I originally posted this post on my blog.
These days, I found a post claiming you're not a senior software engineer until you work on a legacy app.
It made me think about when we can call ourselves programmers. Mmmm?
From me:
So, you're not a programmer until:
- You write a to-do app or a recipe catalog
- You google how to become a better coder
- You have an interview with a clueless recruiter
- You copy and paste a code block from StackOverflow
- You take down a database server with a badly written query
- You read the Clean Code and want to rewrite all the code around you
- You debug using
Console.WriteLineorconsole.logorprintfstatements - You get a PM asking you how you're doing more than once a day
- You google your error message and find an open GitHub issue
- You delete a database table with a DELETE without WHERE
- You argue about a variable name during a code review
- You write a class
PersonorShapewhen learning OOP - You code a calculator app using JavaScript
- You work on a full rewrite of a legacy app
- You google how to center a div
From my friends and ex-coworkers:
I asked some of my friends and ex-coworkers to complete that sentence. And here's what they told me.
You're not a programmer until...
- You write your first "Hello, world" program
- You stay awake until 3AM solving a coding issue
- You're fixing an issue, it works and you don't know why
- Your code works on your machine, but not in Production
- You get a compilation error on line 123 on a 40-line code file
- You deploy a hotfix to Production at 17:55 (and you clock out at 18:00)
(Update) From the comments section:
I compiled some additions from the comments section. (Slightly edited to make them fit in one line)
You're not a programmer until...
- You've programmed
- You use
git push --force --all - You say "Well, it works in Dev"
- You have a folder of unfinished projects
- You build a collection of most-used code snippets
- You set your git username to "User" so they can't blame you
- You use
git reset --hardor delete your local repo and clone it again - You start a blog to share your learning to save others debugging time
- You're stuck on a bug and your code works when you call a senior for help
- You've spent time installing your favorite editor/IDE's plugins and themes
- You feel stupid by constantly trying to learn things you don't know what they're for
What would you add to the list? When did you know you were a programmer? Leave your comment!
And you're not truly a coder until you grab a copy of my book, Street-Smart Coding: 30 Ways to Get Better at Coding.
OK, jokes aside, for so long I thought coding was only about cracking symbols. But I had to learn coding is a wide range of skills like surviving on-call rotations, talking to non-tech managers, and many more I included in my book.
Grab your copy of Street-Smart Coding here—That's the roadmap I wish I had when I was starting out.
Something that new vibe coders won’t understand :)
I’ve always believed that most of coding is about not giving up when we are stuck.