Advice Wanted: Two Roads Diverged... Or Was It Three? - General Questions and Answers

I'll try to keep this brief, however summing up one's station in life is normally not such a task that lends itself to brevity. If you want to skip all the background and go to the reason for this thread, start at the paragraph that begins with an asterisk.
I'm almost thirty, doing the whole wife and kid’s routine, and I find myself truly perplexed on what course to take in my life. I've always loved tech, I can remember my first real fascination with something was when I was in my early teenage years and my Dad bought a computer. It was Hewlett Packard, with only dial-up, AOL at that, and I wanted to know how it worked. My very first book I ever purchased with my own money was "DOS For Dummies". I was enthralled; I went through all the commands learning what each one did. I can't count how many times I had to format that computer and start over, and the frustration it caused my Dad as each time I broke it he thought for sure, that was the end. Yet every time, no matter how bad it got, you could format it and start over. I always liked that, most people dread a system format, but for me it was so liberating, I was never afraid to break anything because I knew I could just wipe it all and start over. Things like installing drivers and resetting system configurations totally engaged me, and still do. Either way with this DOS book, I was hooked, I loved being able to manipulate the computer from the command line, show off the "cool" things I could do. I should have known right then that this is what I wanted to do with my life.
However as I got older, I didn't stay in computer land; I ventured out and found girls! Sex, drugs, and... well techno actually. I spent a lot of time partying, and only went to college as a last resort like a lot of kid’s do, to get their parents off their back. When I graduated, computers still being a hobby, I was obsessed with being a millionaire. I saw quickly money could get you things that made you happy, and I remember distinctly looking at the tech industry and thinking "there's no money in that". I floated around aimlessly, even managing to start my own company, which was short lived and closed after a year. I'd worked a lot of jobs, but nothing that made me really happy. I had found becoming a millionaire quickly was no easy task, and with the wife and the baby was not something I could afford to gamble on anymore. I needed to find work that fulfilled me, that I enjoyed.
So two years ago I decided to go back into something tech oriented. I had a small background with HTML and tried to masquerade as a web designer. I got a job through a friend of the family, only to find I was severely out of my depth. With no formal training and close to 10 years passed, web development had changed a lot! It wasn't just HTML; it was CSS, and PHP, a lot of other acronyms and two or three big software programs you needed to understand. Not feeling too thwarted because I knew my heart wasn't in web design, I answered an ad for a "Junior Developer", "no experience needed, will train". I thought this is it! Programming was like my DOS books I started with so long ago. I could actually learn to TALK to computers and make them do what I wanted.
While the company that hired me had the best of intentions, they had never taken on this task before, of hiring a programmer with no experience and teaching them. The owner was swamped with his own projects, and within a month had paired me with another Access Database Developer. She herself only had a few years’ experience, and was NOT the teaching type. She was cold and impatient. She also gave off this threatened vibe, like the owner had hired me to replace her. As you can imagine it didn't last long either, after three months of that I was brought into a conference room and told "we just don't see you progressing to the level we'd need you to be at for this to make sense." Imagine that, a guy with no programming experience, was paired up with an employee who'd never taught anyone, and herself had a full workload of clients to satisfy, who needed to teach me not only programming but database design concept and implementation with ACCESS! Looking back on it now, I see how unreasonable it was for them to think I could be a competent programmer in three months’ time. However at the time I really beat myself up about it. After all this is what I wanted to do, the owner was such a smart guy, and I studied every night. Maybe it was me that just wasn't cut out for programming. It actually still bothers me now.
Thankfully, they saw a passion in my heart for tech. It just so happened their hosting manager was a one man band, and was having a tough time getting his job done with all these lower level phone calls and emails he had to deal with. So they created a Help Desk position for me, which I've thrived in. I have almost a decade of customer service experience working for call centers, and I love solving problems, so the position was a natural fit for me. This was about eight months ago. Since then the hosting manager also introduced me to the networking side of things, how to work with servers and hardware etc. I found all that equally as fascinating, he was nothing like the girl who had "tried" to train me before. He was knowledgeable, smart, and patient; he had a great sense of humor, but was ex-military and had a way of dropping the hammer when he had to. Right as he was beginning to open this whole new world to me, last month I found he's leaving the company. He's a giant whale of a fish in a tiny pond and he's got to move on. Before he did, he got me on a path to work on my CompTIA A+ Certification. I feel very prepared and I'm sure I'll pass it.
* Here's where my problem comes in. Ever since starting the Help Desk job I've loved it. For the first time in my life I'm not watching the clock. I'm not waiting for lunch time to come, and quite often I'm even staying hours past my punch out time because I'm so into my work. However I've handicapped myself. While others have had fifteen years to be doing this work, I'm just now getting started at thirty. My two greatest traits are my knack for dealing with people and my tenacious problem solving skills. When I don't understand something, or can't figure it out, I'm not a pass the buck kinda guy, I'll spend hours on it until I can figure it out. I enjoy the satisfaction of giving the client a great product, and the "eureka" moment when I figure out the issue is like a drug for me! I LOVE the sensation that comes with understanding.
The thing is after my A+ I want to move on to my next cert and start tackling it. Not just to say I have the cert, but to gain the knowledge that comes with it. Problem is I don't know what my next move should be. The "tech industry" is so wide open. In my heart, I think I want to go back into programming. I like the idea of speaking with computers, making them do what I want. However I have the bad taste of the failed Access Programming job fresh in my mind, I wasn't "getting it". Was it that I needed to give it more time or was three months long enough to understand the foundations? What's worse, where I was comfortable with the command line, now I'm intimidated by it. I seem suited for networking, talking with people and tracking down problems. Or do I just feel that way because I had a better teacher in that field and had a more positive response?
I guess that's why I wrote this beast of a thread, to give you a little background. I'm hoping there are some more seasoned professionals out there who can say "you sound like you'd be a great _____ " or "your mindset sounds geared toward _____ ". Again there are so many specialties, maybe there's some other field I haven't even considered. I don't know many experienced tech professionals, so I don't have anyone to talk with about this. All I know is I LOVE technology, I love problem solving, I'm about to have my A+ and 1 years’ experience as a Help Desk Analyst... where do I go from here?

Okay well it doesn't have to be all about me. If someone wants to share their tech career stories, how they started of in the business and where they are today. I could really use some kinda discourse on the subject.

me too
Thanks for Sharing your story, man. After reading, I am moved to share my position in life as it is increasingly similar to yours; I'm thirty, I love Tech and my career is at a crossroads as well...
It is a bit late right now so I will update this tomorrow and.. who knows maybe you'll have some advice for me.

Related

OS X WinMo rant for the old farts

I'm 44.
I travel too much
I run up phone bills that make me weep (and I'm good at what I do, so I'm not broke)
(this may be long, but there is a point)
WinMo, I've been using it on and off since WinMo5. the times I have been using it. It has put a smile on my face, done what I wanted it to do. been as responsive as I need, and generally helped me to be who I am now.
That is not overstating things, WinMo has made finding 'contacts' and getting 'the job done' possible, when I have been stressed and tired and lost.
It is not overstating things to say that the software has kept my life going the way I would wish, purely because it does what it says it will do.
to give you a little background (caveat, if this comes across as 'look at me!' it really is not posted for that reason and I apologise profusely in advance if it comes across as such) I'm well into the second half of a bottle of whisky .
I have been in over 100 countries in the last 3 years, I have been 'lost' so many times I have lost count. my life keeps running because I can get who I want, to do what I want, purely by getting them on the single piece of technology that can do that for me, my mobile. (cell, whatever, for the non brit reader)
In singapore a few years ago, I was organising a project to get some scrap metal we owned to generate 30k usd/ day for us. I was using an HP WinMo 5 (8282?) phone at the time.
It was a beast, everyone I had called or who had called me in the last 2 weeks showed up on the display as I needed,things happened, things got done. the phone saved my life on that project.
easy to use
easy to understand
just excellent.
Then a disaster of mini proportions screwed me up for a few years, I was 'Sim Swapping' and managed to loose the UK sim I used as a primary, I called the TelCo and told them I'd lost the Sim, they cancelled the IMEI code on the phone . . . . bugger.
Came back to the UK, spoke to my boy (who I love dearly, but, he's a bit of a 'macophyle') decided to buy an N95. (so as to not look like such a useless 'old' fart in front of him)
used that for a year, apart from the nav functions, which really are great ! it was crap.
'upgraded' to an N96, hell, it was worse than the N95, less battery, less keyboard, less screen. absolute rubbish (IMHO)
on traveling down to the present work destination (Qatar) nice place if you like sand . . . . and dust . . . . and heat . . . and humidity . . .and dust . . and sand . . . and deciding 'ferk it! my life,my choices, back to WinMo . . ' I bought a HTC HD.
It was like a weight off my shoulders. here I was, shiny toy in hand, and it did absolutely everything I wanted it to. my entire contact list was there after 1 sync. all the functions that I wanted were there, and the 'there' was where I expected them to be.
I can not express simply how relieved I was or how happy I was at being back in an environment which I 'understood' which 'just worked'.
Now that you have the background, the rant . . . (you should have known it was coming, I did tell you)
I _am_ that person the platform developers are targeting. I _do_ the round the world things they glamourise. I _feel_ the pressure to get an iPoop, and I'm absolutely ferked if I will !
Having made the mistake once of going to S60 I'm buggered if I'll screw it up again by going to OS X.
The real part of the rant is the small bit at the bottom (here)
WinMo is really really really good at getting what I want done. I am the guy you have in the adverts, I am the guy who lives at the 'edge' (i flew hanggliders for 16 years and teach people how to fly in my time off now) and yet.
