👋 Hey Dev Community,
I’m Aymen Hammami, a full-stack software engineer who’s been working with Java Spring Boot, Angular, DevOps, and AI tools for several years.
Like many developers, I’ve gone through ups and downs — times of great projects and times of silence.
During my current learning and rebuilding phase, I discovered some habits that completely changed how I stay productive, keep learning, and grow my skills — even when I’m not working full-time.
I wanted to share them here to help others in the same boat 💪
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🧠 1. Build Mini Projects (Not Big Dreams)
I used to start huge side projects and never finish them.
Now I focus on tiny, functional apps — a small API, a frontend feature, or a simple automation.
It’s faster, gives a sense of completion, and every small project becomes a portfolio piece or Upwork service idea.
Example: I built a quick bug-fixing workflow → turned it into a 1-day Upwork service → it started generating views!
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⚙️ 2. Mix AI Into Your Workflow
Whether you’re coding, writing docs, or debugging — AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot can boost your productivity if used smartly.
But don’t just ask them to “write code.”
Ask them to:
• Explain unfamiliar code
• Suggest architecture improvements
• Generate project ideas based on your stack
AI is not a shortcut — it’s a learning accelerator.
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🧩 3. Share What You Learn
I used to think, “Who cares about my small tips?”
Turns out — people do.
Each time I share a snippet, a diagram, or a short post on LinkedIn, or GitHub, I connect with someone who’s learning the same thing.
Sometimes, those connections turn into collaborations or freelance leads.
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🧰 4. Automate Repetitive Tasks
If you find yourself doing something more than twice, automate it.
It could be:
• A deployment script
• A data cleaning script for Google Sheets
• A test automation pipeline
That’s how you train your “system builder” mindset — which every senior engineer needs.
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🌍 5. Give Before You Get
Helping others (answering questions, writing tutorials, reviewing code) builds your name faster than any ad or portfolio.
Even a small comment on someone’s post adds to your visibility.
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💬 Final Thought
You don’t need a perfect career path to be a great engineer.
You just need to keep building, learning, and sharing what you discover — that’s how real growth happens.
If you’re in a learning phase right now, embrace it.
Every day of learning is a step closer to mastery.
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👨💻 Aymen Hammami
Full-Stack Engineer | Java • Spring Boot • Angular • DevOps
🌐 Portfolio
🐙 GitHub
💼 Upwork Profile
💬 LinkedIn
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