It’s really hard to be a 19 year old and be active in the development community.

It’s not because it’s hard to learn – on the contrary, I’ve found more educational opportunities in development than any hobby I’ve had. There are so many developers keen to train a young, green dev in the methodology that they’ve experienced to be the best. However, it’s that eagerness to teach and correct that can make it difficult. As I read through a subreddit on development, I find articles that hail Node.js as the second coming right next to articles that break down every single way that it is the worst possible piece of horror to ever be run.

More points of view are great, and developers are no stranger to controversy, to be sure – all languages have their advocates and detractors, and part of being in the field is managing that and developing your toolbox (and knowing how to select the right tool from it) regardless. However, it can be difficult to navigate while (relatively) new in the field. With only a few years development experience in a corporate environment, I find myself becoming easily disheartened as I read article after article detailing the latest design pattern that you SIMPLY HAVE TO BE USING OR YOUR CODE IS USELESS, or the latest top ten list of why PHP, my bread and butter language, is a steaming pile of garbage. Taking things with a grain of salt is often easier said than done, as the source of information regarding what you SHOULD be doing – often things that I learn for the first time from the article – are so much more voluminous than positive affirmations that the methodology used or code written is correct or efficient. Don’t hear that as asking for handouts, or unable to take the heat – simply that, while still learning, it can be as helpful to know what has been done correctly as it is to know what’s incorrect.

I’m not sure that there’s a resolution out there for this except gaining more experience and taking what I learn and implementing it as much as I can. But, for senior developers (if you ever see this personal venting), balance constructive criticism with positive feedback (if it’s merited): us young devs have a backbone and value your criticism and feedback, but can also benefit from being told what we are doing correctly and should continue.

Let us know not only what we should start doing, but also what we shouldn’t stop!