Not being afraid of code — Fighting through the frustration

This is a seasoned feeling for senior engineers, long time programmers, and anyone who has worked with computers for a decent amount of time: frustration. One of the worst feelings out there, it makes us irritable and even hateful toward what we are choosing to spend our time doing; that’s no good! When learning to program, especially at the beginning, this can be a really common trait amongst junior developers and it’s completely reasonable — but there are better ways to handle it than just getting annoyed or angry.

Here are some tips I’ve learned from others and personal discovery when starting your journey as a developer that made the process and work ethic come much smoother after some trial and error.

Make what you want

One of the coolest parts about becoming a developer, engineer, or web designer is the ability to create. I like to think of code as another art medium — giving the programmer a canvas and the tools to make what they want.

When starting to look for work, senior developers will be extremely opinionated when you reach out for help or advice on what to do about your projects. Here is a tip I wish I knew: a lot of them will say the complete opposite of what other senior devs say. So what advice do you take?

Honestly, listen to them all, and take it what works for you. Most importantly, make projects that you’re interested in or this entire process is going to be a grind. Sometimes someone will say to you in order to get hired you have to make features on an application you don’t find interesting.

Seriously, everyone’s advice to you will be “build out more features.” You’ll hear it so much you’ll just be ready to hear it.

But the way to work with that is to take those features they want to see and use them how you want to. Do they want a task list? Make a check list in a menu in a video game. Do they want you to show map functionality? Use a map of Middle Earth and make an Oregon Trail knock off. They want you to use an API? There are tons — choose one that makes you happy.

This is your portfolio — it should reflect you. If you aren’t happy talking about your own projects, then its a waste of both your time and whoever you’re showing it to.

Remember everyone is confused

The thing about programming, which some can find annoying, is the fact that it constantly is updating and changing itself. There are also tons of different ways to solve a problem, and everyone thinks their way is the best. Some people who don’t understand what learning it is like will think it’s like learning Japanese or Spanish. Well — they’re close, but really its more like learning 4 languages, which are printed on a Rubix cube, that you have to solve while doing a math competition.

But remember: everyone gets confused and doesn’t know everything! No matter how opinionated or intense someone else who works in the industry comes off, they also have days of work (if not every day) that they show up and have to learn something new.

Seriously, next time you sit down with a more seasoned developer and come across an issue while programming, there is a 50% chance they’ll have to google for the solution with you. There is no way we can all hold onto all this information all the time, and there is a reason why being a programmer is half googling for solutions — its as if they’re saying please, ASK!

While the world of programming can come across as extremely competitive and opinionated, just remember that there are a lot of developers out there in the community willing to help you with the best of intentions. Don’t let others get you down with a high and mighty attitude — they asked as one point too. No one knows you like you know yourself, so keep your learning style and tricks individualized to what works for you.

Focus on your strengths

Someone once told me learning programming is like going to medical school (you know, without the saving lives part and instead making a like button work) — while someone who doesn’t know the practice will say “they work in medicine”, someone who does know the work will know that there are a million different facets to study. Are you a foot doctor? Pharmacist? Heart doctor? Better yet — are you that doctor that operates specifically on just one valve of the heart cause you’re just that darn good and specialized?

A lot of advice will tell you to focus on what you struggle with and what you’re bad at because otherwise you’ll never progress and grow as a developer. That’s true… to an extent. I moreso like to look at it as specializing your strengths. Find your niche that you like — do you really like design and making front end applications? Get super good at CSS. Do you like making interactivity and how things work? Be a JavaScript dude and focus on event listeners. Do you like tossing things around in a React app and creating a full website solo? Just focus on being incredible at React.

The point is, you can focus on what you’re good at and get really good at it, because once you choose that path, there are going to be things within that path you’re bad at. If you love CSS and choose to focus on CSS, there will be parts of CSS that challenge you. The difference here is the worst of that struggle is already within a realm that you love which makes it much easier to swallow and power through. If you hate working with back end work, then don’t bang your head against a wall with Ruby on Rails — focus on your CSS and power through those issues. You can become specialized with still challenging yourself.

I find this to be a super healthy approach as code can really drive you mad sometimes, and the frustration with it can be completely defeating. Control as much of the process as you can and make it enjoyable, otherwise this trade will feel like a complete slog. That is why people in this line of work get paid so well — sure it can be over saturated at entry level, but that’s because most people don’t make it past that point out of frustration or growing hatred for the frustration. Make it easier on yourself by doing what you like and focusing on those strengths so you’re already ahead of 80% of the other junior developers.

And finally…

Take a break

I know everyone says this, but really, step away. Like, it’s ok. And even if you do it for a little while. Some people expect you to be doing this all day every day which is absolutely insane, inhuman, and stupidly opinionated. People who say that didn’t do it themselves, set impossible standards for others, and just like to bully or tease you into a state of panic and stress when starting the process.

You’re a human being. Hug a tree. See your friends. Eat a real meal, please.

This makes coming back to your project exciting. When you take breaks, focus on your strengths and overcome the challenges within those strengths, and build what you want to build, you’re setting yourself up for success and are miles ahead of others trudging through some work they find frustrating, disheartening, and defeating. We live one life, don’t waste it yelling at a computer, cause it can’t hear you. It’s an instrument, a medium, an art form — it won’t judge you any more than a guitar or a paint brush. Make peace with it and you’ll be successful at this thing called programming.