Ben Halpern

Posted on May 24, 2019

Are you a fake developer? Me too.

#career #beginners

I gave this reply to another thread:

I used to be terrified to going to meetups, because I felt like a real developer when I had Google/Stack Overflow/docs etc. But in the nakedness of "standing around and talking", I felt like the fakest developer on the planet.

It helped to try and look back to a past self where I knew even less and realize how much more I knew now compared to then.

And eventually, weirdly, I stopped feeling this way altogether. Now I'm just a plain old real developer...like I always was.

I thought it might help others dealing with impostor syndrome.

Happy coding!

Top comments (54)

Yechiel Kalmenson • May 24 '19

I totally get the feeling! My apparent intelligence is directly correlated to my proximity to a working internet connection.

Obligatory XKCD:

XKCD- Extended Mind

Renato Francia Castillo • May 24 '19

Exactly! You can't memorize all that stuff. You only can make sense out of it.

Ben Halpern • May 24 '19

Yassss

Yechiel Kalmenson • May 24 '19

On a lighter note, I used to think I had impostor syndrome, but then I realized only real developers had Impostor Syndrome 😂

Sean Walker • May 24 '19

🤯

Fanny • May 24 '19

Best comment

Michiel Hendriks • May 24 '19 • Edited

I google "java string format" every time I need to do more than just %s or %d.

I google a shit load of stuff. Although often limited to specific sites because I know the answer is within that site.

As Einstein said:

"Never memorize something that you can look up."

In the office I'm known as a person who knows a lot of stuff, especially related to the software we build. At some point a colleague came up to me: "How do X in SQL for Postgres?". So I got my browser and searched for X on site:postgresql.org . "I could have done that." the colleague responded, to which I replied "You think I'd bother to remember trivial stuff like this which are just a small search away?"

Henry 👨‍💻 • May 24 '19

As the author of the original post, I can confirm that I used to have to google that all the time too hahahaha. Think I have it committed to memory now though.

Michiel Hendriks • May 24 '19

Ok, quick test. Format the date passed in the 2nd argument into 4 digit year, and 24 hour clock followed by a left padding of the 1st argument with spaces up to a minimum length of 8.

Henry 👨‍💻 • May 24 '19 • Edited

Ok, firstly I have to admit I did some googling (I meant that I'd memorised how to format strings and decimals to different decimal places haha) but, this?

LocalDate date = LocalDate.now();
LocalTime time = LocalTime.now();
System.out.println(String.format("%8tR %tY", time, date));

I guess I am a fake developer after all.

Michiel Hendriks • May 24 '19

I actually meant this

String.format("%2$tY%2$tR%1$8s", "dev.to", new Date())

Yes I googled the documentation.

Henry 👨‍💻 • May 24 '19

Ah I see, makes sense, sorry I got a little confused by the wording.

Bradley Collins • May 24 '19

My conundrum is knowing when I can consider myself a developer so that I can start calling myself a "fake developer" (I have a bad case of imposter syndrome, not just with development, but even as a professional Project Manager).

I guess I'm still in that tinkering stage (going on for like 3 years now...). I think I know enough atm to start leaving the tutorials behind, but that's scary too!

Vuild • May 24 '19

I'll make it official: You are a real dev & pm.

Just make some stuff. You are not an imposter, that is just a feeling you have when you are not focused enough on making something. Once a few people use it & a couple love it, you have done your job as a dev, then do it again. If you are challenging yourself it should be there.

If you had seen what many of the current leading tech put out in the beginning you'd be calling them imposters. So many were just early & barely competent. 🤣

It's like going to the gym, everyone here has been a beginner who couldn't write a line at one point. Everyone knows what it feels like so they want you to do well.

If you struggle to get started, offer help to someone who needs it (charity/small band/artist etc) & over promise. Then you have to do it.

Bradley Collins • May 24 '19

Thanks for that, now to just convince my brain!

Vuild • May 24 '19

Deliver something. It's not about you, it's about building something for the other billions. Even if it is a small part of progress. You landed at the right time in history to contribute a small amount.

