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.
For some moments, it felt I was talking to bots. Most likely true, if you also believe in the Dead Internet Theory. I didn’t take too much time to answer questions that sound like AI.
Here are my favorite questions:
Before vs Now
What changed in your perspective and what makes a Senior Software Engineer…Senior?
For me, there’s one true sign of being Senior: when you stop optimizing/refactoring/cleaning/perfecting because you know when a solution is good enough.
For someone specialized in a single stack and rebuilding right now, how would you think about where to invest the next couple of years?
Figuring this out myself too…The first answer that comes to mind is be a big fish in a small pond…and definitely see how to incorporate AI tools to assist your processes.
And what helped you separate real signal from the fear when you chose your own next step?
The fear is still there. I just built an insurance policy by freelancing on the side. So worst case scenario I have my basic expenses covered.
Job hunting
What core skills, structured learning paths, or key resources would you recommend to help someone stand out and land their first role?
After a decade of employment, was the hardest part of the shift the money, or having no team to check your work against?
Work style. In a corporate job, most likely you’re part of a team, you expect a lot of collaboration, splitting tasks, sync ups…As a freelancer/contractor, you’re a lone wolf.
Which parts of the career do you miss and wish if you could keep? The parts you still loved regardless of burnout?
Oh, the problem solving part. Coding makes you feel stupid and doubt your life choices when facing an error…and the next second, it makes you feel the smartest when you solve it
Which parts you absolutely do not want, or maybe that’s what led to the burnout?
The corporate world in general…and meetings…
What is your advice for someone who loves the Computer and coding but he didn’t find work yet.
Yes! It felt like the Hunger Games: making people fight until only a few stood up. These days, there’s a lot of uncertainty and the easiest lever for companies to pull is letting people go. Prepare for the worst case scenario.
How did you deal with the layoff?
First I felt relieved, then I felt desperate so I went crazy applying to almost any job listing I could find. Then I decided to took some time off, I had some savings to cover my basic living expenses for a couple of months.
What would your suggestion be to someone like me, looking for a new job?
Your mileage may vary. But I’ve always preferred referrals and introductions from friends and acquaintances. Try to shake hands and get to know people in your network.
What lead you to choose the path of trainer/writer over finding a new developer job?
That’s just something I do on the side. I still code for a living.
In your experience, did you find it nicer working for a large company, or a small company?
Smaller companies. Definitely, easier to make an impact and get yourself noticed…and ask for raises.
Where do you see the developer industry going?
It’s hard to make predictions, especially about the future. I see smaller and smaller teams of full-stackish developers doing the work that used to take a whole team. And I also see the role of “AI fixers,” people cleaning the mess of assistants/bots.
While after the time you got laid off, do you feel like AI is a boon, or a threat to developers?
It’s not a direct threat. But it’s the perfect excuse to make it look like one. Often it seems CEOs of AI startups are insurance sellers predicting a major catastrophe to make us buy their insurance policies.
Have you read Rich Dad Poor Dad?
Yes! My #1 lesson is the difference between assets and liabilities.
What books would you recommend (beyond your own), for the modern day developer?
Apart from my own…Definitely good time to revisit the classics: Clean Code, Clean Coder, Art of Unit Testing, Domain Modeling Made Functional…I tend not to buy the hype right away, and wait for the dust settle down for a bit.
Would you still choose the same path?
Yes, but not in the same way. Probably I would have taken a look at entrepreneurship earlier. The other day, I read (probably from Erik Dietrich’s blog) that five years of coding experience are enough to then move to consulting/start your own thing.
When (and why) did you feel the most productive across those 10+ years? Was it a specific era, a specific team setup, or after the burnout during the sabbatical?
That was at my second job (~8 years ago) I was working with a great team and good product. I also had the chance of working literally next to my mentor.
What are you most productive in today? Has your “productive stack” changed since before the burnout?
I tend to balance my days between freelance coding and writing.
Did recovery change your personal definition of what “productive” means as an engineer?
Yes! As an engineer, I only work a fix set of hours with a hard stop at lunch. And personally, I try to do something for my body, mind, and spirit every day.
Which one currently feels like the more productive use of your time, and why?
Writing! Definitely. When you write something (unless you’re journaling), you want others to see it. But in a corporate job, your bosses don’t want the world to see how they do another CRUD app :P
What’s one stack or architectural decision you made that you’d call “street-smart”?
I don’t have a specific one now. But, any time you choose hitting a business goal over using the latest/brightest just because it sounds cool.
When you were laid off, why did you choose the path of writing instead of finding a stable job right away?
I couldn’t find any job at the time. It was at the start of the hiring decline after the pandemic. I had some savings and taking some time off was an easy decision. But eventually I turned back to freelancing/contracting.
