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.
A podcast interview with Seth Godin, the godfather of daily blogging, led me down a YouTube rabbit hole.
During the interview, they mentioned The Practice, one of Seth’s books. Curious, I Googled it and found Fabio Cerpelloni’s channel.
He interviews writers, reviews books, and inspires others to write tiny books. His questions to discover the book inside you gave me ideas for at least two more books.
His videos feel like an unscripted conversation, like asking a friend about writing books.
#2. The Kings Hand
Doomscrolling is bad, right? It’s a black hole for our time and attention.
This channel is about creativity in visual arts and music. Its official description is cultural strategy and creative psychology breakdowns for ambitious creators.
Binge-watching The Kings Hand made me ask about my visual identity. A silhouette of a tuxedoed man leaning forward with his hand in his hat instantly recalls Michael Jackson. That’s the power of visual identity.
Every book worm already has a story worth telling.
The books you read reflect who you are and the path you’ve taken. Your bookshelf hides plenty of stories, among them lies your own autobiography.
After a year or two of ebooks, I’m back to physical books. My new rule is: build a pile, go throught it, and build another.
My old pile already tells my recent story
When I was making a good salary at my last full time job, I picked Rich Dad Poor Dad, The Richest Man in Babylon, and Psychology of Money.
Then, I switched to How to Win Friends and Influence People, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, and other personal development books. Most of them came from a not-mentor.
After recovering from burnout, writing became my therapy. To improve my writing, I started with The Post Office and Jesus’ Son. And sitting on my bookshelf, I have Angel and Demons and The Old Man and The Sea.
Just by looking at my bookshelf, I have a story to tell and a book to write. What story is your bookshelf hiding? If you think you don’t have anything to share, look twice at the books you’ve read.
This week, for the nth time, I had to bulk import records via an Excel file. It made me think, no matter how complex the code, it often boils down to reading and writing Excel files. Maybe we should build Excel add-ons or plugins instead of enterprise software. Thoughts?
Anyway, here are 4 links I thought were worth sharing this week:
