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Ask HN: How to improve at programming when you are the best in your company?

2 points by bacro ↗ HN
Hi hackers,

I have the following question:

How can I improve my code at programming when all my colleagues are very bad at it?

I worked alone on all my projects for more than a decade and I think I need to be in a company where my coworkers are 10000 timer better than me to improve. The problem is that I can't get there because my code doesn't have the quality they expect.

For example, I applied for a Frontend developer position using React recently, and it was a Senior position there but they asked for me to code an exercise and the quality was for mid-level programmer. Bear in mind that I just started web-development in a year and half, coding a fairly complicated SPA in Angular v1 and I just started React Native development in about 4 months ago. ( All the other projects in my career were backend or desktop applications. )

How can I learn to program higher quality code? Do you guys have any ideas on how can I do that?

Thanks and don't be harsh, please :)

4 comments

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chrisbennet
While learning from others is great, to get good at this profession, you really need to become a life long self learner (autodidact). Seek out challenges that interest you and implement them using new technologies and techniques.

I'm an old dog but I've been learning new tricks listening to the podcast "Coding Blocks". It's great to listen to on a long commute or trip.

bacro
I understand that and I am an autodidact, but it's just unbearable the amount of information we need to learn to master a certain technology/language.

I have many projects at the same time and of different kinds, I am doing web projects, react-native mobile projects and I give support to older desktop applications. I am kind a jack-of-all-trades master of none, you know?

It's very difficult to improve like this because when I get home I am always tired and also I wanna have some life that is not coding...

chrisbennet
I hear you.

I do have some related advice: Don't refer to yourself as a "jack of all trades" in cover letters or such. When someone reads/hears that phrase they mentally fill in "master of none".

You, my friend, are a "Swiss army knife" from now on. :-)

bacro
Hahaha understood friend :)