Building as a junior dev
Hello IH,
This is my first post - been a lurker on here for awhile but finally decided to jump into the community!
I'm a junior developer & I'd love to build a application that adds real world value in the world.
Right now, I'm attempting to build my first project - but when I get to the point where I begin implementing 'unknown', or 'unique' features I immediately stumble and struggle to move forward.
What is your process when creating 'new' features? Or tackling things that are 'unknown'?
As a junior developer, what skills do I need to work on to be able to tackle these challenges more efficiently?
Few features are invented nowadays.
If you can't figure out how to make a feature, you have to find a way to break it down into atomic components. Pieces of code, as small as you can.
Then google and look for ways to build those.
Add them up and you get your feature.
Building features is mainly tacit knowledge: you learn to tackle those challenges with experience.
Thanks for the reply! I'll give that approach a shot :)
First, I just want to say that even us devs who have been around a long time struggle with business. There is so much more to starting a real world project, and knowing how to code can be a detriment at times :)
There's a weird confidence issue with developing, just like most other learned skills. Think about what you're good at - a hobby, a profession you've had, etc - and remember what it's like when you want to try something new. After you have enough skill, instead of fear and worry, you look forward to the challenge and are excited to tackle it.
That's the best place to be when learning a new skill. Yeah, you'll probably mess up, break code, etc, but just remember that you're trying something new and it's exciting and challenging.
It helps to have a throwaway project you can just keep building on when you want to learn a new skill. I've been programming forever, but I just learned websockets a week ago. I'd been putting it off forever, but having a small project I was ok with breaking made me say "yeah, I'm gonna give this a try!"
Keep it fun, and good luck :)
Thanks for the reply! Haha, yeah I guess I just need to get over that hump of self-doubt. Yeah, I'll try putting together a throwaway project - that sounds like a great idea.
Will do, thanks!