There was discussion post in dev.to what is your best advise for a junior software developer. I ended up responding with a 15-item, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, advise. Here they are;

If I have Doc Brown’s DeLorean, this is what I would advise my younger self;

  1. Keep your head down during code reviews. Humility goes a long way. They’re not criticizing you, it’s your code they’re after. It’s not personal
  2. Do the required reading before you get knee-deep in the code. You have a propensity to shoot from the hip, curb that enthusiasm. Don’t read the manual only when you’re in trouble
  3. Design patterns are nice, but you don’t have to use all of them, all the time in every code you write
  4. Learn Python early. Get to the Python REPL and type import this. Learn it by heart, then read no. 3 (above) again
  5. Coffee, pizza and chips are nice now, but 20 years from now, you’re gonna wish you didn’t eat those
  6. In a couple of years, social media is gonna be big. Stay out of it
  7. Those math subjects you hated, better get more comfortable with them. There’s gonna be a thing called “machine learning”, it’s gonna be big, you’re gonna need them maths
  8. Stop wondering when you will graduate from being a junior, you’ll know it when you’re out of it. When you start making technical choices and you recognize that there are choices to be made; then you’re not so junior anymore
  9. Be polite when asking questions. If you don’t want to get the RTFM response (a lot), read Eric Raymond’s guide on how to ask smart questions
  10. When you’re tech lead or any of your bosses calls you for a meeting, always bring a pen and paper. Write your notes
  11. If it’s taking you more than 3 hours to figure out something, ask for help, tell your tech lead what’s eating you up (but make sure that before you do this, you’ve read no. 9 above)
  12. If you promised your tech lead (client, coworker or boss) you will deliver the thing on Friday, and you’re not gonna make it, tell them early. Don’t tell them on Friday
  13. Exercise. You’re brain (and your blood pressure) will love you for it
  14. When the book “Pragmatic programmer, journeyman to master” comes out. Read it
  15. From time to time, write a program in LOLCODE, don’t lose your humor