Code Like No One Is Watching

An notecard is taped to the bottom of my work monitor with a personal reminder.

"Code like no one is watching"

It's scribbled on the card with a lazy underline, written in a hurry while experiencing a moment of development anxiety.

The development community, while often rich with inspiring, helpful wisdom, can become entrenched in its potential more than its reality. As soon as we know that someone has taken a paradigm, technique, or any implementation to a new level, the bar sets to that point - and then we stare at it, forgetting what the world of development is like 90% of the time day to day.

We give conference talks, write blog posts, produce YouTube videos, or Tweet about these new standards. These new exemplars.

This is not a bad thing; it is often enlightening; it opens new doors, sometimes. The problem is pretending that what we declare best is what we actually do most of the time - that is pursuing thought leadership (or SEO staking) over respecting where we really are. And it rubs off on some of us who don't entirely mind reality or the acceptance that improvement in this space sometimes takes time. A lot of time.

My notecard reminder is not there to encourage a bad job, but rather to psychologically lessen external pressures that push for perfection. I, too, strive to be a great developer. But striving is not always living the gospel.

If anything it has helped me be okay with where I am as a developer, now 5 years into my dev career. It helps me feel optimistic about what I'm capable of, while accepting the current state. And perhaps it may be a helpful reminder for you as well.

It is simply a kinder thing to admire the magnitudes of possibility in development and also say, "Back off a little", when necessary. I recommend trying it.