37 Software Engineering Mistakes You Should Avoid As A Beginner (Not A Long, Boring Article)

Mohmed Ishak - Aug 27 '21 - - Dev Community

Hey, guys! Most engineers have done the following mistakes, but if you avoid them, you'll be very surprised how well your software engineering journey will turn out. Unlike some of my other articles, I will not be elaborating each point as the following points are self-explanatory and I don't want to waste your time. If you find this article useful or if you're guilty of these mistakes, you owe me a like.

  • Thinking you're on the "right track" just because you've enrolled in an online coding course.
  • Trying to be a perfectionist.
  • Not sleeping well.
  • Forcing yourself to stay late till night when it makes you unhappy.
  • Learning too much programming languages.
  • Thinking you're an amazing software engineer because you know a lot of programming language (but you don't know how to load balance).
  • Thinking you're the only one who is learning or hustling.
  • Underestimating others.
  • Underestimating yourself.
  • Worshipping a particular tech by only using it for almost all use cases when other more suitable tech can be used.
  • Not helping others.
  • Not asking for help.
  • Underestimating programming QNA groups on Facebook (cause you think Facebook is for old people).
  • Writing Java code in any IDE other than IntelliJ IDEA.
  • Underestimating PHP and Laravel because of the memes.
  • Hating Java.
  • Not taking care of your back.
  • Looking down on non-programmers or thinking that programming is the only high-paying job.
  • Not learning React Native when you know React well
  • Not using Git
  • Spending too much time learning CSS
  • Learning different tech/tools which solve the same problem rather than learning tech/tools which solve different problems (for example, learning React, and then Angular followed by Vue).
  • Bragging.
  • Comparing yourself with people who started off way earlier than you or who clearly have more advantages over you (for example, comparing you, who might be born poor and had the chance to own a computer when you're 17 to a kid your age who was born in New York and started coding when he was 12).
  • Thinking that coding is the real deal when the real deal is the outcome of writing codes.
  • Not taking a mental health day.
  • Going for cheap entertainment rather than high quality ones (for example, mindlessly scrolling social media which wastes your time VS. watching a super entertaining movie which makes you happy)
  • Not using an external monitor when you have money to buy one.
  • Learning frontend or backend tech only because some guy said you should only specialize in one area.
  • Underestimating data structures and algorithms.
  • Spending time on learning data structures and algorithms only.
  • Writing code without thinking about scalability.
  • Learning Firebase only to build backend because you're scared of building your API manually.
  • Thinking you should only stick to the tech you know.
  • Watching too much tech videos.
  • Watching too little tech videos.
  • Not learning keyboard shortcuts.
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