Things I learnt at my first coding job

I learnt...

• how to use GitHub. The first time I created a pull request on GitHub, it was intimidating. But now, I feel much more confident in using Git. I really appreciate the workflow and how it allows coders to collaboratively work on the same project. By letting others review my code and reviewing others' code, I have learned a lot.

• what tickets are. Took me a little longer than I'd like to admit to realise what "tickets" are.

• how to write clean code. From watching Uncle Bob's videos, which were introduced to me by an experienced developer, I learnt one school of thought regarding coding practices.

• the importance of a good work space. This is something I didn't think was as important before. I learnt the value of keyboard shortcuts, essential keyboard configurations (e.g. changing the Caps Lock key to Control for easy access of keys), time-saving development environment plugins, and ways to make the terminal easier to work with (e.g. Fish, Oh My Zsh). Apart from these practical tips, I found that each developer in the start-ups had their own individualized desk things (i.e., clickety-clack keyboards, mouse/touchpad, fidget toys, headphones, fun mugs), which spoke to each developer's personality and inspired me to invest in a set of my own.

• how to use an Apple laptop. Being cheap, I never owned a personal Mac laptop prior to working in these start-ups. Using an Apple laptop for work has successfully convinced me to purchase my own Apple laptop.

• how to strive for a CI/CD or Agile work flow. This involves automating tests as much as possible to shorten the systems development work cycle. I remember, at one point, I had to implement end-to-end tests by simulating what a user would do for various use cases to make the development cycle more efficient.

• what project management looks like. The different start-ups used different project management systems like Trello, Jira, and Notion. In appreciation of the satisfaction of moving the tasks to done, I have also incorporated these systems into my personal life as well via Notion.