Dear new developer, I saw this insightful tweet: https://twitter.com/nora_js/status/1224905963804606467 The whole thread is worth reading, but you get the basic idea. Sometimes you don't know what you don't know. When I think back over the years, I am amazed at how many things I can do without thinking now that would have been baffling to … Continue reading You’re going to put some plates in toasters
Dear new developer, We all make mistakes. Yes, this is not news, but it's worth repeating. We all make mistakes. I have made them, you have made them, your boss has made them, the person you are interviewing with for the job you really really want and need has made them. The one thing about … Continue reading Mistakes Are Forgiven, Hiding Them Is Not
Dear new developer, This post called "Leveling Up Skill #10: Reflecting on Mistakes ", part of a series on leveling up as a programmer, provides a good solid process for reflecting on, learning from, and moving past mistakes. I liked two parts of this in particular. The calling out of the "it's ok to make … Continue reading Reflect on your mistakes
Dear new developer, I was chatting with someone I met at a meetup who was about to graduate from a bootcamp. I asked him what his advice to a new developer would be. He said that it would be "get used to failure, and get used to working through it." I thought that advice was … Continue reading Get used to failure
Dear new developer, One time, not too many years ago, I was using git. I had used it for some personal projects, but hadn't used it in the team setting before. We were using this git branching model. I was creating feature branches and working on them. However, often I would be working on the … Continue reading Making mistakes is OK
Dear new developer, "To err is human". We all make mistakes. A few years ago I was working on a contracting project with a new version control system. I didn't take the time to understand all of the commands, but just dove in and started writing code. A few days in, my branch was weird … Continue reading Don’t make the same mistake twice
Letters To A New Developer 