Ask HN: What are some common traps that junior engineers fall into? - elvinyung
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itamarst
1\. Asking for help too soon - you don't learn enough. Asking for help too
late - you've wasted time. To avoid, set a timebox:
[https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/12/07/asking-for-
help/](https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/12/07/asking-for-help/)

2\. Thinking their job is to write code, when really it's to solve problems.
[https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/07/10/stop-writing-
softwar...](https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/07/10/stop-writing-software/)

3\. Falling into dichotomies of good code vs. bad code. It's all about goals
and situation. [https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/11/07/no-such-thing-as-
bad...](https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/11/07/no-such-thing-as-bad-code/)

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randomerr
Trying to use the latest, greatest new methods. You'll have to balance when to
fight for the new ideas with when sticking with old tried and true methods. A
lot of times its turns into political game instead of a technological
challenge.

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cprk83
I think it's important to take your time. Learning to code software require
patience and perseverance. It's important to experiment on your own and learn
where the pitfalls are.

Another problem junior coders have is not knowing what to name things. Coding
is just as much about writing code others understand as it is about writing
correct code.

Finally, I'd consider self-doubt as one of the big obstacles. Your colleagues
may seem so much better simply because they've worked on a large code base
longer. This ties into my first point-- if you are patient, you will also
learn the code base and become proficient at it.

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cimmanom
Worrying about code quality more than business value.

Thinking because it works the code is good enough.

