We all make mistakes, and these are the mistakes that elevate us to the position of senior developer, and overcoming these mistakes elevates us to the level of experienced developer.
Also, throughout my early days, I made numerous mistakes, and as a result, if my junior makes a mistake, I will not turn down his or her potential or skills since I understand that it's normal.
However, making mistakes repeatedly and failing to learn from them is a huge red flag.🚩
So now I'm going to share my top 5 mistakes that I wish someone had pointed out to me during my initial days of software development. 💻🔍
Ignoring Feedback :
We have provided feedback in a variety of formats, like code reviews, in group meetings, and individual conversations etc., but we developers will deny it, claiming that it is all garbage, they are jealous of me, they are exaggerating, or we took it too personally.
Please never fall into this trap. Put your ego aside for a few minutes and write down your notes, focusing on the ones you believe are most significant.Whenever you receive unfavourable criticism, take a step back and think about how these changes will help you advance as a software developer.
Learning Too Many Programming Languages:
Keeping up with the latest information is beneficial, but studying too much can cause problems.
This was the worst mistake I have made in my life.
Back then, I learned React, React-Native, Flutter, Android, Vuejs, Nodejs, Mongodb, Cordova, Electronjs, Machine Learning(Numpy, Pandas, Scikit learn, Pytorch) Django,Flask and a variety of other tools, and 70% of these technologies aren't even required for my job.
Instead of focusing solely on coding, I believe it is beneficial to collaborate with other developers, mentor others, improve communication skills, build a network, learn a musical instrument, participate in sports, and pursue other interests.
Our lives are not solely about code.Create stories and memories that you will remember in your old age.
Not vocalising your work
Personally, I've found that a person who is an average developer but is really good at vocalising their work in front of others is more effective than a person who is very intelligent coder but expects their managers and team leaders already know that he/she is talented.
I'll use the example of my two colleagues, Kim and Jeon.
Kim is a type of person who begins working on the task that the team lead or manager assigned to it, whereas Jeon is a type of person who first discusses the scope of that task, then discusses how much time it takes by explaining why it takes that much time (he always adds 2 hours extra for his safety), then discusses the approach, starts working, and hands over before time sometimes because he added an extra 2 hours and sometimes on time.
Now consider who is going to rise more in that firm ?
According to me, it's certainly Jeon since he pretends to be intellectual despite the fact that he's an average software developer, but Kim, who is quite intelligent, just becomes an average person in front of their team leader or project manager.
Don't depend on QA or tester's:
I hate testers, literally!!
They don't even test the point I uploaded to the staging server; instead, they make their own speculative assumptions, such as:
- What if I click this button 100 times ?
- Why my payment is deducted from dummy card and not reflected on project when I refresh the page in between payment processing.
- It's not working on my computer? (Removing the cache is straightforward, but they have the audacity to wonder why it isn't functioning.)
So, if I finish my task before the time, I will make sure to test all of the scenarios so that it has minimal impact on live users.
Lack of Defining our Future Goals :
Instead of relying solely on your company, set future goals such as :
- Determining the finest technologies for your future needs.
- How long would I stay with this company? (I believe staying in a single firm might lead to boredom and a lack of new experiences. Instead, choose a company with intelligent employees than you.)
- Should you start your own business?
- What areas do I need to improve? Going into your software career blindly and without a plan can impede your professional development. You may be unsure about where you are heading or what your future aspirations are.
Without formulating your own plan, you may end up stuck in the same junior-level position for years.
So start working on it. Invest a minimum of 5-10% of your everyday time in this.
That's it for this blog. I hope my experiences may help others, and please share your thoughts, which will undoubtedly help me or others to improve. 💭✨🌟📝🙏
Top comments (26)
Also one thing more, don't be overachiever at your office otherwise no one will like you at your workplace or it would start distancing them from you
I don't agree with this at all. You should absolutely aim to be an over-achiever - always strive to be the absolute best you can.
BUT, don't brag about it or be smug. Stay humble and be nice to people and they will like you.
Yes , I also believe the same but we have to find out our target audience where we will show ourself as an overachiever.
It's not meant for everyone.
How do you think about this @andyjessop ?
You show yourself by the work you do. But this business is mostly about people - and I can't emphasise enough how important it is to be nice. Never put people down, always show them the respect they deserve by listening attentively, and just be nice to people. Whether you are an over- or under-achiever, these skills will ensure you have a long and successful career.
In team, there are different personalities available, and a bunch of people are happy in if someone sucess graph is either going down or not above them.
As soon as it's going to hike , they will start complaining.
Why he get special treatment?
Why his work is praised and not us ?
blah,blah..
Sometimes being nice with everyone makes us dumb !!
Also please who achieve less than us , always tries to pull us down.
True 💯
Or do one thing pretend yourself average infront of others but not in meetings and workplace where your performance is measured.
Yes !! sounds insightful
One thing more, your company is not your family. So one should stop considering them as our family and should prioritize then over our own real family.
💯 correct !!
Consider them as a family for temporary purpose or hours .
Also sometimes we have to applies too different families in order to get raise in money and life 😅
😂
Communication is vital for success in any field, and software development is no exception. As a developer, it's important to be able to clearly communicate your work and thought process. Being able to articulate your approach and contributions is just as important as your
True 💯
As I experienced, a person with great communication grow and appreciated more as compare to a person with great coding skills (and communicate less).
A lot of items in this list could easily be applied to more senior developers as well—especially regarding the soft skills, i.e. communicating with your team and taking a break from coding to do other, non-IT related hobbies.
Yes @twinbird24 !!
I think an experienced developer already go through these during their intial phase.
No doubt some senior developer still not changed or don't want to change oneself.
To add to this, I would say the most important thing is to thoroughly learn the basics.
This doesn't mean you have to have a CS degree, or to learn everything before diving in, but you should definitely have a programme of learning alongside your projects that includes: a low level language (e.g. C++), systems design, a database language (SQL), algorithms.
The concepts you learn at this stage will stay with you for your entire career and are your rock solid foundation.
💯
Love this post ! I have been especially guilty of two and it is a big obstacle to any serious learning. Instead you want to be very comfortable in tools that help you get the job done
Yes !!
Juste focusing on right tools is more important instead of learning all the things which are not even required or used.
Also I am happy that my experiences will help someone.
I enjoyed this article, I often find that articles here are lacking quality but this one was a breathe of fresh air.
Thanks @shailennaidoo !!
I am working on quality as well.Can you please share your tips for writing quality content.
It would really helpful in my future blogs !!
100% agreed !!
Thanks @bodema
Great article! 100% agreed.
Depends on the person !!
It's natural, sometimes people want to show themselves busy because:
What about your views @1mukhtor
In that case it might possible that some companies thought process would be your official time is mine and your personal time is also mine.
Or
May be they would look busy 😅