You're struggling to build confidence as an application developer. How can you overcome this challenge?

Start by mastering the basics of one language or framework and regularly revisiting core concepts. Practice simple code snippets to reinforce your understanding. Stay updated with industry trends, take online courses, and build small projects, gradually increasing their complexity. Seek feedback through code reviews and find a mentor for guidance. Collaborate through pair programming and contribute to open-source projects. Embrace mistakes as learning opportunities, stay persistent, and set realistic short-term and long-term goals to track your progress. Confidence grows with experience and continuous learning.

Basics are the building blocks of learning. If you don't know how to walk, you cannot run, so it's important to master the basics. I suggest focusing on one thing each day and understanding it thoroughly. For example, if you are learning the basics of arrays, don't try to understand other things on the same day. Put your whole attention toward learning arrays and practice them as well. Without practice, you will forget what you learn.

Building confidence as an application developer can be challenging, but focusing on a few key strategies can help you overcome this. Embracing the basics is a crucial starting point. Ensure you have a strong grasp of core concepts in programming languages you use (e.g., variables, loops, conditionals, data structures, algorithms). Ensure you have a strong grasp of core concepts in programming languages you use (e.g., variables, loops, conditionals, data structures, algorithms). Consistent practice is essential. Even short, daily coding sessions can reinforce your knowledge and skills. Start with small, manageable projects to apply what you've learned. Gradually increase the complexity as you gain confidence.

Most answers repeat the subject topics xyz. Already working as an application developer? And struggling for confidence? Confidence can mean many things; You think you can do it but continually put down by colleagues; look elsewhere You think you can do it but not allowed to do it; look elsewhere. You think you cant do it; ask how you should do it; ask for help; if no help look elsewhere The most basic thing is to ask questions.. even if silly. Any proper colleague should embrace questions and help you on your way. Asking silly questions is not a bad thing and can alleviate lack of confidence.. you may be right and will be a game changer. All developers started from 0. All developers build on each other.

As a former developer myself and someone that reads code frequently, I take and revisit the following practices regularly: - I learned basic concepts about algorithms and how to build efficient ones; - I read and I have the documentation of the language I'm working within reach; - I understand the design patterns related with that language and I apply them with logic; - I keep things as simple as possible and I don't overthink while developing; - I develop good debugging techniques; - I keep usage of prompts and automated code tools to a minimum.

Seeking feedback is a vital part of developing as an application developer. Constructive feedback helps you identify areas for improvement, learn from mistakes, and gain new perspectives. Engage in code reviews within your team or community. Reviewing others' code can also provide learning opportunities. Don’t hesitate to ask for feedback on your code. Be specific about the areas where you need input (e.g., code structure, efficiency, readability). Work together with another developer on the same codebase. This practice allows for immediate feedback and knowledge sharing. Both parties can benefit from different perspectives and techniques, enhancing mutual learning.

Nowadays, it's easy to get feedback on your tasks if you get stuck somewhere. There are AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude AI that understand your prompts and respond like real people. So, it's best to seek feedback from these tools. If you complete a task and think it can be done better, just share the code with ChatGPT and ask for improvements.

I would also review and revise these goals periodically.This keeps you ahead of the curve and always curious and motivated to learn more. Any goal being set should have a tangible advantage in efficiency, quality, ease of implementation etc

Setting goals is a most important part not just of developing your skills and building confidence as an application developer but also in every aspect of life. Divide your main goals into smaller, manageable tasks or milestones. This makes the goals less overwhelming and helps track progress. Regularly review your progress towards your goals. Adjust your plan as needed based on your progress and any new insights. By setting SMART goals and following a structured plan, you can steadily build your confidence and skills as an application developer

The tech industry is vast and overwhelming. Many voices are saying it's important to learn this or that. Ultimately, it's not possible to learn all of it. In my experience, setting goals is an important part of not feeling lost. Sometimes the goals and pursuit of those goals can get confused. The classic example I know of is someone who wants to make a video game but futzes around with a self-made game engine in a low-level language. This person should have used a pre-existing engine and accepted the learning curve and limitations that came with it instead of starting from scratch. However, starting from scratch is the correct way to achieve the goal of "learning how games work". So, ensure what you are doing actually achieves your goals.

Continuous learning is essential for staying current and advancing as an application developer. Regularly read tech news websites, blogs, and forums to stay informed about the latest trends, technologies, and best practices. Sign up for newsletters from reputable sources in the tech industry, such as Hacker News, TechCrunch, and developer-focused platforms. Platforms like Coursera, Udemy, edX, and Pluralsight offer a wide range of courses on various topics, from programming languages to specific frameworks and tools. Use side projects as an opportunity to experiment with new languages, frameworks, and tools. By implementing these strategies, you’ll be able to keep your skills sharp, and continuously grow as an application developer.

I would add below - Take a certification with hands on lab - Lookout for language and product upgrades understand the new features and components. - Try to apply newly learned features in your real work

Seek out content from other, experienced developers you want to emulate - podcasts, streams, and the like. Treat these not as gospel but as perspectives drawn from experience. If some of these people disagree with each other on a particular topic, think about where their differences come from and where you land. Personally, I am a fan of ThePrimeTime and Theo on YouTube.

There are many things you don't know exist. So, make a network, for example on LinkedIn, and add people related to your field. You will see what they are doing and learn from their posts. You should also share what you learn every day. I have been an Android developer for four years, but I still learn many new things every day from other developers' posts.

Some ways I would do this - Have a development environment always set up on my laptop. - Understand the free credits provided by public cloud providers and use them diligently - Use the code labs provided by many providers to create infrastructure and containers - Use utilities like CodeGen CodeAssist etc to make your work faster. - Build applications for a general utility and expose as an API. - Build integrations consuming free apis

Practice is very important if you want to store something in your brain. If you watch a video, you might think you've learned it, but if you don't practice, you will forget. So, it's better to practice every day. If you learn a new concept, practice it and make sure to revise previously learned concepts as well.

Struggling to build confidence is totally normal. The tech industry is vast; it's not possible to know all of it. Focus on what's in front of you. You will get to where you want to go.

Have a repository of reusable libraries and frameworks to ease your effort. Bookmark the relevat GitHub code repositories and fork as needed. Learn to work smarter by understanding the libraries and utilities which are prebuilt for a functionality. Work a lot on API integrations and ways to integrate a functionality by consuming an API.

Another thing that has helped me as an Android developer is maintaining a handy notebook with my notes on basic principles and learnings along the way, for example, what causes memory leaks and how to avoid them. Although this is a specific example, the idea is to make sure you always keep in mind concepts of OOP, SOLID, and best practices on how to handle threading, long running operations, reduce app overhead, handling dependencies, etc.