and yet.
and yet.
I feel pressured by my family to move to what I know is an inferior OS by didnt of a vastly superior advertising campaign by a vastly inferior OS.
Why oh why oh why does microsoft have such a crap marketing department?
The product (WinMo) really really is good. why are they so far behind the iPoop lot?
The Win 7 brigade are doing a fab job of 'underground' marketing for something which is also excelent and mainstream, please, just a little attention to WinMo, which is such a good platform, and round here, just phenomenal.
rant over
BUT! WinMo execs! ffs get it together. great product! Great hardware ! ferkin rubbish marketing.
The 'macophyles' are getting damp panties at 'voice activation' (we've had it for donkeys) 'cut and paste' oh ffs, please, this has been around since the 7o's and now it 'hip and trendy' ?
marketing, get your sh1t sorted . . . . .
Yeah, so I am with you...In fact, I was just talking to someone about this and the potential demise of WinMo because (IMHO):
a) beyond the dedicated coders in this forum and power users like you and me, winmo does not have a broad appeal like Palm, RIMM and OSX has...granted winmo has a large embedded base
b) WinMO does not own a device platform like Palm, OSX and RIMM
c) Android is getting more attention (and taking away from winmo developers).
In most industries there is the Rule of 3 (3 big competitors and a bunch of smaller distant ones). Unfortunately, with today's indicators, it doesn't look good. Ex. Pandora for winmo platform vs. AAPL, PALM and RIMM - it appears, pandora just threw it out the door to see what would stick and this probably has to do with the sheer number of winmo devices and their screen formats. And, I too, have been feeling similar peer pressure as yourself. In fact, I had the chance to spend considerable time with the Palm Pre and absolutely loved it as it blended my personal and business life in a very nice way (PSST...I hated to let it go - I was politely asked to).
But, I am huge fan of HTC devices. I think HTC does have a shot but it requires a change in their strategy and building more coding/ecosystem resources.
Brian

Thank you.

This is my very first post on xda...ooo cant ya just feel the shivvers… Am I a noob?… kinda...to computers, no. to android....let's just say, I'm on a steep learning curve. Let's start with a little background…
Who am I? I am…how shall I say… a Retro Nerd, lmao..,
I have been playing with bits and bytes since 64k was more than enough. In fact my first computer came stock with 32k and a bonus 32k expansion cartridge for a mere 100$ extra. Sitting on the floor in our living room as a kid of about 6 or 7 I was hammering out pages of code to get this "way cool" asci airplane to fly across the screen. All the while dreaming of what this could and should be. Over the years, situations and life got in the way of me persuing programming professionally, but, I have always been just in the background crusing the net scooping up snippets of java here, exe there… my wife calls me a digital packrat.
About 3 months ago I came into possession of a 32gig Nexus7…
This is exactly what I was dreaming about.
I have now, unlocked, rooted, and modded. This thing more times than I can count. I have tried every ROM I could find…some are awesome, some not so much. So far I am yet to find a ROM that I can call bad. What I'd really like to find is something way out of the box along the lines of scarey experimental. K.., sorry I'm rambling again..lol
My point is. I'm coming out of my quiet gathering of code, to give a heart felt thank you to each and every one of you and I can't wait for the day I can put my work up here and get your opinion(don't hold your breath… I am so not fast… lol). Once again Thank you for making a small boys dreams a reality.:thumbup::thumbup:
P.s, I absolutely love the noob video… that totally bridges the generations of everyone that has ever massaged code into a work of art and had to put up with the hollow blank stares when answering the question: whatcha typin on da puter?
Digital excrement provided by, and property of, The Nexus.

