Weekly Update, September 5th

by Ghost

Hi, everyone! Hope you're all enjoying the end of summer :B (or winter, for those below the equator)

I thought we should chat about senior developers today and how you can become one as well.

Let's start with the basics: what exactly is a senior developer?

This is not as black and white as it seems. Some may say that a senior dev is a developer that is an expert in a certain area, or knows how to pair the rights tools to solve a problem. Others consider senior developers those who have over 5 years of experience in the field, or someone who leads a team of other developers.

Every company has a standard when it comes to the different stages of our careers in software development, and they usually range from 0-5.

So how do you know where you stand on your pathway towards becoming a senior developer? Look over the requirements for senior dev positions in jobs you're interested in. In general, senior devs have an easier time seeing patterns and really understanding from experience what clean, maintainable code is.

Now, how can you get there?

  • Find a mentor or multiple mentors, if possible. This is a great way to get tips and personal advice that will save you so much time.
  • Read other people's code as much as possible. One repo that I dissected when I was starting out was underscore.js, called lodash now. I got to learn new patterns and ideas that pushed me to become a better developer and also work better with other people on a team.
  • Really study software craftsmanship and make a list of skills that you should work on. At my second job, I wanted to push myself and become as good as the senior devs who I worked with, so I wrote tons of lists of things that I needed to understand to reach that level.
  • Mentor and teach other people who are maybe a few months behind you in your learning process. Teaching is a really great way to learn.
  • You have to learn how to deeply focus. I recommend everyone read the book "Deep Work" by Cal Newport.
  • Built experiences and study the problems. Practice problem-solving as much as possible!

Do you have any other tips that have helped you become a senior dev? Let me know about it on Discord!

Have a great week,

-G