So you want to become better than 99% of programmers, right?

🛑 Stop Scrolling. This Might Be the Hardest Truth You’ll Read Today.

So you want to become better than 99% of programmers, right?

But here’s the kicker:

You’re doing exactly what 99% of programmers are already doing:

• Watching endless YouTube tutorials
• Taking online courses
• Solving LeetCode problems like it’s a sport

Everyone is doing that.
That’s the definition of becoming average.

Let me be real with you—there’s nothing wrong with being average.
But if you want to stand out, if you want to be exceptional,
you’ve got to do what others aren’t willing to do.

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💡 Here Are 5 Things That Will Make You Unusually Good at Coding

These are not your typical “do more projects” tips.
These are things most people don’t do—because they’re hard, uncomfortable, or not talked about enough.

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1. Understand What a Top 1% Coder Actually Looks Like

You can’t become something you’ve never seen.

Go find top-tier developers.
Where?

• Tech conferences
• Local meetups (check out meetup.com)
• GitHub. Twitter. LinkedIn.

Start surrounding yourself with people better than you.

Let them challenge how you think.

🎥 (Bonus: Watch videos about “How to Think Like a Programmer.” It will rewire your mindset.)

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2. Read More Code Than You Write

Most beginners write 1,000s of lines but read almost none.
That's a huge mistake.

Let me ask you this:

During my time while developing DEVELEVATE, I wrote around 100,000 lines of code.
But I read over 1,000,000 lines. Probably more.

Reading great code teaches you more than writing bad code ever will.

🧠 Your Move:
Spend 30 minutes a day reading high-quality open source code on GitHub.
Not to copy. But to understand.

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3. Collaborate with Engineers Smarter Than You

Most new programmers never get to work with experienced developers.
And that’s a huge disadvantage.

The fix?

Contribute to open source.
It’s the closest thing you can get to working in a real dev team—without needing a job offer.

You’ll learn:

• Code reviews
• Git etiquette
• How real-world software is built

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4. Build One Great Project Instead of 10 Basic Ones

When I was starting out, I tried to:

• Learn every language
• Watch 20-hour tutorials
• Build a bunch of to-do list apps

None of it mattered.

One well-built project can do more for your resume than ten half-baked ones.

Choose quality. Go deep. Polish it. Ship it.

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5. Master the Art of Debugging

Here’s what most people don’t tell you:

Real programmers spend more time fixing code than writing it.

If you want to be valuable on any team, become the person who can find and fix bugs under pressure.

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🔁 Summary: How to Actually Stand Out

• Attend meetups, conferences, and talk to better programmers
• Read code. Every day.
• Contribute to open source (even if it’s scary at first)
• Build one project that makes people say “wow”
• Get obsessed with debugging, not just coding

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If you made it this far, you’re already doing more than most.

Thanks for reading.

👋 Drop a comment if any of this resonated. Let’s help each other level up.

Comments

[Ashley Childress]

These are all great call outs! I know personally, I'll pick the developer who needs a Java cheat sheet on their desk every day over the one who memorized every pattern in 4 languages IF they can read a block of code and explain it's purpose with a high degree of accuracy. Bonus points if they show me they know how to step through that code with a debugger or if they can give me a real world example of when to use it.

[Eljay-Adobe]

I have an especially low opinion of LeetCode and their ilk.

Learning to code from LeetCode is like trying to learn mathematics from solving sudoku puzzles.

[Nevo David]

Growth like this is always nice to see. Kinda makes me wonder - what keeps stuff going long-term? Like, beyond just the early hype?