Jim Nordal
Jul 10, 2017 · 2 min read

The obstacle of comparison

I finished a bachelor’s degree in Information Systems they year I turned 40. 2 months later I started my first job in the IT-world, as a developer for a small company which focus on web-applications using Django and Python. The first year with programming has been a rollercoaster ride with despair and frustration, euphoria and enlightenment.

I am certain most people, regardless of age, have challenges when learning a new profession. However, there might be some other challenges when a 40-year old person starts as a programmer compared to the most common challenges younger people meets. For me one major obstacle has been comparison with senior developers and software engineers. I am not being fair to myself when I think my work, as a junior developer, should be as advanced as a senior developer or a software engineer. And this comparison drags you down.

My solution to overcome this obstacle of comparison consists of two parts: 1) build my simple code as good as I possible can. I look at the naming of variables, classes, methods and function. Does my methods and functions do one thing? Can you read my code and understand it without comments? And I write tests. Lots of tests. When I do this I can be proud of what I have built, regardless of complexity and features. 2) Accept that not everyone will become a software engineer or some sort of developer ninja. I can be an average developer which do not build the most complex software, but the software I build is good craftsmanship.

Jim Nordal

Written by

Developer at Appresso AS, Norway

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade