Once in a while experienced software developers post advices for rookies. Giving advices is easier than following them, and here’s my quick set.

1. Being a software developer does not mean sitting all day long with your ear buds creating cools widgets for the Web. Coding of cool things will take less than 25% of your time. The rest of the time you’ll spend communicating to other people. Learn how to be good at it.

2. You know how to do things right. Guess what, other people may have different opinions, and they might be right. Listen, learn, and adjust.

3.While you solutions may have technical merits, there can be other reasons for not doing it “your way “. It’s OK. Do not get frustrated.

4. These 40+ year old farts in the cubicles may not have accounts on MyFace, FaceBook, or Twitter. But that can’t be too dumb if they’ve managed to survive in IT for 15-20 years. May be they know something useful for you to learn?

5. Slow down. You are typing too fast, but the most worn out button on your keyboard is Backspace. Think first, then type.

6. You feel underpaid and being taken advantage of? Hit the job market. You might be surprised – for some reason no one else want to hire you. This may give you a piece of mind and ring a bell – it’s time to study again.

7. You must purchase and read at least five technical books a year. Googling for specific solutions is fine, but you need some more fundamental knowledge. Do not save money on books.

8. Use every opportunity to attend technical conferences. It’ll give you a better sense of where the industry goes so you can invest your time into learning what’s needed today.

9. Start blogging on technical discoveries that you made recently. Even if these little findings may not sound too important for you, they might be life savers for someone. Blogging will improve your technical writing skills and will give you some visibility.

10. Get your Master Degree before you got married. It does not have to be an MBA – get it in the field you’ve always dreamed of. When your significant other will come into picture, going back to school becomes a lot more difficult. “Honey, am I right or am I right?”

This was a quick writeup, and I ‘m sure you can easily add to this list. Be my guest.