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Miguel Stevens
Miguel Stevens

Posted on

Uncertainty about starting development on a big task

Can anyone relate to the following scenario:
You receive a task, but you have no idea where to start (it's a big chunk of code that has to be written). After a more senior developer tells you the steps you should take, you still feel they're too big to deconstruct and start, which makes you anxious and causes uncertainty, even imposter syndrome. How should this be handled?

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thisisvladan profile image
Vladan Paunovic

Been there.
Moreover, I am very sure all of us have been there at many points in our careers.
However, as for many diseases this one has its cure as well.
The simple rule in software development weather it is bug fixing, chasing bugs or implementing a big new feature is - divide and conquer!
So, split your feature into very small chunks, so small that they make perfect sense to you how to be implemented. But not only in your head, put it on a paper or use some notes app.
Important here is to use ordered list because once you have everything on paper you will want to sort it around, like what how goes first, what goes last.
As you said there is more senior person in your company - double check this list with him/her. Once you get a green light start from first task on the list.
Hope this helps.
Cheers from Vienna. :)