Make a small thing (game? looking at your twitter) on repl.it & the rest of us fakes will contribute advice. Results are the cure. "I wanna make XYZ, now I made XYZ".

search.feedi.me by @daviducolo is a simple MVP & is already spreading around, actually being used by experts before he has even found a designer. Timing is good, will be busy, he is forced to improve it because we are using it & pointing it out (Davide msg me & I'll do a little design, np).

That's the best way to learn, deal with blocks/self & get actual value. If it fails (ask anyone with a good thing how many fails they had), it does & you learn. If it works, you win.

Call the game "Imposter Syndrome" (now it has a story too). if it is bad, make "Imposter Syndrome 2" 🤣.

Bradley Collins • May 24 '19

That's a good point. I do have an app idea I've been kicking around (I tend to wireframe out ideas and then put em in my pocket, forgetting about them or intentionally "forgetting" lol).

Hopefully, I can make a (first ever) post to share it soon.

Thanks for the supportive words, I tend to live in my own world and just starting to venturing out and trying to get involved in the community here.

Vuild • May 25 '19

👍

Do it Bradley. There is a massive amount of interesting dev work & scene near you. LA/SD/OC (NB/HB/Irvine too) is full of crazy risk taking interesting entrepreneurs. Fun work & experiences too. None of that beanbag, pool table nonsense. Real fun.

Ben Halpern • May 24 '19

Yep, no shame in being nervous of venturing down the path of self deprecation because it can feel too real sometimes!

Ride it out. It truly gets better, and seriously, don’t compare with others (because they’re fake too), just compare to past self who knew soooo much less!

/*Sharkie*/ • May 24 '19

I just had a job interview yesterday where I was so freaked out I forgot really basic things that I usually can rattle off. It made me feel like such a fake.

Today, I've gone and coded something I'm super proud of and feel a lot better about myself.

Imposter Syndrome is like a roller coaster - I've learned to just wait it out, it'll pass just as quickly as it came!

Areahints • May 24 '19

THIS!

programming interviews and been downvoted on stackoverflow...

dunno which one i hate more :/

/*Sharkie*/ • May 25 '19

They're both equally horrible, honestly.

Satish • May 26 '19

You have summed up Imposter Syndrome perfectly.

I can totally relate to the interview bit. I have flunked so many interviews I have lost count and always come out of interviews feeling "damn, am useless".

Syed Adnan Ahmed • May 27 '19

what is an IP address??

Help

Steve Layton • May 24 '19

I was just thinking about writing my weekly post on this topic...

Ben Halpern • May 24 '19

We always need more proof of all the fake developers out there! Go for it!

PlayBossWar • May 25 '19

I'm feeling this too, especially when finding a job.
I'm still studying right now, but I don't really feel like I'm ready to work in a company, even if I know how to deploy a complete application. The problem is that I still do a lot of research on Stackoverflow and other websites. Maybe you can tell me if companies will refuse me if I tell them I use stackoverflow as a daily ressource to make my applications work...

Phil Ashby • May 25 '19

Absolutely not! There will be follow up questions however:

where else do you look?
who else do you talk to, how would you find them?
what can you learn from your research?
how will you know: you have a good outcome / you've found a good answer?

Keep on diggin'!

Ben Halpern • May 24 '19

Here's the other post, if you're curious:

The "Fake Developer" Conundrum

Henry ・ 1 min read

#computerscience #development #career #discuss

Lots of great answers!

Henry 👨‍💻 • May 24 '19 • Edited

The fact that so many others share my feeling is really reassuring 😁

buphmin • May 24 '19

For me the "Aha!" moment came while being part of the interviewer side of the coin and asking a simple question like "what was a project you worked on". This particular person described an html page with a dropdown as quite the challenge. At that point I realized I actually knew a great many things.

Satish • May 26 '19

After years of freelancing I've joined a company full-time and now realised how many things I've picked up along the way. Its reassuring.

dAVE Inden • May 24 '19

I absolutely know this feeling! I can think back on many interactions at meetups where someone was making a joke or comment on something related to code/development and it went right over my head. I tried to laugh along with others and seem like I got it while internally I was freaking out about not knowing what was going on and not being able to add my thoughts when it seemed like everyone else was.
It is something I still deal with to this day where I get caught up wondering if people all think I have no idea what I’m talking about and if I will get caught for being an imposter at some point.