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Advice for the younger you.

  • 19-10-2020 10:46am
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 134 ✭✭


    So you get your hands on a magic wand and the only wish it will grant you is the ability to send a message back to your younger self which contains advice on what you should have done to better help you in your own software development journey.



    Since I posed it I'll get started...


    Firstly, I would advise myself to get really familiar with source control tools as soon as possible. Git is the flavour of the day today but mercurial/svn/other it does not matter too much which. I mainly use git now and find it really useful but aware that there are some features I am not fully utilizing.

    Second piece of advice would be whenever I first hear about docker start learning and using it. More and more I look back at time wasted installing software on my own machine when I could have just pulled an image and had something running in seconds. Databases are a great example but also it is great for self-contained sandboxes for any number of different proof of concepts without leaving a pile of junk on my host machine.

    The last big piece of advice I would give myself would be to get out in front of others and present stuff. Sickening as this is to most introverts the gains in what you learn are well worth it. You need to make sure you know your stuff and the questions that you cannot answer are great guides for what you still need to learn. These days I present more and more and getting way more comfortable with being completely up-front with what I do/do not know and not trying to hide lack of knowledge. But the massive plus is that I now know there are areas which I can speak on with a lot of certainty and more aware of when my input is of benefit.


Comments

  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 15,685 Mod ✭✭✭✭smacl


    Thirty years in professional development here and the points below reflect mistakes I've made and continue to occasionally make even though I should know better
    • Never neglect testing, if you think the release is ready to go out the door, give it another week of beta testing. Mix automated and manual testing and keep those automated tests up to date with all new functionality. Automate established end to end workflows rather than just code.
    • Talk to the end users and more importantly, listen to them. The ultimate value of your software is the sum of the value the end users derive from it. Any extra unneeded functionality detracts from this while costing you time and money. Prefer to communicate by phone rather than email or other laggy forms of conversation. Be responsive.
    • Spend more time learning to write simpler intuitive interfaces first time. Use fewer words to convey the same content when developing user interfaces and documentation. Don't change regularly user interfaces without good reason as you're breaking someone else's workflows, training documentation, tutorial videos etc.. Copy well known menu keywords, short phrases and icon pictures from established products in the same domain, this will make it much easier for new users to intuitively understand your product. Listen to what users don't like about their existing products and avoid the same pitfalls.
    • Open source is free like a puppy is free. Keep an eye on that expensive new sofa ;) Open source is also great, so if you use it contribute back to the community or financially wherever possible. Open source project forums are a fantastic resource and should be used.
    .


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 22,651 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    Other than magic exists....

    I would say don't stay in company that not aligned with what you want to do. You'll lose your way.


  • Registered Users Posts: 768 ✭✭✭14ned


    I was just talking to a former colleage yesterday in fact. He was originally a junior hire at a place I worked at about five years ago, so now he's mid-seniority. His employer just collapsed (startup), so he's just become unemployed. I was wondering if he'd like to come work at my current employer for 100k+.

    Now, most people would say never turn down such an offer. But he did. He said he was going to spend six months investing in learning and mastering new technologies, and until he'd done that, he would not entertain any new job offer.

    It takes enormous self discipline to do that, especially in your late twenties. But that's the kind of person who will be earning a million a year at a FAANG by age 40. So, you tighten the belt when young, invest in yourself, improve your hireability, make yourself into the top 0.1%, then reap the gains later in life.

    If of course you're bothered by money and success. As I've often said on here, people over obsess with both. There is an awful lot in favour of the quiet life at an easy job with a short commute which doesn't pay awful.


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