Advice for New Devs

Syntax - Tasty Web Development Treats

In this episode of Syntax, Scott and Wes talk about advice for new devs, our advice and opinions for how new devs can level up.

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Show Notes

01:59 - Get comfortable with your code not working

• All of our code is broken much of the time.

02:40 - Compound learning and momentum is your biggest tool

• There is no formation without repetition.
• It sucks to hear, but honestly, if you get a little bit better every single day, you will be WAY ahead in years to come. Keep at it, keep chipping away, take the lows and the highs.

04:05 - Learn to read error messages

• Is this error coming from my code?
• Is this coming from the library? If so, maybe the library wasn’t expecting that.
• Is this coming from the browser? An extension? Is it even related?
• Stack trace is a treasure map

09:42 - Take the time to learn the concepts that scare you

• They are often easier than they seem (though not every time).

10:40 - We all struggle

• This stuff is hard — give yourself a break.

12:56 - Taking a walk is good for solving bugs

• It’s hard to walk away from broken code, but it really helps.

14:33 - Get comfortable with the command line

• You’ll need it

18:09 - The ability to replicate a design pixel perfect is a valuable skill

• You will be shocked at how many devs can’t or don’t do this. If you want to avoid spending extra time on something, don’t make the designers tell you to go back and fix simple spacing, color, and detail things.

21:26 - You are on a team

• Don’t get stuck in the "us vs them" mentality of internal company teams (e.g. devs vs designers). You are all working together to make something.

24:10 - You are not an expert

• Even if you think you are an expert, you should always be seeking out alternate viewpoints and ideas. You are a student forever in this game.

26:14 - Scaffold with comments

• It helps keep you organized once you get into the mess

28:30 - From Twitter

• Tweet thread - https://twitter.com/wesbos/status/1417139639861735424

29:30 - Ben Newton

• Soft skills are about as important as coding skills if you want to go far.
• https://twitter.com/BenENewton/status/1417140062211526658

32:46 - Eric McCormick

• Don’t be afraid to push yourself beyond your comfort zone.
• https://twitter.com/edm00se/status/1417140503527792640

33:31 - Jason Liggi

• You don’t have to code for fun.
• https://twitter.com/Liggi/status/1417141600124346371

35:34 - Andrew Nickerson

• Start by building a project that’s interesting to you. https://twitter.com/Nickvisual/status/1417140742531674118

37:15 - Michael Powers

• Ask questions, break things once in a while, learn vanilla everything even if it feels like a waste of time.
• https://twitter.com/mgrpowers/status/1417141364525912064

39:33 - Jason Liggi

• Doesn’t matter how long you do this job, MOST stuff out there will probably be unknown and confusing.
• https://twitter.com/Liggi/status/1417141322478235653

40:14 - Swashata

• Learn to read documentation
• https://twitter.com/swashata/status/1417142055436910598

49:59 - Max Stoiber

• Know your tradeoffs.
• https://twitter.com/mxstbr/status/1417142461709828101

43:34 - Pat Clarke

• Build a rapport with PMs/clients beyond the technical. https://twitter.com/LeftShotDev/status/1417142505494269954

44:21 - Musa Barighzaai

• Leave things better than you found them. https://twitter.com/mbarighzaai/status/1417142734993907715

45:20 - David Moore

• Build things that excite you.
• https://twitter.com/DavidIMoore/status/1417145783581741067

Links

• https://johnlindquist.com/
• https://github.com/albertlauncher/albert

××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ×××

• Scott: Raycast
• Wes: Amazon iPhone Repair Kits

Shameless Plugs

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