Read on Twitter
1/ Random thread 
on coding and confidence
My code is affected by my confidence, the more confident I am, the more careful I am, because I believe I’m moving in the right direction.
on coding and confidence My code is affected by my confidence, the more confident I am, the more careful I am, because I believe I’m moving in the right direction.
2/ If I feel lost and scared I start being less methodical and more “throwing things at the wall to see what sticks”.
3/ Because of this, I am very aware of my confidence level. If I see it slipping I need to take steps to fix it.
4/ This usually means taking a step back to figure out where I’m unsure and then to figure out how to become more confident in that area.
Are there things I can check, test, review, research, practice?
Are there things I can check, test, review, research, practice?
5/ I see this in the code too.
“Not confident” code is inconsistent, messy, verbose, chatty.
“Confident” code is neat, clear, simple.
“Not confident” code is inconsistent, messy, verbose, chatty.
“Confident” code is neat, clear, simple.
6/ Programming is luckily an iterative process and confidence levels change, so once you’ve become more confident you can rewrite and clarify.
7/ The most important part for me is to recognize when I’m flailing and stop. Take a break. And then think.
Usually I’m intimidated by something, but instead of looking into it, I’m skirting the edges of it and working myself into a nervous fit.
Usually I’m intimidated by something, but instead of looking into it, I’m skirting the edges of it and working myself into a nervous fit.
8/ This is when my brain says rubbish like “It’s too hard! I’m not smart enough! This is a terrible idea!”
My brain is a bit of an ass sometimes.
My brain is a bit of an ass sometimes.
9/ That’s when going over the idea, the alternatives, the tricky bits, maybe rubber ducking it with someone, can really help to find my footing again.
