What I wish I had known when starting my development career
Dear new developer, Dev.to is a relatively new community of developers. A few years ago, someone on that community asked for advice for junior developers, and I found the answers fascinating. Here are a few of my favorites. People should respect you. It's your right to push back against disrespectful interactions. If it's waved away … Continue reading What’s your best advice for a new developer?
Dear new developer, I thought that this post, "The care and feeding of software engineers (or, why engineers are grumpy)", from 2012 was still relevant today. It's a long one, so I won't excerpt all the interesting parts, but this really resonated with me: Both engineers and product managers tend to think, incorrectly, that product … Continue reading Why software engineers are grumpy
Dear new developer, When I was newer to development, I thought that conference speakers were experts in their area, harbored no doubts, and that they knew exactly what they were doing. Speaking about technology seemed scary (until it wasn't). I enjoyed this post, "Confessions of a Conference Speaker", pulling back the veil on the experience … Continue reading Confessions of a conference speaker
Dear new developer, I thought this article nicely laid out three principles to guide a developer's career. They were: follow your taste find community take risks Each of these really resonated for me. The first because the wide world of software can lead to analysis paralysis, so you should really have some way of deciding … Continue reading Three principles for guiding your development career
Dear new developer, I really liked this post on mid-career challenges. I know you're new, but you'll be mid-career before you know it! I’m in a position right now where I have to figure out what comes next for me and how to navigate the challenges of getting there. I made it to senior engineer, … Continue reading On mid-career challenges
Dear new developer, A few months ago I asked Marie Chatfield, a front end developer and advice columnist, what her one best piece of advice for new developers was. She wrote a great response. From the post: For the self-taught programmer: I am amazed at your dedication and perseverance and ability to learn from different … Continue reading Contextual advice for new developers
Dear new developer, I found this video from Chelsea Troy about how to level up as a developer interesting (I love watching YouTube videos on 1.5x speed to save time): A few tidbits I found interesting: the distinction between leveling up passively (which we all do as we learn in our daily work life) and … Continue reading Leveling up tips from Chelsea Troy
Dear new developer, I found this post covered some things that good software engineers do. It doesn't focus on the technical aspects, but on other aspects of software development. Things they do: Ask for help Work on one thing at a time Prioritise unblocking My favorite quote: In software development we rarely have the luxury … Continue reading Things good engineers do
Dear new developer, This post has a lot of great career tips including how to select companies to apply to, what to do in an interview if you don't know the answer to a question, and how to challenge yourself in a new job. This piece of advice in particular resonated with me: Show how … Continue reading A bunch of career advice from a new developer
Dear new developer, I thought this post from 2012, about what software developers want, was penetrating and relevant. This passage resonated for me: And here’s the real crux of the problem: software engineers aren’t builders. Software engineers are creators. Building is what you do when you buy a piece of furniture from Ikea and get … Continue reading The care and feeding of developers
Letters To A New Developer 