Yesterday, there's a discussion (here at dev.to) on "What is your best advise to a junior software developer".
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I responded with 15-item, somewhat, tounge-in-cheek, list. Apparently, some people liked it. So, here it is now in post form, shareable and all.
If I have Doc Brown's DeLorean, this is what I would advise my younger self
- Keep your head down during code reviews. Humility goes a long way. They're not criticizing you, it's your code they're after. It's not personal
- Do the required reading before you get knee-deep in the code. You have a propensity to shoot from the hip, curb that enthusiasm. Don't read the manual only when you're in trouble
- Design patterns are nice, but you don't have to use all of them, all the time in every code you write
- Learn Python early. Get to the Python REPL and type
import this. Learn it by heart, then read no. 3 (above) again - Coffee, pizza and chips are nice now, but 20 years from now, you're gonna wish you didn't eat those
- In a couple of years, social media is gonna be big. Stay out of it
- Those math subjects you hated, better get more comfortable with them. There's gonna be a thing called "machine learning", it's gonna be big, you're gonna need them maths
- Stop wondering when you will graduate from being a junior, you'll know it when you're out of it. When you start making technical choices and you recognize that there are choices to be made; then you're not so junior anymore
- Be polite when asking questions. If you don't want to get the RTFM response (a lot), read Eric Raymond's guide on how to ask smart questions
- When you go to a meeting, always bring a pen and paper. Write your notes
- If it's taking you more than 3 hours to figure out something, ask for help, tell your tech lead what's eating you up (but make sure that before you do this, you've read no. 9 above)
- If you promised your tech lead (client, coworker or boss) you will deliver the thing on Friday, and you're not gonna make it, tell them early. Don't tell them on Friday
- Exercise. You're brain (and your blood pressure) will love you for it
- When the book "Pragmatic programmer, journeyman to master" comes out. Read it
- From time to time, write a program in LOLCODE, don't lose your humor
There's a lot more, but these are my big ones
Don't forget to visit the original post by Sergio Tapia, there are other comments in there; it's still going, I think.
Top comments (21)
Awesome post! Its hard to decide the top answers, because there are soooo many things I would tell myself that I didn't know when I began programming. Here are some:
I definitely wish I had done 2 and 3.
never too late my friend!
I love #1 (liked the book too)
me too! also, my grammy once told me "worry is a wasted emotion."
I loved this answer
Thanks Ben
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I do career panels every once in a while and get asked a variation of this question.
One thing I wish I started earlier in my career was networking.
Get out there to coding meetups, cons, presentations, etc. Make connections. You are more likely to land a new gig through your network than you are through a recruiter or hunting it yourself. Same goes for when you become a hiring manager -- you'll never have to use a recruiter or post-and-wait websites.
Plus all the things you learn is a bonus.
Agree 100%. I forgot to put this one. Also, hackathons.
Great advice!
7b. The math nerds you remember from school don't understand machine learning either.
I say as a master of math without a lick of ML knowledge despite reading up on it :P
Re #5: You'll pry my coffee from my dead, frozen hands! :-)
Not there yet, but sounds like great advice. When I get my first developer job, I'm going to print this out, frame it, and hang it on the wall above my monitor.
I always try to answer or explain things like I wanted have them explained when I was asking this. That's how trainees skills grow faster.
Emphasis on 9 to 13 :-D
Love point 12!
That's what it means to be dependable.
Great stuff if you could clarify number 5
It's just a tongue-in-cheek advise on food choices. I just wished I drank less caffeine (hypertension and all) ate less pizza and chips (probably why my triglycerides are so bad). I still eat and drink these now, but in moderation.
Great advice! Thanks for the post!
That's great advice. I'm glad I read it 😀