09 Sep 2025 #coding
You spent days on your JIRA ticket… only to be told to redo it after your team lead reviewed your code?
A few years ago, I was working on a hotel management tool. My team lead asked me to redo an apparently trivial task. I had to store emails before sending them. It wasn’t a full rework, but I had to change my approach. We had completely different expectations from the same task. Two days of work almost wasted.
If I had only asked one single question before starting… “Hey, I’m doing it like this, are we on the same page?”
If you’re like me, eager to jump into the code, confident in your solution, hold your horses and follow these four tips:
#1. Always ask why. Don’t start coding if you don’t understand what needs to be done. Ask: Why this task? What’s the real problem? Why solve it now?
#2. Read the existing code before starting. Your changes might be simple, unless you have to refactor some legacy code first. If you rush to code without knowing that, you’ll give the wrong impression you’re taking too long on a simple task. Yes, estimates are hard.
#3. Outline your solution with comments. Start by sketching your plan in comments. That’s your blueprint. Of course, once you’re done, don’t forget to delete them.
#4. Write a one-page spec. Draft a summary of the changes you need to implement, just for yourself. It’s for you to think clearly before writing a single line of code.
A simple question would have saved me from wasting two days of work. Make sure everyone agrees on your solution before you start. It could save you from building the wrong thing.
It’s better to annoy people by asking too many questions than by making mistakes for not asking any questions at all. Strive for context before coding. Always.
08 Sep 2025 #books
I’ve been binge-watching Ryan Holiday’s Daily Stoic YouTube channel lately.
If you don’t know about his work, he reads and writes books for a living. He wrote The Obstacle is the Way and Life of the Stoics. And just the other day, I watched his appearance on Joe Rogan’s show.
After watching his videos with reading advice, here are 8 lessons I learned:
#1. Read physical books. That’s an excuse to spend less time in front of screens.
#2. Prefer old books. Focus on books that have stood the test of time. If they have survived this long, they will survive a whole lot more.
#3. Reread. I had to change my mind about rereading. I was against it when I tried to grow a large list of books I’d read. When we reread a book, our circumstances have changed. Every time we revisit a book, it’s an opportunity to learn or notice new insights.
#4. Have mentors to point you to more books. If you can’t find one, find a not-mentor instead.
#5. “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” That’s a quote attributed to Harry Truman, one of the U.S. presidents.
#6. Don’t speed read. To read faster, we need to read more. Simple as that.
#7. Interact with the book you’re reading. Reading a book is like a conversation with the author. Highlight, fold corners, and take notes in the margins.
#8. Use notecards for notes. After a break, go back to the parts you highlighted or the pages you folded, and turn those interesting passages into notes. Ryan’s note-taking system sounds like Luhmann’s Zettelkasten method.
And if you want to read more, here are 8 easy-to-implement tips to read one book a week.
07 Sep 2025 #misc
I’ve been binge-watching Ryan Holiday’s videos.
YouTube took me to his appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience
I watched the whole 2-hour video over a couple of days. It’s long and not always about stoicism and books. But there was a gem I found really inspiring.
Joe shared his “secret:” he only invites guests he finds interesting and his only metric is if he does something engaging and entertaining for his audience.
He started the podcast to meet interesting people. And even after it made money, he kept the same strategy.
I’ve been writing online for years. A big follower count seems attractive. But that interview reminded me to stay grounded. Do interesting things and have fun. Everything else is a plus.
Oh, this reminded me of the creative rules from the guys behind Field Notes.
06 Sep 2025 #coding
I’m not an AI evangelist, and I’m not a hater either.
I’ve tried AI for coding. And after a week or two, I noticed how dependent I was becoming. Since then, I’ve used AI for small coding tasks, like generating small functions or finding typos, not to treat English as my main programming language.
Marcus Hutchins, a security researches, puts it boldly in his post Every Reason Why I Hate AI and You Should Too:
I’d make a strong argument that what you shouldn’t be doing is “learning” to do everything with AI. What you should be doing is learning regular skills. Being a domain expert prompting an LLM badly is going to give you infinitely better results than a layperson with a “World’s Best Prompt Engineer” mug.
I agree with the core message. When everybody is relying on AI, it’s time to go back to old-school habits:
- Read code
- Write trustworthy tests
- Devour classic textbooks
- Troubleshoot bugs with pen and paper
And outside coding: read books on paper, take notes by hand, and write our own summaries. To develop taste and judgment.
Using AI is like holding a calculator on a math exam. Even the best calculator is useless if you don’t know what to compute, it’s pretty much useless. Build skills, then leverage AI.
I used to think coding was only about cracking symbols. That’s where AI shines. But coding is also about talking to non-tech managers, negotiating deadlines, and saying no politely.
And that’s why I wrote, Street-Smart Coding: 30 Ways to Get Better at Coding, to share the skills I wish I’d learned to become a confident coder.
Get your copy of Street-Smart Coding here. It’s the roadmap I wish I had when I was starting out.
05 Sep 2025 #mondaylinks
Hey, quick update from my side before sharing the usual four links:
I’m writing a book.
Yes, a book. One with 30 lessons to get better at coding. Those are the lessons I wish I had on my way from Junior to Senior. I’ll share more details in future emails.
OK, the four links as usual:
#1. If every company wants to hire “the best engineers” (5min), who hires the rest of us?
#2. AI can’t replace coders for real anytime soon. Here are five AI screwups (12min) that prove we’re not there yet.
#3. We shouldn’t blindly follow guidelines. Here’s a breakdown of one: doing the simplest things (11min).
#4. Here’s an interesting way of repurposing an old phone into an ereader (15min).
And in case you missed it, I wrote on my blog about two strategies for faster code reviews (3min) and six pieces of advice I wish I had before going to college (2min).
(Bzzz…Radio voice) This email was brought to you by… Check my Gumroad store to access free and premium books and courses to level up your coding skills and grow your software engineering career.
See you next time,
Cesar
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