Read other people’s code. Dig through source code of libraries you use. You don’t have to understand their entire stack, but you’ll start to see all sorts of skill levels in production code. This obviously comes with the requirement to have some basic experience to comprehend the fundamentals of coding.
I’ve been a professional web dev for over 15 years and when I’m feeling down about my code, I just look through WordPress plugin source code. I’ve seen clients use some terribly coded plugins with a $50/mo price tag on them. No one cares.
But every once and a while, you’ll come across something beautiful, something thar will inspire you in just the right way and it’ll click how to code something. It can even be just a small portion of a messy project, but learn to recognize when you’re writing good code and be proud of that. Also learn to sometimes accept messy code.
Did I ship high quality code for every project last year? Hell. No. Some clients have smaller budgets or there isn’t time to work out the most elegant solutions or there’s pressures to ship ASAP. But there were a few projects I was given the time and space to write some code I’m genuinely proud of.
I’ve been in the industry long enough to know that skill and ability doesn’t hold back as many people back as you’d expect. Do I want more under skilled coders entering the industry? not really, but we all have to start somewhere. And as long as there is progress being made, it’ll be fine.
I wasn’t skilled or even a coder when I first started out (I was an art major) I lied and learned it all in the job. The web dev ecosystem was entirely different 15 years ago. But sticking to it, developing an understanding of what good code looks like, eventually lead me to a successful career.
Everyone has their own pace. Be patient with yourself, and learn to love learning. You’ll never stop learning in this industry.
Read other people’s code. Dig through source code of libraries you use. You don’t have to understand their entire stack, but you’ll start to see all sorts of skill levels in production code. This obviously comes with the requirement to have some basic experience to comprehend the fundamentals of coding.
I’ve been a professional web dev for over 15 years and when I’m feeling down about my code, I just look through WordPress plugin source code. I’ve seen clients use some terribly coded plugins with a $50/mo price tag on them. No one cares.
But every once and a while, you’ll come across something beautiful, something thar will inspire you in just the right way and it’ll click how to code something. It can even be just a small portion of a messy project, but learn to recognize when you’re writing good code and be proud of that. Also learn to sometimes accept messy code.
Did I ship high quality code for every project last year? Hell. No. Some clients have smaller budgets or there isn’t time to work out the most elegant solutions or there’s pressures to ship ASAP. But there were a few projects I was given the time and space to write some code I’m genuinely proud of.
I’ve been in the industry long enough to know that skill and ability doesn’t hold back as many people back as you’d expect. Do I want more under skilled coders entering the industry? not really, but we all have to start somewhere. And as long as there is progress being made, it’ll be fine.
I wasn’t skilled or even a coder when I first started out (I was an art major) I lied and learned it all in the job. The web dev ecosystem was entirely different 15 years ago. But sticking to it, developing an understanding of what good code looks like, eventually lead me to a successful career.
Everyone has their own pace. Be patient with yourself, and learn to love learning. You’ll never stop learning in this industry.