One of the perks of being a developer for over a decade is hindsight. I can look back and say things like: And then there’s a fourth category:”Why did nobody tell me this?” These are the lessons I wish someone had shared with me when I was new to web development. Google Will Become Your Programming Sidekick Contrary to popular belief, developers do not know everything. In fact, a surprisingly large portion of software development involves staring at an error message, sighing dramatically, and consulting Google. Whether it’s a runtime error triggering the dreaded Yellow Screen of Death, a mysterious build failure that worked perfectly five minutes ago, or a debate about whether a HashSet or a List is the better choice, chances are that someone else has already run into the same problem. Learning how to search effectively is a skill in its own right. Knowing what keywords to…
Crochet and software development don’t seem like natural companions. If you had told junior-developer me that crochet would eventually influence how I approach software development, I probably would have scoffed. At first glance, the two have very little in common. One involves yarn and hooks. The other involves code and pull requests. Yet the longer I’ve spent doing both, the more I’ve realised that many of the habits that make me a better crocheter have also made me a better developer. Don’t Rush One of the first lessons crochet taught me was that speed and progress are not necessarily the same thing. If I rush through a row or round, there’s a good chance that I’ll miss a stitch somewhere along the way. The mistake might not be immediately obvious, but several rows later I’ll find myself wondering why the piece no longer looks quite right. Software development has a…