Many people learn to code, but not everyone develops a developer mindset. The difference often comes down to a few simple traits that shape how we learn, debug, collaborate, and grow. These days everyone wants to be called a developer, but many do not truly have a developer’s mindset. You might ask what I mean by that.
A developer’s mindset is a mix of personality traits that helps someone grow from being a coder to an experience level developer. Of course experience matters. Senior developers have spent years working in their field. But there are certain traits that, when combined together, help someone become a better developer.
With the rise of vibe coding, everyone wants to be called a developer. The moment someone learns HTML, CSS, and JavaScript they start thinking they have become a developer. But the real question is, are you really a developer?
Let us look at a few traits.
Curiosity Drives Learning
Being curious is one of the most important traits that can help you become a better developer. Curiosity can take you in unexpected directions.
For example, my curiosity led me to this platform where I started learning from amazing writers who share great content. I read articles with the curiosity of learning something new every time.
Through that curiosity I have learned about BiFrost, LLMs, key takeaways from 1 Million dev.to Articles, and many other topics. I attend tech events with the curiosity to learn and meet new developers. Everyone has their own stories and learning experiences, and it feels amazing to listen and learn from them.
I am an introvert, but I still comment, read, share, and participate because curiosity keeps pushing me forward. Curiosity helped me learn React, Golang, Kubernetes, and even experiment with vibe coding.
Staying curious has helped me learn a lot. I write mostly to share my experiences and learn from others as well.
Debugging Is Where Real Learning Happens
One thing that is common in every developer’s life, other than successful deployments, is errors. Debugging and learning from errors can make you a better developer.
Most of us copy an error and immediately paste it into an LLM to find the answer. But before doing that, it is important to read the code and understand where the error is coming from.
Sometimes the error is very small, maybe just a missing semicolon. But by immediately using an LLM we end up going in a completely different direction.
When we debug our code ourselves, we learn how the system actually works. That knowledge helps us solve similar problems in the future.
If we always rely on copying errors and pasting them into LLMs, we never really understand what went wrong. Senior developers often say that debugging is one of the best ways to improve as a developer.
Great Developers Ask for Help
None of us know everything. Some people are better in DevOps, some in writing articles, some in debugging, some in frontend, and some in backend.
If I get stuck somewhere, I prefer asking for help. Someone else's experience can often solve a problem much faster.
For example, asking Hadil about BiFrost, asking Sylwia about web development, asking Francis about GitHub PRs. They are all amazing creators who share their knowledge.
At first there is always hesitation when asking for help. But the developer community is usually very supportive. Most developers are willing to help if you ask.
I once read something from Jim Rohn that stayed with me. Sometimes simply asking can open doors we never imagined.
Persistence Matters More Than Talent
I love this quote from Atomic Habits that talks about improving one percent every day.
If you can get 1% better each day for one year, you’ll end up 37 times better by the time you’re done.
If someone has a habit of giving up easily, becoming a developer will be very difficult. Since the day I started liking computer science, I never gave up.
I have spent sleepless nights debugging code just to see it finally run. Sometimes I even dream about debugging problems. But the moment when the code finally works and deploys successfully is one of the best feelings.
Life will give you many reasons to quit being a developer, but you have to find one reason to continue.
For me, that reason is learning and writing. Reading how others write and explain concepts motivates me to keep improving.
Stepping Away Can Solve Problems
This is a mindset I developed while coding and debugging.
Sometimes errors are persistent and keep repeating. Many developers say vibe coding is more about debugging than generating code.
When I get stuck with an error or cannot think clearly, I take a short break and focus on something completely different. This helps calm my mind. When I return, I often see the problem more clearly.
Sometimes the solution is obvious after the break. Taking a pause helps me restart with better ideas and better prompts.
Shipping Projects Is How You Improve
Most developers have unfinished projects or ideas they once loved but never completed. I also fall into that category. I had many unfinished projects that I stopped working on midway.
But now I try to complete and deploy them instead of abandoning them. Deploying projects forces you to write more code and face more debugging challenges.
And more debugging means more learning.
Reading Other People’s Code Makes You Better
Another important trait is the ability to learn from other people’s code.
Every developer writes code differently. By studying other developers' work, you can learn better patterns and approaches.
Senior developers sometimes write two lines of code that solve a problem which might take a beginner ten lines.
I often check GitHub repositories shared in articles on this platform. Seeing how experienced developers structure their code helps me improve my own coding style.
Know Your Reason for Being a Developer
Your reason for becoming a developer should be clear.
If someone chooses this field only because it pays well or because everyone else is doing it, it becomes difficult to stay motivated.
There must be curiosity and a desire to learn.
My reason is simple. I genuinely enjoy being a developer. Learning new concepts, reading articles, watching technical videos, and exploring system design never feels boring to me.
Technology keeps me engaged and entertained. Sometimes when I feel bored, I read interviews, study system design, or explore new tools.
These are some traits that I feel help shape a developer’s mindset. Being a developer is not only about writing code. It is about curiosity, patience, persistence, and the willingness to keep learning. Every bug, every project, and every conversation with other developers teaches something new. The more we stay curious and open to learning, the better we grow as developers.
What are the traits you believe are important that I might have missed?
Top comments (2)
Dude, are you working in New York Times or other newspaper shit ? Again well written article from you and yeah couple of lines taken to refer to:
The moment someone learns HTML, CSS, and JavaScript they start thinking they have become a developer- I gunuinely felt that way when I started learning programming back 2022, before release of chatgpt and had no clue on AI at all.At first there is always hesitation when asking for help.- Honestly this is something I still struggle with, coz usually as I perhaps have written in some comments section of your post, I used to shun talking to devs, coz if I have nothing new to tell them, why should I say anything.The same with code issues that are yet not being resolved or explained on the internet or where LLM sucks outputing the same shit over and over again, even after specializing the prompt to maximum extent.
I would also add being ready to fail, Linus Torvalds once said that he likes to fail, coz throughout failing he can learn.
Additionally not taking care and kind of pressurizing oneself much due to the changes in the industry in case of tech-stack so much. I used to watch yt-dudes flashing with so many news on tech or code-reports or new libraries that are preached to be a new industry standard, leading the narrative so you feel as shit learning react or something else.
Again well written article, hope to see more.
Great article man! It is true that you need to take one step at time. I remembered one youtube video last year. They had a developer correcting a mistake from an intern because the intern was using vibe coding for the coding. I saw a youtube a few weeks ago. I remembered from the youtube video that I saw recently. The person mentions that DSA is still important today even Meta is using AI in their coding interview now.