Great article! Well put-together/organized and informative!
"When do you become a developer?"
I attempted to answer this question a couple years ago on medium: How To Be A Computer Programmer. However the best way to answer this is with a quick story:
When I first started programming (I'm self taught also) and even after I landed my first development job my boss asked me to write an application that would be immediately released to the customer. After a week of working on the app (24/7) I panicked just before turning it over to my manager. I frantically asked every other veteran programmer: "Is this it? Is this good enough to release to the customer?".
Finally, after several people refused to answer, or answered with "I don't know, ask your manager." I asked the most senior developer, the 'hot shot', highly educated, highest paid software engineer in the company: "Is this it? Is this good enough to release to the customer?".
His reply was: "Does it work?"
I reluctantly said: "Yea, I think so(?)"
The expert declared: "Cool.... Ship it!"
And so I began to worry less about 'feeling like' a developer and just continued to write the best code I possibly could given the resources afforded to me.
"I thought this feeling would slowly fade over time as I learned more"
Yea.... I'd say if you're doing it right, developing, that feeling will never, ever go away. You will always need to learn/re-learn things from scratch. You will always ride an emotional roller coaster with every project. And you'll always feel 'on top of the world!' when your project is successful at it's task.
My 2 cents... If you are asking this question, you very much are already a developer.
Thank you! I love the story you shared. I was just speaking to a friend today about how I feel comfortable creating my own projects, but don't know how I would hold up in a paid or team environment, mostly because of confidence. You're right that regardless of how senior you are, it's a continuous learning process.
I like this sentiment as well:
If you are asking this question, you very much are already a developer.
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
We're a place where coders share, stay up-to-date and grow their careers.
Great article! Well put-together/organized and informative!
"When do you become a developer?"
I attempted to answer this question a couple years ago on medium: How To Be A Computer Programmer. However the best way to answer this is with a quick story:
Finally, after several people refused to answer, or answered with "I don't know, ask your manager." I asked the most senior developer, the 'hot shot', highly educated, highest paid software engineer in the company: "Is this it? Is this good enough to release to the customer?".
And so I began to worry less about 'feeling like' a developer and just continued to write the best code I possibly could given the resources afforded to me.
"I thought this feeling would slowly fade over time as I learned more"
Yea.... I'd say if you're doing it right, developing, that feeling will never, ever go away. You will always need to learn/re-learn things from scratch. You will always ride an emotional roller coaster with every project. And you'll always feel 'on top of the world!' when your project is successful at it's task.
My 2 cents... If you are asking this question, you very much are already a developer.
Thank you! I love the story you shared. I was just speaking to a friend today about how I feel comfortable creating my own projects, but don't know how I would hold up in a paid or team environment, mostly because of confidence. You're right that regardless of how senior you are, it's a continuous learning process.
I like this sentiment as well: