Dear new developer,
Right now you’re probably a bit frustrated and confused. You’re learning a lot of things and you don’t really understand everything. Sometimes things click and it all makes sense, other times you’re confused and staring at what feels like a brick wall. Perhaps you just want to make things work and they won’t.
Good.
I say that not because I’m a sadist or dislike you. I say that because I hope you’ll remember the frustration you are experiencing right now. I think that will make you a better developer.
Why?
Because that is the state of 99% of your users. Whether they are a business employee or a person trying to use your app for personal reasons. They are just trying to finish a task and get on with their life. The software you are writing is the tool they are using to do that.
- They don’t care about elegance of code.
- They don’t care how much you love to develop.
- They don’t care if you are learning and growing.
They just want to finish their job, complete their task, do their thing.
And, honestly, the tools we provide are frustrating. They’re buggy. They’re slow. The fact that they are amazing compared to what we could create a few years ago and that they are better than the alternative is beside the point.
I don’t write this to cause despair, new developer. Progress is being made. But it’s made one person at a time. Each person has to act with empathy toward their frustrated users. Understand them. Care about them.
And if you can remember the frustration you are currently encountering, perhaps you’ll have just a bit more empathy toward your end user, who is just trying to use your work product to get something done.
Sincerely,
Dan
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