Photo by Falaq Lazuardi on Unsplash
My Biggest Regret as a Software Engineer 😳😰
The past and future versions of me are furious right now.
This is a story of ignorance. A story of pain. And a story of lost time.
I wish I had written more.
I've been coding for 14 years. I started writing terrible HTML websites in Notepad. Not Notepad++, just pure, black text on a blinding white background.
I remember coding everything using inline styling. I had no idea what CSS was.
If I had been writing, I would have been able to crystalize my thinking.
Maybe 14-year old me would have written "I wish there was a way to write a file that contained all the styling for a website." Maybe he would have Googled it then.
I could look back and see how far I'd come. And share it with other beginner coders.
I wish I had written more.
In college, I built a Sandwich Snagger bot with Discord's API.
Every time my waiter friend got a free sandwich, he would offer it up to the Discord. I never checked my phone so I missed every opportunity.
But I knew I could code my way to free sandwiches.
This was my first bot of any kind. I worked for a weekend straight figuring out APIs, webhooks, and parsing messages. Until finally I created this sandwich-snagging Frankenstein's monster.
He worked eight times before he broke.
If I had been writing, I would have been able to find that bug.
I would have a better understanding of Discord's API. I wouldn't have been guessing-and-checking my way through this project. I would have been able to finish faster and have a better product.
I could look back and laugh with my friends about this crazy project. And share it with others who were trying to learn.
I wish I had written more.
A few years ago, I built a custom word game.
It's a complex game with a Vue-frontend, a Supabase database, and lots of weird little code exceptions and workarounds.
I actually partnered with a word game distributor last year to get it in front of more people. It took me a while to explain the code or implement changes.
If I had been writing, I would have a greater understanding of what my past self did.
I'd be able to find where to make changes quicker. Explain my architecture more clearly. Come off as a professional developer instead of this novice game maker.
I could have saved my reputation as a developer in front of this word game distributor.
I urge you. Write more.
Document your struggles. I guarantee you're not the only one going through it.
And if, somehow, you are... do it for your past and future selves.
Do it to clarify your thinking.
Do it to become a better developer.
👋 Hey, I'm Gus, developer, improviser, and game maker.
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