[REQNET] A Letter of Influence

Wasn't to certain on where to stick this so Mod please feel free to move if needed.
I think when we look at motivation these days we find ourselves to get. a little more unmotivated. There's just no true value anymore it seems. Well, today I wanted to take some time out to write to every Dev and anyone inspiring to be one and I hope it reaches out to some of you as an influence rather than motivation. I feel being influenced will drive you to do what you love, influence is the foundation of what motivation derives from. I shouldn't have to feel motivated because I am influenced self-motivation is already there and established. I can't tell you how many times I have stayed up for 2 days straight coding away, and refusing to accept 'No' as the only possible answer has paid off.*
When I first started I heard a quote, and a man came on through the audio of my computer while watching youtube and the man quoted in the video and it goes as follows.
"The graveyard is the richest place on earth, because it is here that you will find all the hopes and dreams that were never fulfilled, the books that were never written, the songs that were never sung, the inventions that were never shared, the cures that were never discovered, all because someone was too afraid to take that first step, keep with the problem, or determined to carry our their dream." -Les Brown
Thinking about that made me realize that if I was to be truly happy in life, I'd first have to be influenced as self-sustained happiness should always come from within first or you will only do more bad than good with those around you. I guess bad and good are self-opinionated definitions and argument able through the eyes of each individual dependent on terms. The moral of it is, *if you can always give a happy version of you than those around you will always want to be around you and in turn hoping so, they may also be inspired.
Before I get too far down the topic I want to say I worked multiple jobs, Real Estate, Cellular, Insurance, Medical and at first they were all great. What I found out is I got burned out. The last thing we look at a mostly atlas to me Is what I love to do. What I love to do has been plagued by society as something not of true work, unless you build multi-million dollar companies from home, I am sorry to say a job like being a full-time Dev reliant on income from people via unlocking or rooting or device customization services isn't exactly eye-popping, After hearing that quote I looked at my wife and I told her "I'm going all in on something, I want you to trust me, and I will never work for another man again." I got tired of protocol from HR groups who didn't even step foot in the office that builds and structures the corporate foundation.*
I started with getting my hands on an HTC MyTouch and following that an HD2 running Gingerbread. I soon needed my service unlocked and I ended up than meeting with a guy named Jeff who a year later would be sentenced to prison for unfortunate reasons. While working with Jeff he should me how the Windows CMD and Os terminal operate and how just by reforming command arguments you can create exploits in the smallest of areas and depend on what you're doing bigger ones as well. I was inthralled with the logic from it and my immediate response was "This was way too technical." right there I determined my success or failure and for months went with no break through and hating the 9-5.*
I decided I'd pick it back up only after being unemployed a bit, I was bored, tiredness and needed something to do while the wife slept. I hopped on and I started watching and reading guides via youtube and XDA and really the one thing I think I least looked at or kind of refuse to because of being lazy was the tools provided to do a lot of the work for you. Ask yourself that before you even decided to code something, or before even knowing how. We viewed it in a term of having to manually write it line for line, we never seen the tools first. The moment I got my hands on those tools and the understanding of relative arguments and manipulating arguments to produce the opposite response I was hooked. I was so driven even now I still love to just pick apart a room and it's OS even if I feel it may be a dead end I can find myself lost for hours in building.
What stops people is other peoples opinion, not just friends but the real important ones. How many of you without looking at your family first have had a stranger or someone not too close to you tell you "you can't-do something" I think we all have, now how many times can you see in that light, that those closest to you told you that you can't-do something? For most of us, the ones we care more about have the most affect. They are no different then a strangers opinion, self-happiness is yours to have in the most selfish right and with that comes sacrifice, if your wife is going to leave you because she can't accept the time it takes to build a dream, let her go. It's selfishness, see because her personal happiness would have a based upon the value of you removing yours to increase hers. Not that in that point in time it would hold much weight but it does add up, and that negativity mounting faster than your Hard disk to your computer after a late night computer software sabotage from rage. I am happy to say my wife has stuck by mysids on sometimes days with no sleep and damn near losing my mind. We both continue to smile and be happy because our love is depended on the pretense and communication of one another and she knows I can go all the way and get the dream job or build the dream company one day when my reputation reaches that level.*
What I'm getting at is code has forever changed my life, XDA and it guides and it's such humble, kind and trust user base has kept me going. I know I haven't been active and this looks like a new account, but I never leaked, I only helped people physically learn. I used it as the dictionary to my new found passion. I decided to join here to repay that honor, to teach those wanting to learn and to provide roms and builds to some devices that go unnoticed. I know what it's like not having much and not a great phone and wanting a great phone. To create software to give even the slowest of phones that boost or that drive or that deadening it needs to adhere to the persons wants and needs in relevance to speed or performance is important.*
So lastly I thank you, and I want you all to know that I am still here working, I own my own work from home company, intact 3 of them just this one is developing so I stay busy but it pays off. Don't forget to make time for those who give you encouragement, you will need someone there to pick you up when no alternative option has been presented within yourself. My wife and my friends and not to be cheesy have seen me to the point where being behind on the bills and getting evicted has done to me, but I kept going. In my head I would wake up on day's where I felt suicide was a peace of mind, it wasn't I was just tired, I was emotionally drained. I stepped back a few days, worked to make some money on other services I naturally was good at and I paid the bills because I learned from that eviction. *I went back to coding a few days later with a clear mind. To all of you, do not trust your emotions when you are tired or angry, you will only do things that you naturally wouldn't do. As an example thing of what creates an argument with someone and what makes someone laugh. 9/10 that argument will be a topic that has been an issue and just like issues it gets worse the more you talk about it. Learn to leave things alone also it's not a bad thing, just take a break. With all that done, doing this job has never been so amazing. I look forward to meeting all of you and I hope this acts as a letter to those experienced to keep going, your work is appreciated very much. I get to read scripts and learn more things and more work arounds then I KNEW. Have the power to accept you haven't mastered anything and you still have everything to learn.*
God Bless
TheCodeDev

