an engineer without good seniors to learn from?

#279

Post by intelVISA »

jjice wrote: post #235
humanfromearth9 wrote: post #232

I'll speak for software development, but in principle it's the same for any other domain. Read about your technologies. A lot. When I started working (about 3 to 4 years) , I spent 20-30 minutes a day reading DZone articles about Java, software design, architecture, OOP. Persist and do it daily. Repetition and habit are key. And be focused. Understand everything in every article, do not accept not understanding every…

> Application of theory is key. I often see people either get caught up in theory without practice, or proclaim that it's all about experience. Actual time spent writing code is probably the most important thing, but having some foundational ideas and getting to skip some things you've have to painfully learn yourself by reading and then getting to apply them directly is huge.

Not just time spent writing code but variety; the 1YOE ten times trap of some 'seniors' is very real.

Re: Ask HN: How can I grow as an engineer without good seniors to learn from?

#280

Post by intelVISA »

betimsl wrote: post #278

Looks like OP is completely unaware of what a gift has been handed to him directly.

Running a one man startup without the experience, network or compensation is a gift..?

This is a bit of a curse, not the worst role to land on but I would not get too comfy and try get into a tech company in a year or two.

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