Not long ago, someone asked me about my coding philosophy. I mumbled something semi-coherent at that time, but the question stuck with me and got me thinking - what is my coding philosophy? Having a clear credo to guide me through crunch times would be invaluable.
After some soul-searching, I boiled it down to five principles that keep me grounded and productive.
Solve Real Problems
I focus on tackling actual issues - bugs, unmaintainable code, or performance bottlenecks, rather than chasing hypothetical problems. Theoretical debates, like Vim vs. Emacs (Vim, obviously), often waste time when multiple valid solutions exist and personal preference is the deciding factor. By addressing concrete challenges as they arise, I keep progress on track and development rooted in reality.
Master the Fundamentals
Great programmers command the basics: data structures, algorithms, and core programming concepts. These foundations enable creative problem-solving and adaptability across tools and languages. For example, studying concurrency in Kotlin deepened my understanding of Swoole coroutines - same principles, different context. Mastery of essentials, like writing clear, reusable functions, takes deliberate practice, not just years of experience. It's about drilling the essentials until they're second nature. Skip this, and you're building castles on sand, no matter how flashy your tech stack. I make sure that my foundation is rock-solid.
Pursue excellence
Excellence is diving deep into your tools - including reading source code, studying official docs, and knowing their quirks, not hacking together code that "just works" while your IDE winks at you knowingly. It's easy to hack together spaghetti code and scrape by with surface-level knowledge, especially with AI tools at hand. But I'm not content with shallow knowledge and I always seek a profound understanding of whatever I'm working with.
Cultivate judgement
Judgment grows from experience, like learning to avoid "quick fixes" that spawn a dozen bugs. It's about choosing the right technology, deciding which code to refactor, and picking tech battles wisely while learning from mistakes. This blend of technical knowledge, practical experience, and honed intuition takes time and practice to develop. I refine my judgment by questioning my assumptions, drawing on expertise and lessons from past errors.
Focus on Outcomes
In the end, it's about shipping it. Success isn't measured by how many design patterns you can name, but about delivering tangible results, whether it's a side project or a work ticket. Intellectual rabbit holes are fun, but they're no match for a working product. A coder who delivers reliably, even if their code isn't poetry, outshines the genius lost in micro-optimizations. I strive to build a reputation for dependability by delivering consistent, impactful results.