Hi, I am 21st century man, and I am a smarthphone addict.

As seen in the title, I'm a smartphone addict. Although I don't have an Instagram or Facebook account, my addiction is plain and simple information. In that sense, news is what I crave for most, mostly political related or anything relevant going on in the world or my surroundings. You may ask then what is the problem with that, since I keep myself well informed on a daily basis. Well, the problem is that I'm absolutely fed up with the unending torrent of information that I spend most of my day searching for, to the point that I often put aside almost all of my responsibilities, from simple daily chores to work, social relations, hobbies, religion, books and many other things, necessary ou just pleasant. I literally spend hours on news websites and Twitter searching for that next fix. I struggle with this condition for some time now, as it has ups and downs, and I know I'm not alone: you get the impression that you are living normally; it isn't something the media or the doctors are ranting about (at least as they should be); and hey, it is technology after all, what could be wrong!?
Well, I see now that, as it occurs with everything, this too has a limit, and I've reached mine. I constantly see myself wondering about times past (from when I was I kid or teenager or even earlier, in movies and such), when people dind't have this absurd amount of distractions and futilities bringing them down. As an example for me, I picture the time when all the news one would be exposed to during a day were contained in a few pages of the daily newspaper. And that was it: if you wanted more, you had to wait for the next day, and so our brains were acostumed to that feeling and could focus on other things without any anxiety.
I'm not criticizing the rate at which we CAN get information nowadays, as this is a very good inovation for many reasons. What I am saying is that we aren't prepared for this at all, and that our brain, once it sets sight on anything that we deem good for ourselves, will relentlessly chase that to the ends of the world if possible. So now you can imagine what happens if all of this information is contained on a single device that fits on our palms and is beside us all the time. Long story short, I've tried many things and failed, and I can't take anymore of this, AT LEAST when I am out working, with friends, doing chores and such.
So I finally get to my question, and I apologize to all for the extended introduction. I want to know two simple things:
- If there is a basic phone out there that offers ONLY Whatsapp as an app, with no possibilities of downloading new ones. A browser is fairly ok, but not desirable.
- If there is a way or custom ROM that effectively and permanentelly disables the funcionality to download new apps after I've selected the ones I want to have on my smartphone. I have tried many cold turkey like apps and solutions, but they are so easily bypassable it is ridiculous (you can just uninstall the app or cheat in many ways). If I had to completely reset or flash another ROM in my phone, at least I know my laziness would work out in my favor (ok, I'm not THAT addicted). Otherwise, the only solution would be to destroy my phone altogheter and live as a hermit haha.
TL;DR: I need to drastically reduce my phone usage to only messaging apps, calls, and utilities like bank, food and mobility apps. But I need to do so in a way I can't easily bypass.
To anyone who read it all, thank you very much. I'm in dire need of help, so any is welcome. I think this is my last resort. Sorry for the drag.
grjota said:
As seen in the title, I'm a smartphone addict. Although I don't have an Instagram or Facebook account, my addiction is plain and simple information. In that sense, news is what I crave for most, mostly political related or anything relevant going on in the world or my surroundings. You may ask then what is the problem with that, since I keep myself well informed on a daily basis. Well, the problem is that I'm absolutely fed up with the unending torrent of information that I spend most of my day searching for, to the point that I often put aside almost all of my responsibilities, from simple daily chores to work, social relations, hobbies, religion, books and many other things, necessary ou just pleasant. I literally spend hours on news websites and Twitter searching for that next fix. I struggle with this condition for some time now, as it has ups and downs, and I know I'm not alone: you get the impression that you are living normally; it isn't something the media or the doctors are ranting about (at least as they should be); and hey, it is technology after all, what could be wrong!?
