10 Lessons That Helped Me Grow As A Developer

Sometimes we come across a great book that completely changes some of our core beliefs and helps us grow. It revolutionizes the way of thinking about ourselves and we become grateful to the authors.

The Pragmatic Programmer is one such book.

Today I will be sharing the top 10 Lessons that I took from this book.

1. “Just Good Enough” is the Best Policy

The softwares aren’t perfect. It’s impossible to be perfect. You can’t write perfect software on the first go or even after years of work.

Many junior software developers make the mistake of trying to write the absolutely perfect and best solution for a given problem and become arrogant in the process.

We all love and admire a good piece of software but we have so many limitations! We run out of time, we don’t have all the necessary knowledge, and so on.

So try to adopt the “Just Good Enough” philosophy about any problem you face.

2. See the Bigger Picture

In this current era of microservices, it’s not unusual to be working in a very small part of the whole system. Or working on a small feature.

• Try to see the bigger picture. Try to visualize the impact that your code may have on other parts.

• Also, try to understand the actual business for which you are making your product.

• Remember one thing you are not building stuff for the hell of it. You are trying to solve an actual real-life problem. So keep that in mind it will help you down the road.

3. Take Responsibility for Your Work

We all make mistakes. It is one single truth about software development.

Maybe we forgot to check an edge case or designed something in the absolutely wrong way.

Errors can be small or can be huge. But you must take responsibility for your work. Don’t blame other people or other systems or time limits or any other thing.

It was your responsibility to do the job and you messed up.

Instead, offer some solution. Take your time if needed. That’s the way to grow and become a dependable developer.

4. Don’t Leave Any Broken window

In software development, a broken window can be denoted by a bad piece of code or poor architecture.

It’s a very dangerous thing as it has the evil power of spreading through the whole code base. The software doesn’t get rotten overnight. It happens slowly and behind your back.

So if you have any known broken windows fix them ASAP even if it’s not created by you.

5. Know When to Stop

That brings us to the next piece of advice.

Don’t spoil a perfectly good program by over-embellishment and over-refinement.

Any Program is a piece of art. But don’t get caught up in the idea of refining too much.

It’s a balancing act. You have to hit the sweet spot.

6. Diversify Your Knowledge

Be a specialist in one thing. Get really really good in one technology.

Read relevant books on that topic. Try to understand the core concepts then branch out.

Don’t just learn that technology. Try to understand the reason behind its existence.

You have to be the go-to guy for that technology. So getting really really good and having in-depth diverse knowledge is very important.

7. Get Weird

Don’t be afraid to get weird with technology. Try to learn and play with new things. Get your hands dirty with newer technologies as often as possible.

It will help you to understand the current world of technology and help you to be on the top.

If you have to go out of your comfort zone while doing that’s an indication that you are growing.

8. Be the Catalyst for Change

If you need something from others try to ask for minimum things. Then work with it and let them wonder. Remember one thing: “People try to be a part of ongoing success”

So from that point, they will help you with their will.

9. Review Your Portfolio

Review your knowledge portfolio regularly (I say 6 months).

Find out what you learned in the last 6 months and plan for the future.

Updating one’s Resume now and then can be a good way of doing that. Don’t just open your resume when you need to apply for a job. Even if you are in a comfortable position in your career update your resume.

10. Communication is the Key

Try to participate in group discussions.

This group can be your office colleagues or even a StackOverflow question. Listen to others and be involved with them.

Don’t be shy or hesitant to ask questions even if they are dumb sometimes.

If you get stuck get the help of a Guru. That means you should have a mentor in your career.

That’s it for today. Happy Coding!

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