Tips That New Coders Can Use To Build A Long Career

By Dan Munson

Coders who have just graduated, or took their time to learn their trade, need some tips. Learning software development can take a while. That is why people need to listen to the advice of those who have walked the path before they did. Study what is seen as shortcomings as any job progresses. This will get a person to a point that they will become trusted in the programming world the fastest. Not everything necessary to do the job is taught in school or online classes. So, read some of these tips and research what can be helpful to a new career.

Mistakes happen

One of the first things that anyone needs to know is that mistakes happen. Companies know this. When counseled a new programmer needs to take the criticism as a learning moment. A project leader or company will have a specific style. That has to be learned to be the new person. Do not think that everything will pass through a debugger the first time. There are parts to a language that takes time to learn. There may just be a better way to choose variable names. Expect all of this and use it as a moment to learn how to go from entry level to expert. It will take time, but learning from mistakes will pay off over a career.

Learn IDEs

An integrated development environment, or IDE, is necessary for most programming languages. A new coder has to adapt to whatever IDE is used by who hires them. It may not be what was used by whatever classroom or personal choice they came from. Each IDE has a different way of handling almost everything. That is why a new coder needs to sit down with a new IDE and figure out every control. The controls will allow for the coder to be better prepared for making a more professional product for the person or company they work for.

Development process

The development process should be understood by the new coder. That is not always the case, because learning a language can take time. The question to be asked should be what is test driven development. Such development will make sure that problems are found quickly, not when everyone thinks the programming is almost over. Taking time to do testing along the way will stop bugs that annoy the end user. The development will not be drawn out. All of this brings customers back and bosses wanting to retain people who were hired as contract employees.

Not saving

This may sound like a mistake, but it is a habit. Someone will get into their coding and work for hours. They are almost done and something happens. All the code is lost. It could be a power outage. Hopefully it was automatically saved, but it’s possible it could be lost if it wasn’t. The computer being used may not be new, though. Hard drives fail. That means that there needs to be a cloud or server that the program should be saved to. Both of these options should be set up at the beginning. Learn how and hours of work can be around no matter the problems.

New coders should always take tips. Other people have made the same mistakes in the past. These folks are more than willing to pass on pearls of wisdom to those that need them. New coders have the chance of finding these tips by reading about their job. They can also find tips by asking for help from more experienced coworkers. Learn all about the programming language that is being used. The same goes for the IDE that the company uses. All of this will turn the experience into a long career.