Key habits and things I wish I knew earlier as a developer
A listing of key habits and skills that could help you become a better developer
Summary
Here is a quick summary of habits and things that in my opinion would make a huge difference if known earlier as a developer. It is worth mentioning that, It is never too late
- Efficient use of search engines
- Use a modern IDE for increased productivity
- Learn Linux
- Learn Git
- Teach yourself & Follow tech trends
- Become proficient in at least one programming language
- Focus on Simplicity
- Join communities/forums
- Create professional profiles
- Ask, Ask, Ask
- Solve it in paper first then convert into code
- Follow style guides, document and write tests from start
- Solve puzzles/challenges on a regular basis
- Start whiteboarding early on
- Manage your time efficiently
- Protect your personal information
- Follow influencers & companies that inspire you
- Attend tech events, workshops, talks, and hackathons
- Embrace error messages ❤
- Choose the right type of company for internship/career
- First, develop a working solution then perfect it iteratively
- SEO yourself
- Contribute to open source
As usual watch out for the following habits/patterns
- Do not give up so easily! ❤
- Do not copy assignments/projects
- Do not procrastinate — if not now, when?
- Do not ignore other subjects
- Do not get addicted to social networks
- Do not lose hope
Keep reading for more details on how they can help you become a better dev.
Learning
Learning is a prerequisite to thriving in tech due to the speed at which the industry is evolving. There is always something new to learn.
Once you stop learning, you start dying — Albert Einstein
Search efficiently
As a developer, you will use search engines very often, and a majority of search engines offer advanced features. See tips and infographics
It is important to be able to search and find what you are looking for with the least amount of effort.
Development IDEs
Research existing IDEs that suits your requirements best. The IDEs come with shortcuts, plugins, and features aimed to increase your productivity. Be open-minded and try new tools and frameworks.
Learn Linux
Installing Ubuntu natively, using VirtualBox or Windows Subsystem for Linux is a piece of cake. Knowing Linux is a huge plus!
Learn Git
Git is one of the most frequently used code versioning tool.
I would definitely recommend using Git with your projects and assignments. There many hosting services such as Github, Bitbucket, and more.
There are other code versioning systems such as Mercurial, SVN, CSV, and so on that, you don’t have to learn.
I wrote an article listing 20 most commonly used git commands that I have been using on a daily basis for a good while and it addresses a huge majority of my Git needs.
Teaching Yourself
Fact, your program of study does not prepare you for the real world regardless of the university’s ranking, depth of the curriculum, or caliber of the professors. Nowadays there is no shortage of learning materials both offline and online.
crunchzilla is a step by step on how to code games for beginners.
My favorite Youtube channels are Derek Banas, LearnCode Academy, FreeCodeCamp, and CodingTech. Finally, a listing of open course-ware on EDX, Stanford Online, and MIT OpenCourseWare that you could learn from.
Learn at least one language concretely
At university, I studied C Programming for 2 years from Basics to Advanced Data Structure. It helped build a strong programming foundation and every other language become a mere change of syntax, terminology, and structure.
Focus on Simplicity
You will be surprised how in-demand simplicity is when it comes to coding and no one admires code that is complex, hard to understand and maintain.
Simplicity is a prerequisite for reliability. — Edsger W. Dijkstra
A great talk by Rich Hickey on Simplicity Matters
Original link Simple Made Easy
Communities & Profiles
Communities are where you network with like-minded professionals, learn and give back.
Github
Creating a profile allows you to set up your own repository, follow inspiring contributors, appreciate others’ work by staring their repository, and most importantly contribute back to the open-source projects.
How to contribute? You can report a bug, write documentation, answer questions, fix issues, and create new features.
It’s worth mentioning that, employers favor open source contributors.
I wrote an article on how to contribute to open source that you might find interesting to read
StackOverflow
StackOverflow is the largest Software Development Q&A website. A SO profile is good to have. See Rob’s comment on its significance in interviews.
- Ask difficult & meaningful questions
- Answer questions
- Upvote useful questions/answers
I wrote an article on how to Q&A in StackOverflow and build a good SO profile.
A LinkedIn profile is the first step towards building your online presence.
- Build your professional network
- Subscribe to updates from companies & influencers
- Explore jobs, write and read posts
Similarly, AngelList and IndieHackers are great communities to be part of.
Habits
Developing a few habits early on would greatly help you down the road. I highly recommend reading The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.
- Tech is a fast-paced industry. Stay up to date with social networks & sites such as slashdot & techcrunch
- Don’t be shy! Ask for advice from those with expertise
- Always plan and solve the problem in paper and then write the code. This is very powerful.
- Write code that aligns with industry adopted coding standards. Start writing tests early for assignments, projects.
- Develop a habit of solving puzzles/challenges on a regular basis. This will serve you dearly whether it’s an interview, your job, side project, etc.
- Whiteboarding skills never let you down whether it is an interview, on the job. Probably one of the most overlooked skills.
- Understand how much time you have in your hand and use it wisely. Do the math, calendar block tomorrow, and use RescueTime if you are comfortable with their Privacy Policy.
