I consider myself a fairly decent coder, as in I can get code to do what I want and usually manage to make it somewhat optimized. But, as any self-taught dev, I feel there's a few obvious I miss from not having had a formal education in the subject/years of experience as a junior dev.
What would you say are the main things self-taught devs lack that only formal education/industry gave you?
Ask HN: What are things self-taught devs don't get right about code/tech?
1–5 of 5 posts
Re: Ask HN: What are things self-taught devs don't get right about code/tech?
#2I'd say group-work.
I've been developing some services for some time already but was never able to easily/cleanly work in group, or even think in so.
Of course, it may be a problem related to the way I think or so, but I see it as quite common around where I work.
Re: Ask HN: What are things self-taught devs don't get right about code/tech?
#3It took me quite a while to really understand the correct assignment of responsibilities to objects and how to refactor them when things got tangled.
I would follow framework conventions, but get lost when leaving them and end up with spaghetti. The code worked, but was hard to maintain and reason about. I've now learned a lot about core OO concepts e.g SOLID, and learned about the role of sequence diagrams in mapping out what each object's role is and it's a totally different experience.
I'd recommend Practical Object Oriented Design in Ruby by Sandi Metz for a great introduction to thinking clearly about objects. Not Ruby specific - that's just the code examples, really. http://www.poodr.com/
Re: Ask HN: What are things self-taught devs don't get right about code/tech?
#4I'd say group-work. I've been developing some services for some time already but was never able to easily/cleanly work in group, or even think in so. Of course, it may be a problem related to the way I think or so, but I see it as quite common around where I work.
Yeah, having never collaborated with someone else on a project I can't really grasp how you don't get it all messed up + have others fix or maintain your code at some point. I assume style guides are nice for that, but seem a bit too much for a brand new project
Re: Ask HN: What are things self-taught devs don't get right about code/tech?
#5It took me quite a while to really understand the correct assignment of responsibilities to objects and how to refactor them when things got tangled. I would follow framework conventions, but get lost when leaving them and end up with spaghetti. The code worked, but was hard to maintain and reason about. I've now learned a lot about core OO concepts e.g SOLID, and learned about the role of sequence diagrams in mappin…
Good example! I try and apply myself to split things in self-sufficient services but can't really say it observes strict OO conventions. Also, refactoring is a newly acquired taste, and I'm not even sure I do it right. Basically just try to untangle things as the project gets bigger / more complex.
Will have a look at your link, thanks!