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Abdulcelil Cercenazi
Abdulcelil Cercenazi

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Top 8 Mistakes Junior (and some Senior) Developers Make

Disclaimer

I am guilty of each one of those 8 mistakes 😁

Let's get to know them 👇


1 "Software development is all about coding" 👨‍💻

  • It's like saying a mechanic uses a wrench instead of saying he fixes cars using a wrench.

  • The same way, a developer solves real life problems using code.

  • Great developers understand the problem at hand and solve it using the least amount of code possible.


2 "if only the business people would get the requirements right"😤

  • The problem with this statement is that it assumes that the developer's job is to only write code and other's job to tell them what code to write.

  • if business people could write a correct detailed description of the problem they wouldn't need developers, they can just use a tool to translate the description to code.


3 "Speed is all that matters"🏃

  • Examples of it are typing code very fast or finishing the task as early as possible.
  • Remember that the aim is to solve the problem using the least amount of code.

4 "My job is to code, not to understand the business domain"🤷

  • it helps you writing simple code, you can also spot domain problems/opportunities domain experts might miss

5 "I can't ask for help, it shows I don't know enough"😕

The more you know, the more you know you know less


6 "Software architecture is for the experts"👩‍💼

  • Designing a good architecture does require experience, but architecture is more than just creating it.
  • Architecture is about the ability to describe what the system do and how it does it to a non technical person, regardless of the tools and framework used.

7 "Testing is someone else's job"🤭

  • It's your job to test your code.

8 "I would do a better job but my boss won't let me"👨

  • You don't permissions to clean code/write tests.
  • Refactoring and testing are part of your job, just like it's the chief's responsibility to keep the kitchen clean.

Final words

You might not be in a position to enforce good practices on the team, but you can apply them where you can.

This post is heavily inspired by Dave Farley's YouTube video 🙏 Avoid These Common Mistakes Junior Developers Make!

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