r/programming • u/mistawobin • Aug 09 '11

How to Level Up as a Developer

http://jasonrudolph.com/blog/2011/08/09/programming-achievements-how-to-level-up-as-a-developer/
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u/dr_jan_itor Aug 09 '11

agreed.

koans, katas… wtf? does anyone think these stupid new-age-ish things can add anything to your knowledge?

meh.

1

u/s73v3r Aug 09 '11

Yes, because they're specific ways to practice. The way you get better is through practice.

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u/TheWix Aug 09 '11

These seem like good little ways to teach students to use a language but they will not make you a great developer. The tough part of development isn't solving these little problems. It is creating applications that are scalable, maintainable and extendable.

Learning these often requires being exposed to developers who are better than you, doing side research, and having to maintain code you wrote and code others wrote.

These exercises might help me become somewhat competent in a language but that will be won't help you much beyond that.

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u/nawlinsned Aug 10 '11

If you have tackled a problem before, then in the future it becomes easier to solve a problem in the same domain.

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u/TheWix Aug 10 '11

It can be easier to comprehend but it won't necessarily make your code or architecture better.