- Protect your identity by reading privacy policies, terms of services, using VPN & Encryption, password manager, enabling 2FA, and so on.
Socializing & Networking
There are many benefits to networking and socializing such as
- Build your professional network
- Get inspired and inspire others
- Learn about the dev communities, jobs, mentoring, volunteering, etc
- Find your co-founders and project partners
- Improve your soft skills i.e. speaking, active listening, and so on.
We are well past the era of the one-man army, it is all about teamwork now. Get to know people of all expertise i.e. legal, finance, sales, marketing, and so on. It will come handy in the future be it side projects, change industry, etc.
If you find networking difficult, I recommend reading self-help books i.e. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking and there is a ton of tips and advice on the internet.
Follow Influencers & Companies
Put social networks into good use. Follow people and companies that inspire and remind you of your dreams and goals. I use social networks to
- Stay connected with family and friends
- Read updates from companies such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, United Nations, Amazon, Netflix, SpaceX, Tesla, and so on.
- Follow public figures like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeff Atwood, Dan Abramov, Dave Syer, Evan You, Vitalik Buterin, …
- Attend monthly meetups (i.e. Hackernest), workshops, talks, hackathon
Side Projects
Act on your ideas. The chances that someone else is thinking about it is very high.
- Pick that great idea and do a feasibility and market research
- Connect with your professional network to find partners & co-founders
- Work in your free time & don’t forget to see the idea through completion
Researching
As a Software Developer, you will be constantly learning and researching. Give yourself the habit of reading the documentation first and if that did not help then search for other learning materials such as examples, tutorials, etc.
Error Messages
Don’t be disappointed when you come across an error message. Learn What is it about? When does it happen? and How to handle it gracefully?
Choose the right Company
Recently, I came across this article by Brenn where he explains the benefits of working for a Product vs Consulting company — Might help decide your next career/internship option.
SEO Yourself
Have you ever googled yourself? Is your personal information safe? Is your public information easily accessible?
Use the magic of search engine to achieve your objectives whether it’s sharing wisdom, promoting your brand, attracting followers, or spreading awareness.
Things you should avoid
It takes time to build and remove habits.
Do not give up easily
There are different cues that lead to giving up. As a software developer, you will easily come across
- Annoying issues
- Poor legacy code
- Learning other languages, tools, and domain knowledge
- Working with people who have different coding habits, opinion, etc
It is generally a good habit not to give up and keep trying but, don’t be stubborn and understand when is the right time to let go and move on.
When it comes to coding, if you are on the verge of giving up, try following
- Take a break and come back later or the next day
- Try solving it on paper
- Ask for help from those with expertise
Do not copy assignments
When I started my computer science degree, the first C programming assignment was “Write a program that computes x^n (x to the power of n) using + (plus) and — (minus) operators where x and n are integers provided by the user”.
It took me a long time with no access to the internet to find a solution on paper. I learned not to give up and keep trying and the following assignments become easier and easier.
Do not fall for social network addiction
Believe it or not, a majority of social networks are powered by algorithms that have one goal — Increase the ROI for the company using your time.
I recommend coming up with strategies on how to use social networks to get closer to your goals — think of your own ROI when you invest your time.
Do not lose hope, you are smarter than you think
Lastly, feeling hopeless and worried is going to be a frequent visitor and you will have to learn how to deal with it. Here are a few points in your defense
- Don’t let knowledge gap make you worry or hopeless — see article below
- Don’t be intimidated by those who are better — You will get there
- Don’t lose hope for not knowing everything i.e. AI, Machine Learning, Blockchain, etc — you will learn them eventually
Dan Abramov, one of the developers I follow is the co-creator of the famous Redux framework wrote the following article that I consider a great read.
Here is an amazing documentary called Do You Trust This Computer? on AI and it’s future implications if you are interested.
Previous article
Thank you for reading. If this article was helpful, then please feel free to check out my other articles https://medium.com/@rhamedy and follow me for more relevant content. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn.
I reviewed the coding guidelines for companies like Google, Oracle, Twitter, and Spring and wrote a summary of it all in the following article. Please feel free to use the content to develop a coding standard for your company (if you don’t have one) or simply apply it to your own day to day development.
In the following article, I have listed 13 code review standards used at Google
If you write any backend code, then you know that at times there is a need to check the performance of an API or piece of code under load. The following article focuses on how to use Apache JMeter and Taurus to perform to run a load test
Relevant articles
- Finally, some relevant articles for those who wish to read more. One of my favorite articles on 25 Tips for New Developers by Ali
- A must-read article Advice to new software developers where he touches on Product vs Consulting company for career/internship.
- What New Developers Should Really Focus On by Lydia who also wrote another article that might resonate with new developers.
- Some great tips by Stephen on his blog post (Code by hand — my absolute favorite, take breaks when debugging)
- Another 15 Tips for Junior Developers by Natasha on her blog (Separate your concerns i.e. SRP, write short methods, find a mentor)
- Some amazing tips by Emad on his blog (i.e. contribution to open source, asking, writing blogs, etc)
