Ask HN: How can an average developer improve their skills?

[holdon]

Hi HN!

I've been working as a frontend developer for more than 7 years. During that period, 80% of my tasks were easy or easy+ problems, while the other 20% were medium-level problems that took a lot of time. As a result, I sometimes fear that I am not prepared for hard problems and have missed the fundamentals of how to work through and build large systems from scratch.

So, I am at the beginning of my journey to become a better developer.

What book, set of articles, or YouTube series would you recommend as a first step in my learning?

[Jemaclus]

I think a lot of this is mental -- identifying problems and solving them -- and then after that, practice practice practice.

There's a quote I've heard from many people that goes something like this: "Make it work; make it work well; then make it work fast."

Wherever you go, look for problems to solve. Code takes 30 minutes to compile? Find a way to speed it up. API takes 3 seconds to return a response? Find a way to speed it up. Database migrations require downtime? Find a way to avoid that.

Another option is to find better ways to do things that you already know how to do. Know how to query an API and retrieve a list of users? Improve it by re-using connections or caching responses for short periods of time. Know how to build a REST API? Now figure out how to scale it to 1000 requests per second. Know how to render a scene using ray-tracing? Optimize it to 60fps.

I think the key here is relentless curiosity. You're asking the right questions, so you're on the right track! Just keep at it. Never settle for "fine." Ask yourself how to make it better. And over time, you'll get "better" on the first try.

Once you have that mindset down, it's just practice, practice, practice. Write as much code as you can. Find tools that resonate with you. Find design patterns that accelerate your growth and reduce mistakes. Incremental progress is still progress!

[syndicatedjelly]

> What book, set of articles, or YouTube series would you recommend as a first step in my learning?

I actually would suggest a step before this, which is to make this list for yourself. No one else knows where your knowledge gaps are, better than you. So identify topics in which you lack confidence, and find a primary source (ideally a book or written material, so that it can be referenced). Skim the chapters/headings, and pick a few that sound interesting. Explore rabbit holes.

After a few sessions, you’ll get a sense of where your gaps are and what interests you. From there, pursue your interests.

[LoudFrog]

I am all for self improvement, but sometimes it's also good to just practice some acceptance. It's okay to not be the best. The older you get the more you will get outshined regardless of how hard you work. Who cares if your mediocre as long as your making money and you have a decent life.

[sandreas]

Write a basic game, best case with 3d or collision detection and sound. You'll learn a lot of cool stuff while having a fun time :-)

I'd suggest C# / Godot or if you are tied to JS, pixii should also work.

[pavel_lishin]

What about mentorship at work?

[holdon]

Yeah, it's a good idea. But sometimes, a developer's job is just a conveyor belt of features, making it hard to find a mentor who can help.

[bdangubic]

you should be a mentor to someone your junior, it’ll be more beneficial to your career than being mentored