Well, I see now that, as it occurs with everything, this too has a limit, and I've reached mine. I constantly see myself wondering about times past (from when I was I kid or teenager or even earlier, in movies and such), when people dind't have this absurd amount of distractions and futilities bringing them down. As an example for me, I picture the time when all the news one would be exposed to during a day were contained in a few pages of the daily newspaper. And that was it: if you wanted more, you had to wait for the next day, and so our brains were acostumed to that feeling and could focus on other things without any anxiety.
I'm not criticizing the rate at which we CAN get information nowadays, as this is a very good inovation for many reasons. What I am saying is that we aren't prepared for this at all, and that our brain, once it sets sight on anything that we deem good for ourselves, will relentlessly chase that to the ends of the world if possible. So now you can imagine what happens if all of this information is contained on a single device that fits on our palms and is beside us all the time. Long story short, I've tried many things and failed, and I can't take anymore of this, AT LEAST when I am out working, with friends, doing chores and such.
So I finally get to my question, and I apologize to all for the extended introduction. I want to know two simple things:
- If there is a basic phone out there that offers ONLY Whatsapp as an app, with no possibilities of downloading new ones. A browser is fairly ok, but not desirable.
- If there is a way or custom ROM that effectively and permanentelly disables the funcionality to download new apps after I've selected the ones I want to have on my smartphone. I have tried many cold turkey like apps and solutions, but they are so easily bypassable it is ridiculous (you can just uninstall the app or cheat in many ways). If I had to completely reset or flash another ROM in my phone, at least I know my laziness would work out in my favor (ok, I'm not THAT addicted). Otherwise, the only solution would be to destroy my phone altogheter and live as a hermit haha.
TL;DR: I need to drastically reduce my phone usage to only messaging apps, calls, and utilities like bank, food and mobility apps. But I need to do so in a way I can't easily bypass.
To anyone who read it all, thank you very much. I'm in dire need of help, so any is welcome. I think this is my last resort. Sorry for the drag.
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Did anyone else feel overwhelmed when first starting out with coding?

Hey there! My name is Mike and I've been making apps for a few years now. I am making this post because I want to get your opinion on something, so I can check whether your experience with programming is similar with mine. Here's some context:
I am now working as a full time developer. A few days ago, I randomly thought back to the days where I first started coding.
Interestingly enough, one of the emotions I remember most vividly from back then was feeling very, very confused. All the resources I needed to be able to become a great developer were there for free - the internet had my back on that. But there was a problem - there was so much information out there that it was hard to know where to start. Everytime I tried to learn something new, it felt like a gamble - will I learn something new that will completely change the way I write code, or will I hit a wall and be stuck for 2 months, spinning in circles, getting nothing done?
And then I realized - in the 2 years I've been working as a full time dev, I learned more than in 6 years fooling around by myself. Why was that? The answer was pretty simple - I was surrounded by people who have already been there before. But, the fascinating thing is the following: these people never once took my keyboard and started typing away when I asked them for help with a bug. They didn't go to the closest whiteboard and hold a 45 minute seminar whenever I was confused by some obscure design pattern. They simply told me - "oh.. why don't you look X up on Google", or "check out this class, it does something similar to what you need". And that was it; they just told me where to look, and that made all the difference.
So, this is what I want to get your opinion on. Do you relate to this as a senior developer looking back on your early days? Are you just starting out and feeling overwhelmed? Did you just save the new collague 4 hours of work by telling him where to look in the code?
I've made a survey to see what your experience looks like. It takes around 2 minutes, here it is:
https://forms.gle/3Wed1psohJEmfnVJ9
Thank you for your time!

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