25 Tips for New Developers: Advice from a (Mostly) Self-Taught Software Engineer

T-Shape your knowledge

It can be tempting to learn all the shiny new things that come out, but it isn’t necessary. Learn one thing in depth, and then from there carry that knowledge over to other topics. Instead of learning trying to learn everything, a better strategy is to focus on T-shaping your knowledge: go really in-depth on one thing and become an expert on it and then from there build more knowledge in less depth on other topics.
I hope some of the advice above was helpful, you don't have to do all of it. Or any of it! But, these are things I wish I knew before I started out in the industry. Know that different people take different paths and that's okay. I teach people to code at a bootcamp, which is often thought down on by other programmers. But I love it, and it's a job that's fufilling to me. That matters to me more than any prestige that may come from a fancy title at a big tech firm. Prioritize what matters to you.

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