Do you think a beginner should spend years building connections and savings first, or take the risk and try while they’re young?
Mmmm…I see advantages of both approaches. It’s not a bad idea to take a tour thru the corporate world. It depends a lot on your financial situation, goals, and risk tolerance.
As someone who has been through industry ups and downs, burnout, and a layoff, what do you think about AI’s impact on young developers?
Maybe the death of junior roles…And if we don’t train juniors, where are the future seniors?
What’s your take on the Machine-to-Machine (M2M) economy and Cloudflare’s ultimatum to Google?
This is a discussion worth having. But I don’t have a strong/solid opinion at the moment. It’s true that we fed the bots and now they’re charging it for access. Kind of weird, isn’t it?
Does it change how you think about the value of web content in the agent era?
Yes! There’s no more value in how-to tutorials when there’s a magical text area and a button that figure out what we want. If we want to stand out, we have to give what AI can’t.
Burnout
What’s the one habit from before the burnout that you’ve deliberately refused to carry into the rebuild?
I only code for work..and I’ve learned to diversify my sources of joy. Before, my career was probably one of the most important parts of my life. And when I lost that with a layoff, it took away my sense of joy and accomplishment with it.
I have a question regarding burnout, what helped you overcome that period?
I was a long process on the way down…and a longer one on the way up. If I could summarize into one line: taking care of my health (by doing something for my mind, body, and spirit every day) and bringing a sense of joy/fulfillment to my life every day (I went back to some of my hobbies just for fun)
Cesar, 7 years and a trilogy out of a layoff and a FAANG rejection is a hell of a return on a bad year.
It was a tough year, but I prefer to remember it as the year I chose myself and started my reinvention.
Did the first post you wrote through it feel like therapy while you were writing it, or only in hindsight once the Top7 hit and people responded?
It was more going back to the habit and reflecting on every stage of my career. The first posts I wrote around that time were about the lessons I had learned in every milestone of my career. Hitting the Top7 and the engagement was confirmation to keep doing it.
If you don’t mind me asking, have you ever experienced impostor syndrome? If so, How did you overcome it?
All the time. Find a challenge that stretches you enough out of your comfort zone to prove yourself wrong.
Quick update: Street-Smart Coding Manifesto is almost done. No more hunting for typos. If you preordered, I’m sending a preview next week.
And as usual, here are 4 links I thought were worth sharing this week:
#1. Google search (if that’s still a thing) and LLMs are great for quick facts. When was America discovered? But the real problem is offloading our thinking to AI (10min), even for simple tasks.
#2. LLMs often reply “You’re absolutely right.” For your next project or idea, get a punch in reality (5min).
#3. Want to read more books? Here’s how (9min). And no, you don’t need hacks.
(Bzzz…Radio voice) This email was brought to you by… Street-Smart Coding Manifesto. A case against syntax obsession. Because real impact comes from skills outside your IDE.
It’s sales day, and the whole grocery store is crowded.
“We have to be patient, right?” a guy said to me. I’m in the butchery section. The guy is frantically walking from one side of the aisle to the other, phone in his hand.
“I have 70,” he said when I asked what turn he had. “I have 94, and I only need one chicken breast,” I told him while taking my U-shaped ticket out of my pocket. The display shows 64 in red LED lights. We both laughed. He knew I was more screwed than he was.
A few minutes later, when it was finally his turn, he came running from another aisle. I asked him if he could order the chicken breast for me. He was kind enough to do it. I smiled and told him he had just saved me about an hour.
After thanking him again, I walked around to give away my 94. You know, to return the favor. The guy with the 95 accepted it. “Well, one turn earlier,” he said.
I thought I only needed a couple of things, but after walking around, I ended up with my hands full. It’s not the first time that has happened, even when I had a to-buy list.
Later, while in line to pay, an old lady behind me handed me the cart she was using. “I’m only buying a few things,” she said.
Wow! Sometimes I lose hope in humankind, but a guy ordering for me and a lady handing me her cart made my day.
Lesson: You don’t have to give away money to make someone’s day…And somehow, you’ll always end up buying more than expected—even with a list. So pick a cart.
Their feedback helped me simplify chapters and cut duplication.
Here’s some of their feedback.
“What I liked the most is that it is actually relatable, experiences we’ve all been through at some point in our careers. You can really think, that’s true, that happened to me. Some of the points can put a smile on your face when reading them.”
“‘Don’t work hard.’ This is the stuff nobody tells you early in your career, deliver on time, don’t be a hero, document your work, be easy to work with. I wish someone handed me this list on day one instead of having to figure it out over years.”
Want make real impact beyond lines of code? Grab a copy of Street-Smart Coding Manifesto. A short, actionable guide you can finish over coffee to help you truly stand out.
