A Note To All The New Developers

First off I’d like to welcome you all to the matrix. Where we build tools to make the life of other users easier. Let me introduce myself. I have been writing code professionally for the past 10 years. Through out my journey I have built Desktop apps, Mobile apps, Web Apps and Backend server you can sort of call me the Jack of all but master of none. A few things you need to know before you start your journey.

• Programming is hard. The only thing constant in the world of development is CHANGE! yes that’s right change is the only thing that is constant in the world of development. Things are always changing, Frameworks are updating, API’s are changing, etc… and you need to keep up to date with all of this or you will end up being stale. The only thing that will make it easy for you is your ability and determination to learn and solve problems.

• Do not use Stack Over Flow. Okay maybe that’s a bit too much what I meant to say was don’t run to stack overflow on the first road block you hit. Try to resolve the issue on your own, Try to understand the problem give it some thought. And if still nothing then head over to your old trusty plan SOF but even if you are able to find the answer that works don’t simply COPY & PASTE it understand why that works and why yours did not. Get to the root of the problem. That way next time you come across something like this you can do it yourself.

• The only way you learn to code is if you code. This is something that I’m always coaching my junior developers on. Writing lots of code is the only way for you to understand how to write code. Think about it like this I could spend countless hours on watching basketball matches. I might know the rules and have strategies in my mind but that does not mean ill be able to win a single game without practice. Similarly I can read articles and blogs or books all I want but that does not mean I know how to code.

• Solid Foundation. Build a solid foundation. It might be annoying to go though the basics when learning a new language. But skipping them might be the worst possible thing that you might end up doing. These simple things will help you learn the syntax of the language and how things function in that particular language. Making it easy for you in the long run.

• Apes Together Strong. Yup that’s correct we are strong together as a community which is why its important to find the idea community for yourself be it a forum, discord, etc… One that coaches your and guides you to improve your skills and take them to the next level.

• I have failed you. FAILURE!!! this is something that all developers face. You need to adapt and learn to accept your failure and learn from them and move on. No one got everything right on the first attempt and if they did then they would like not know how to handle it which would lead to failures later on. Its better to learn from your failures now and succeed later on.

• Errors & Programmers are BFFS. Yup something that a programmer encounters every single day is Errors!! Don’t see these errors as your enemies they are actually your buddies learn to love them as they give a clear picture of what went wrong so you can fix things up.

• You are a wizard. Don’t let anyone tell you other wise. What you do as a programmer is pure magic. Think about it. We tell other devices what to do so everyday persons life can be a lot better. Its the same as Wizards using their spells to make peoples life better. The only difference is they got their spell from a old book covered in dust and we get it from the internet. They use wands and we use computers.