You finally found your first job as a software developer. That’s great, but how should you proceed onward? There is a huge difference between having an idea and implementing it.
In this post, I am going to share some of the common mistakes that beginner developers make when starting out. I made a few of these mistakes myself a few years ago when I first began software development.
Too Much Theory and Not Enough Practice
One of the biggest mistakes that a beginner developer can make is spending too much time with books and not practicing enough. While it’s good to learn about a programming language, it doesn’t help if you don’t have a solid foundation. Part of the learning process is to practice what you’re learning — it’s okay if you make mistakes that is part of the process too!
Another case against spending too much time on the theory is that it doesn’t stick in your head for long if you don’t use it. The time when the theory is useful and sticks in your head is when it helps you solve a problem. Consider this extreme example where you’re in a situation where you must parachute off a plane if you want to live. You don’ know how to use a parachute, but the pilot will quickly teach you. In that moment, do you think you will engrain every word the pilot will tell you into your head?
The message I am saying here is simple. To become good at development, you need to practice it.
Not Checking a Solution with Enough Attention
Your code gave the right result so you’re done right? Well, it depends on the developer. An experienced developer would not say they are done until they test their solution in a variety of scenarios. An inexperienced developer would probably think they are done and submit their solution only to find out a gentle touch can break their solution.
To test your solution through various situations, you can utilize unit testing. It’s never too early to learn unit testing as it is a useful skill to have and it helps you write more robust code. While it’s not possible for you to catch every single case, unit testing gives you the confidence to know your solution is robust and will not break easily.
Infrequent Practice
Learning to code is like trying to go up a hill. When you stop, you will slide back fast. This is what happens to your coding skills. When you stop coding, you will start to lose the skill surprisingly fast. It doesn’t help that things are changing rapidly in the development world either.
Not Asking for Help
First off, you shouldn’t be too proud or let your pride get in the way of you asking for help. Programming is difficult even for experienced developers. So, as a beginner, there is no shame in asking others for help.
One of the biggest concern beginners have is that they might be asking stupid questions. You have probably heard of the phrase, “There is no such thing as a stupid question”, but if you feel that there is then let’s look at it another way. You have the rights to ask dumb questions for the sake of your learning as long as you have given a sincere attempt to answer it yourself first.
When asking for help it doesn’t have to be a co-worker or someone on your team. You can ask or find your answer online. Google and StackOverflow are great for answering most of your development related questions. Learn to become great at Googling and you’ll find that you can be self-sufficient as a developer.
Giving up Too Quickly
On the opposite end of not asking for help, you have giving up too quickly. Giving up after trying to do something once then asking for help is not going to help you learn much. This is because you’re essentially asking to be spoon-fed the answer because you have put in a tiny bit of effort to solve the problem. Well, guess what? Being spoon-feed answers isn’t going to help you grow.
When you are challenged that is when you have an opportunity to grow. So, give the challenge your most sincere attempt then ask for help if you fail.
Not Giving Themselves Enough Time
Becoming good at development doesn’t happen overnight, although that’s the kind of impression some beginner developers have. They expect to become an expert in a programming language because they read a book about the programming language from cover-to-cover. They expect to become an expert because they just finished a 4-hour introduction video on Pluralsight.
Software development is a practical activity. So, that means with time you’ll get better. It’s a long process that can’t be rushed. The best thing you can do is trust the process and pay attention to your progress. You’ll realize that you are getting better over time.
I hope this post was helpful to you. If you found this post helpful, share it with others so they can benefit too.
To get in touch, you can follow me on Twitter, leave a comment, or send me an email at steven@brightdevelopers.com.