Figure it out!

October 15, 2024

There's a common problem I encounter. It's prevalent among more junior developers, but it can also affect developers with many years of experience.

Put simply: they want to be told how to solve the problem, rather than figuring it out themselves. This can take the form of lots of questions, long threads on Slack, or multiple requests to pair.

It's scary & vulnerable to put yourself out there. I sympathize with the courage it takes to try a solution on your own & propose it as the route we should take. Certainly, it's easier & safer to ask someone else on your team yet another question.

But here's the thing - all of programming is making choices, negotiating tradeoffs, and finding solutions. If you don't do it, then you're just putting the work on somebody else. Writing the code is relatively easy compared with thinking through the problem and choosing how to solve it.

You should certainly ask questions when you don't understand! Just exercise caution that you're not asking so many questions that somebody else is doing your job for you.


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