# Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Programming

DevFeed: [Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Programming](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/things-i-wish-i-knew-when-i-started-programming-21056.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://jakeyesbeck.com/2015/12/27/what-i-would-tell-myself-when-i-started-programming/>)

Published: 2015-12-27T12:00:00Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Jake Yesbeck](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/jake-yesbeck.md>)

Topics: [Programming](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/programming.md>), [Learning](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/learning.md>), [Software](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/software.md>), [Tech Debt](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/tech-debt.md>), [Code](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/code.md>)

Tags: [bug](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/bug.md>), [competition](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/competition.md>), [efficiency](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/efficiency.md>), [learning](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/learning.md>), [patterns](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/patterns.md>), [process](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/process.md>), [programming](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/programming.md>), [software](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/software.md>), [software-engineer](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/software-engineer.md>), [speed](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/speed.md>), [stress](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/stress.md>), [tech-debt](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/tech-debt.md>), [work](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/work.md>)

## AI overview

This advice article reflects on starting a career in software engineering. It encourages new programmers to work steadily instead of competing on speed, explaining that rushing can increase stress, bugs, and technical debt. It also recommends continuous learning and asking questions without fear of judgment or impostor syndrome.

## Source excerpt

If by some magical event I could go back in time to the day before I started my first job as a software engineer, this is what I would say. Drive Slow I mentioned a similar message in a previous post and I believe it is worth repeating. When starting a new job or a new career, it is easy to place external pressures on ourselves regarding time. This is a common issue that can arise when comparing one's own work with those around them. As the new employee, noticing and measuring your own speed and efficiency against existing personnel can feel like the correct thing to do; however, chasing the "competition" or "proving that you are just as fast as them" will only result in high stress levels and bug riddled software. The people who seem "fast" or come off as a "10x engineer" were not born that way. They took their time and learned their craft. And with that, they have slowly accelerated their process and patterns to make them appear extremely quick and efficient. Deadlines should be thought of as real and valid; however, working at lightning speed to try and meet those deadlines will end up causing more work in the long run. What would be better, missing a deadline by a day or making a deadline and incurring so many bugs and tech debt that it takes two weeks to clean everything up? ABL Glengarry Glen Ross's iconic scene has very clear message: Always Be Closing, meaning that one should constantly strive to be in the process completing a sale. When starting out writing software and even after years of doing it, a similar attitude can be extremely helpful: Always Be Learning. From day one to day one thousand, learning and absorbing new information is very important. A key to learning new things is in asking questions. When starting a new job or a new career, there seems to be a stigma attached to asking questions. We are all under the impression that "they hired me to do this job, they must assume I know exactly what I'm doing." This mentality can inhibit our natural in