Pinned — 28 Oct 2025 #codingStreet-Smart Coding: 30 Ways to Get Better at Coding Without Losing Your Mind
I spent five years in college learning to code.
A stupid dissertation delayed my graduation. But that’s another story.
Most of my five-year program didn’t prepare me for real-world coding. My real coding journey began at my first job, with one Google search: “how to get good at coding.”
I found a lot of conflicting advice:
“Use comments”
“Don’t use comments”
“Do this”
“Don’t do that”
Arrggg!
It took years of trial and error to learn what worked.
I had to survive on-call shifts, talk to stakeholders, and say “no” politely. More importantly, I had to learn that coding takes more than just syntax.
That’s why I wrote Street-Smart Coding— a roadmap of 30 lessons I wish I had when I started. For every dev who’s ever typed “how to get better at coding” into Google or ChatGPT. (Back in my days, I didn’t have ChatGPT… Wait, I sound like a nostalgic grandpa…)
Preview of the first ~12 pages
Inside “Street-Smart Coding”
This isn’t a textbook. It’s a battle-tested guide for your journey from junior/mid-level to senior.
Some lessons are conventional.
Others were learned the hard way.
And a few are weird.
One lesson comes from a TV show. Nope, not Mr. Robot or Silicon Valley. That’s on Chapter #29. It will teach you about problem-solving.
You’ll learn how to:
Google like a pro
Debug without banging your head against a wall
Communicate clearly with non-tech folks
…and 27 more lessons I learned over ten years of mistakes.
Nicolas Cole, author of The Art and Business of Online Writing, teaches the same strategy.
On his YouTube channel, he advises building a portfolio of books instead of chasing one big launch. When readers finish and enjoy your book, they want more. One single title after a big launch doesn’t meet that need.
That’s what happened to my friend after reading my book. And that’s more encouragement to work on the next one.
#1. Repurpose a hit post. I’m turning one of my most read and liked posts into a short book. Over 100 people liked that post. Proof that the idea works. I’m even naming the book after the post.
That’s what the authors of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck and The Psychology of Money did.
#2. Find inspiration from comments. My hit post got a decent amount of discussion. I’m using those comments to find keywords, taglines, and objections.
#3. Expand it. The source post is a 7-point listicle. I’m turning it into a 10-chapter concise book, like Steal Like an Artist. Each point expands into one or two pages with stories and past posts.
#4. Write it backwards. Instead of jumping to the introduction, I’m:
I’m even stealing cover ideas before writing a word.
#5. Make it short. The other day, I found a one-page book, so why not write 10 or 15 pages and call it a book? One or two pages per point plus the front and back matter.
#6. Price it incrementally. I’m following the “$0.99 is the new free” idea. If it gains traction, I’ll raise the price by $1 every other month until it hits $5.
#7. Hit one reader milestone. Just like I set it for Street-Smart Coding, if even one reader beyond my circle buys it, the experiment is a success.
Yesterday I found a LinkedIn post asking if a crap post was better than no post at all. I didn’t want to bury my answer on the comments section. So I’m expanding it a bit here.
But writing, coding, or any creative pursuit is like exercising. Skip the gym once, nothing happens. Skip twice, and suddenly you’re on the couch, binge-watching Netflix, wondering where the extra weight came from.
This week marks three months since I launched Street-Smart Coding. It started in a notebook with a 10-idea list. Now it’s a book. Getting the first paperback copies made me feel like a New York Times bestselling author. Pinch me, please.
After that quick update, here are 4 links I thought were worth sharing this week:
#1. For months, we’ve been hearing that AI will replace coders. But a more realistic prediction is to say that we won’t be writing code by hand in 5 years (10min). Truth is, coding was never the hard part.
#2. If you’re looking for a tech job in 2026, instead of applying and sending out CVs everywhere, make a target bet (4min). Without knowing it, that’s the strategy I followed to land my last contracting gig.
#3. With LLMs and agents, building in-house replacements for paid tools sounds tempting as a way to save some money). But writing code is just the tip of the iceberg (5min).
#4. These days, American coworkers complain about the weather, and I keep converting between Fahrenheit and Celsius. Here’s a quick mental heuristic to do it (1min).
(Bzzz…Radio voice) This email was brought to you by… Street-Smart Coding, 30 lessons to help you code like a pro. From Googling to clear communication, it covers the lessons you don’t learn in tutorials. It’s now out on Kindle and paperback on Amazon.
#1. Always have something to write on. This week, I caught up with an ex-coworker. He shared a valuable story that deserved its own post. Thank goodness I grabbed a napkin from the cafe where we met. That’s where I outlined the post.
#2. The notebook cult. Finding out about zines to reduce my phone time took me to a YouTube rabbit hole. Turns out there’s a whole cult. People with notebooks for everything. Notebooks for quotes, journaling, habit trackers, commonplace notebooks, pocket notebooks. I’m not joining the cult, I’m fine with my idea pad.
#3. Start your next creative project backwards. Before starting, imagine it’s finished, then write the sales page and announcements. That forces you to clarify your goal and message. That’s what I’m doing for my next book.
#4. A simple method to overcome burnout. A pen pal shared his burnout was appearing again. When he asked how I avoid burnout, I shared my mantra: care for your body, mind, and spirit daily. That’s one of the ideas that has changed my life.
#5. 1, 2, 3, and get up. I can’t remember what podcast I learned this from. As soon as you wake up, count up to 3 and get up. Those moments after waking up are when you become a time traveler, reliving the past and sketching possible futures.
