Tips for being a programmer: Your efforts and diligence must be visible to others

I often think back to my past self. I was just a programmer who liked to write code. I had never thought about how to plan my future and how to get along with others. If I had known the following tips earlier, I would have avoided a lot of unnecessary trouble.

1. Get along with others

In the past, I only knew how to program computers, and I thought that getting along with anyone was a waste of time. It would be better to do my own research. In the end, I found that I was wrong, because no matter when, if you have a large number of interpersonal relationships, it will be more useful than anything else. If you want to find a job you like, if you have connections, it will greatly increase your chances. Opportunities are your own, but sometimes you also need others to give you this opportunity. If possible, you must build good relationships with your companions around you. Maybe many people seem insignificant to you, but after a few years you will find that everything may change. Some people who you thought were insignificant a few years ago will now make you look at them in a new light. If you ignored them at the time, the opportunities in their hands now will also ignore you.

2. How to solve the problem

Although I can handle any problem in an orderly manner now, it was not like this before. Every time I encountered trouble, I felt it was a disaster. I have to find the right way to do everything. I would rather choose several inferences and prove them wrong than choose one and rack my brains to prove it is right, because this is the stupidest way. I would choose alternative theories as much as possible. If there is a port conflict, it may be connected to the wrong network device or an unassigned IP address. The abnormality in this case is not a real error. The essence of problem solving is to use the knowledge you have learned and the experience you have accumulated before to do your best to solve various unknown things.

3. Know yourself

You should do what you like, but you should also adapt to this society, so that you have the opportunity to develop and make the most money. No matter what the reason is, since I have done this job, I have to analyze this industry. We will be needed in the future, and of course there will be a large number of new people joining, so now we must recognize ourselves and not be complacent. Technology is improving, and we must also learn new knowledge every day, because one day you may be kicked out.

4. New software is basically based on existing technology with some changes or no changes at all

After working in this industry for a few years, you will know that many new products are just re-sold with a new name. Experienced developers are also accustomed to this. Even if there are some innovations, they are combined with the original technology. For example, Hadoop, which you know now, is a distributed file system, and distributed file systems have been around for decades.

5. Consider career development

Some people will resign because of various minor problems, which is always too superficial. In a company, we should see whether our career prospects are promising. This is one of the reasons why we consider whether to stay here. Sometimes, a job means more responsibility and opportunity.

6. Your efforts and diligence must be visible to others

If your boss or supervisor can't see your hard work and diligence, then they won't give you more opportunities. So don't be stupid and work hard in secret.

7. Sometimes we make programming complicated.

Since the software industry was separated from the hardware industry, software development has been very messy. To do programming well, you just need to learn it well, concentrate, and have good logical thinking skills. There are many books and courses that teach us how to do the whole programming. However, as long as you talk about cooperative projects, it becomes complicated.

8. Develop communication skills

Whether in company meetings or discussions with others, if you are always stage fright, then you must study hard to overcome it, participate in more such gatherings and discussions, and learn more, because learning these skills is as important as writing good code.

Original text: What I wish I'd known starting out as a programmer