When I’m 90 This is What I’ll Regret
Photo by Nandhu Kumar on Unsplash
The Secret Developer has recently been thinking about their legacy. Their impact on the world is undeniable because they once solved a memory leak that would have taken other developers days to solve.
“I’m a LEGEND for that”
So, looking back over their life, what has The Secret Developer learned and what will they regret at 90?
The Happy Path
Throughout my life, I’ve wanted to be a software developer. More specifically, I wanted to create solutions that would bring users value.
“I wanted to make games, that’s the truth. A childhood of typing game code from magazines prepared me for my current copy-paste life”
I did go around the houses to do so. I haven’t been a software developer for all of my life but that means I can bring in experience that isn’t limited to nerdy young men working from home and I can better represent users.
“Yes. I’ve done it. I’ve claimed Big Tech isn’t diverse. Come at me”
Everything seems to be great then. The happy path has been followed and everything is great.
The Regret
If you’ve been following The Secret Developer for some time you might expect this section to be full of regret and bitterness about being in a job that isn’t interesting.
“I’d love to use this section for a full rant”
I would like to think that the readers of this blog are a little more emotionally well-balanced. They’d like to understand what The Secret Developer has learned and what we might benefit from.
Failing to take advantage of formal education
Actually, I did my best at University. I felt computer science was a boring pursuit and (correctly) identified that I wasn’t learning anything useful in my actual career.
Since I didn’t know about FAANG interviews my knowledge of Linked Lists and Tries still seems to be substandard. You’d think I’d have gotten to grips with the data structures and algorithms underpinning those interviews over many years.
As a result, I spend time during my day job going over those LeetCode problems and trying to git gud. It doesn’t feel like something I really should be doing.
That brings me to…
Wasting time in jobs
I’m going to have to reveal something about myself here. I’m a complainer. Nothing seems to be right and everything seems to be someone else’s fault, even when my behavior is so bad I should be fired.
“I do enjoy my own poor behavior”
So, I write blogs. I think about new technology but don’t seem to really spend my time well. That means I’m not using every minute as I should be and that is learning new technology and coding.
“When I’m 90 I will regret not giving my all. Not working as hard as I could to really make the impact I should”
The Happy Ending
I’m not 90 yet. There is still time. I think I should fire up the IDE and really make a contribution to my job and make it happen.
“If everyone did that I wouldn’t hate my current position so much”
Conclusion
If I were to give you advice it would be to try your best. Do what you can to make an impact in your job and keep going. Don’t take no for an answer.
Make the world a better place when you leave it in comparison to when you got here.
“By that I mean code”