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Ben Halpern
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What helps build developer confidence?

How do you build personal confidence, how do you lend confidence to others?

Top comments (43)

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cristinaruth profile image
Cristina Ruth
  • Try something even if it's hard.
  • Celebrate that you did it! 🙌
  • Remember to celebrate your small wins.
  • Be kind to yourself and be your own personal cheerleader, especially through failures.
  • Remember to appreciate and thank others so they can appreciate themselves.
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Ben Halpern

Celebrate that you did it! 🙌

@jess 's weekly wins threads are great for that 😄

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Nick Shattuck

I actually just looked at an old project I built last term at school, and while it isn't much to gauk at professionally, it reminds me that at one point, I never thought I could build it. Now I am writing code that connects to a SQL database, designing GUIs, and writing Java with the confidence that I can do this.
When I try to instill confidence in others, I like to learn what they know by getting them to explain to me what they're stuck on. My purpose is to show them that they likely understand more than they think they do but aren't progressing because they're stuck thinking they'll never progress. It usually gets the gears turning in their minds or at least gives them some pep talk.

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Ben Halpern

Looking back on old things is a big big big one for me. Just thinking about where I used to be and how far I've come since then is always a big one.

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Matthew Bland

One main thing I realized one day when I was struggling with learning c++ data structures is how long I went practicing c++ without even knowing what a pointer was (this was junior high and early high school). It's interesting to realize how easy the concept is and yet how hard I thought it was back then.

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andrekelvin profile image
AndreKelvin

Totally agree

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swarupkm profile image
Swarup Kumar Mahapatra • Edited

Accepting the fact that "Its ok to not know everything" and "I can learn it and do it" gives me confidence.
Pretty sure it does to others too

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Elliot Derhay • Edited

That first one is a big relief if you feel overwhelmed (especially since there are always new things coming out that suddenly get hyped up as "the future of X development"). It really is ok to not know everything. Heck, it's ok to use (and like using) a toolset that's a popular subject of ridicule.

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florincornea profile image
Cornea Florin

For me is setting up personal small goals and small achievements daily, for example building some html/css stuff in codepen and so on. Let's just be serious, at work we can't have&work on projects that we like, and in time that is going to kill our creativity and personal confidence.

By doing small(and very small) projects i managed to increase my confidence, my skills and i increased the difficulty of my goals

E.G from this small card design codepen.io/FlorinCornea/pen/PgWEOo to a small app for gradients gradient.corneaflorin.ro/

And the good part is that you loose confidence again, you can start over with the small goals

Worked for me :D

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jrohatiner profile image
Judith

I build my confidence by practicing writing code (especially something I'm new at). I also get a new perspective on things like 'imposter syndrome' from the awesome people I follow on twitter.

Mentoring helps build confidence in other programmers and in me, too. Communication, especially about how to ask the right questions, sharing tools, resources - that's what I try to do.

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blakefurvus profile image
Blake Furvus

Don't over think. It makes you and your program ugly and sad. Also your team mates get mad if you think over something this much.

"Simple" is the key.
JDIS (Just Do It Stupid) principle bruh, we need to follow that.

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kaydacode profile image
Kim Arnett 

Watching someone more senior than you make a simple mistake, surely helps the imposter syndrome... and is a good reminder that everyone makes mistakes.

Looking at old code, also, almost a breadcrumb learning path!

Low crash ratings 🥰

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Amara Graham

I really enjoy building the confidence of others. This is how I shape my developer relations program and advocacy work that I do. Talks, tutorials, blogs, etc. should distill complex information down to a digestible level without dumbing it down. I often introduce new language or jargon to folks first so that they can learn how to "speak the language" before trying to write code. From there I help them scope out small, manageable tasks. Confidence is easier to find with a sense of completion. Then you celebrate the completion and move to the next task.

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maajidqureshi profile image
Majid Qureshi

Practice and doing things build your confidence. Even if you do small projects that boosts your confidence. I struggled a lot during school to write code and no one could clear my questions.Since, I started working I have been doing things I never expected.
I can make web apps now :)

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Ashish Agre

Let other developers write something first what he thinks is correct based on his knowledge. Then follow a 1-1 code review and suggest if there are any changes. If at very first we start commanding do this or that, otherwise a general human tendency would trigger and he might feel as if he knew nothing.

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