You're Not a Programmer Until...

19 Feb 2025 #misc

Today I found a post claiming you’re not a senior software engineer until you work on a legacy app.

It made me think about when we can call ourselves programmers.

From me:

So, you’re not a programmer until:

1. You write a to-do app or a recipe catalog
2. You google how to become a better coder
3. You have an interview with a clueless recruiter
4. You copy and paste a code block from StackOverflow
5. You take down a database server with a badly written query
6. You read the Clean Code and want to rewrite all the code around you
7. You debug using Console.WriteLine or console.log or printf
8. You get a PM asking you how you’re doing more than once a day
9. You google your error message and find an open issue on GitHub
10. You delete a database table with a DELETE without WHERE
11. You argue about a variable name during a code review
12. You write a class Person when learning about OOP
13. You code a calculator app using JavaScript
14. You work on a full rewrite of a legacy app
15. You google how to center a div on a webpage

From my friends and ex-coworkers:

I asked some of my friends and ex-coworkers to complete that sentence. And here’s what they told me.

You’re not a programmer until…

1. You write your first “Hello, world” program
2. You stay awake until 3:00 AM solving a coding issue
3. You’re fixing an issue, it works and you don’t know why
4. Your code works on your machine, but not in Production
5. You get a compilation error on line 123 on a 40-line code file
6. You deploy a hotfix to Production at 17:55 (and you clock out at 18:00)

From dev.to:

I reposted this on dev.to and here are my favorites from the comments. (Slightly edited to make them fit in one line)

You’re not a programmer until…

1. You’ve programmed
2. You use git push --force --all
3. You say “Well, it works in Dev”
4. You have a folder of unfinished projects
5. You build a collection of most-used code snippets
6. You set your git username to “User” so they can’t blame you
7. You use git reset --hard or delete your local repo and clone it again
8. You start a blog to share your learning to save others debugging time
9. You’re stuck on a bug and your code works when you call a senior for help
10. You’ve spent time installing your favorite editor/IDE’s plugins and themes
11. You feel stupid by constantly trying to learn things you do not know what they’re for