How to grow in your journey as a developer

When I first started as a developer at Webtonic, I thought the path to success was straightforward which was just writing brilliant code, completing my tasks and most importantly not making anything go wrong in production. 

As months went by, I learnt that technical skills alone won’t make you grow. How you learn, how you collaborate and how you approach challenges matter too. 

Here are 5 lessons I’ve picked up which I would recommend to any new developer to help them thrive in this field: 

 

Ask when needing clarity, help and knowledge 

Always try to find out why a system was designed in a certain way or how that complex piece of code works and ask questions. Sometimes you might feel like your question is “basic” but rather ask it anyway.  There just might be some valuable insight you could gain from the explanation you receive. Developers who ask questions early often learn faster and avoid making or repeating mistakes. 

Don’t just rush to close tasks but understand them 

Don’t fall into the pressure of wanting to speed through tickets and close them. Take that little extra time to research why the solution works, how it blends in with the system and if there are not any better alternatives. This will help you improve your thought process and get a better understanding of how to deal with future tasks of the same nature. 

 

Learn how experienced developers think 

This one is my personal favourite. Being able to learn from people who have been in the same position you are currently in is amazing. The advice you will get is invaluable and learning from seniors/intermediates should not just be about the code, also focus on their approach to problem solving. Notice how they debug, plan for scalability and make decisions even under uncertainty. Even if they still make mistakes, whether past or current, those are still valuable lessons for you. All these will provide you with patterns and strategies that you can’t find in tutorials or online lectures. 

 

Be someone your team can rely on 

Being reliable is not only about delivering on time. It includes good communication, transparency and willingness to go the extra mile. Some other things that help you be seen as more reliable are things you might perceive as small, for example, documenting your work, reviewing your peers’ code thoughtfully or even sharing something you’ve learnt about, all those build trust. Trust that will lead to bigger responsibilities and opportunities, which will aid in your career. 

 

Be patient with your growth 

You might not know it now but a career in software development is a marathon, not a sprint (pun intended lol). It is tempting early on to compare yourself to others or even rush for a quick rise to the top but that is unrealistic. Remember that growth comes in phases. Phases that will be uncomfortable sometimes, other times enlightening other times frustrating but that all comes with the territory. 

 

The good news? You don’t have to figure it out alone. Always keep learning and improving. Your future self will thank you for it.