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Discussion on: Best tweet-sized programming career lessons

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Tobi Obeck

Hey Tomasz, thanks for the mention. 😃 That was a cool tweet idea of yours that collected a lot of great wisdom! 🙏

I would like to give another few hot tips 🔥:

1. Divide and Conquer

Divide a problem into sub-problems. Reducing the area that affects the problem is oftentimes enough to see the solution. Find the most simple version that proves your assumptions right or wrong. It's a bit like recursion. Make the problem tinier until there is nothing to remove.

These problem-solving skills are crucial as a developer and can be transferred to different domains, like fixing a drain, a printer or your parent's audio equipment that has been so quiet lately.

If that still doesn't help, build a minimal example of what reproduces the problem (MRP). Just imagine doing it for a third-party reviewer on StackOverflow who doesn't know what your project is about #rubberduckdebugging. This should highlight the actual crux of the problem. If no insight is apparent, you have likely a lack of background knowledge. At this point, it is time to read up on related topics. As a last resort, the minimal reproducible example can be used to actually post a StackOverflow question or ask in forums.

2. Searching Is a Skill

Knowing what to search for. Knowing the exact keywords to throw into a search engine is one of the best skills to have. I oftentimes find myself searching a given problem, opening a few tabs, skimming the tabs, realizing they solve a slightly different problem. Therefore, adjusting my search terms, adding new or replacing some of them, opening another few tabs, until I find what I need. You don't have to know everything, but you should know where to find the needed information. Be it Google, StackOverflow, a documentation, a book, colleague or friend.

3. Improve your English

For me as a German, I always have the feeling that resources for learning or documentations in English are much better than German equivalents. Sometimes there isn't even a German documentation (e. g. Vue.js). The choice of resources is also bigger and more varied. Nowadays, I don't use German keywords for searches anymore. This started a positive feedback loop of improving my English which is at a current state of roughly an IELTS band 7 score or a low C1 (CEFR). I was really bad at English during school by the way. I almost did not pass a grade once due to my terrible English.

4. Communication

Mindfully practice clear communication. Which I just did. #learninginpublic