Note: This is the first in a series of articles that I’m calling Works on My Machine. It’s a collection of ideas that have helped me, and I hope, might help you. If you have feedback, please don’t hesitate to reach out and let me know.

I first started programming professionally more than 20-mumble-mumble years ago. At the time, online discussion of programming topics was just starting to become more common. A pervasive theme was how gobsmackingly bad the average programmer was.

Everything you read seemed to emphasize how the industry was just rife with poorly trained, disinterested goons who couldn’t program their way through a FizzBuzz exercise without adding a SQL injection vulnerability.

I’m sure many developers had the same reaction I did. I was determined to be different. I was going to do things The Right Way. I believed that if you just cared enough and put in the work, you could basically write code right the first time. And so I began reading. And I read, and I read, and then I read some more.

What I didn’t do enough of early on was actually write code. I was so concerned with learning patterns and practices and avoiding amateur mistakes that I ended up stuck in neutral, unable to just write some code and actually learn something.

The truth is simple:

  • Do the best quality work you can.
  • But realize that making mistakes is one of the best ways to learn how to do things.
  • Write lots and lots of code.
  • And, when you realize you’ve done something wrong, fix it. (Don’t forget this step.)

I wish I had learned this lesson a lot earlier. But some mistakes take a little longer to correct than we’d prefer. That’s okay, though. It’s just part of the process.

Happy coding.