What The Top 5% of Programmers Do Differently

What's the best approach to reaching a high level in your software development career? In today's video I break down one of the most important concepts to understand and implement to reach that elite level.
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[@samismx]

The keyboard shortcuts also help reduce friction, which reduces frustration and shortens feedback loops. Reducing frustration means you will look forward to practice and you will be more likely to practice longer. Reducing feedback loops means you will shorten the time between making a code change and testing if it did what you wanted. If you can fit more cycles of that, you can really turbo charge your learning per hour spent, fluency and competence as an engineer. My advice: spend a week really learning and memorizing the top shortcuts and only use them to code. Should be fluent at them after about 2 weeks of daily practice.

[@AndySterkowitz]

Well said Sam!

[@AndySterkowitz]

What's up everybody...I haven't been posting regularly due to a particularly bad case of COVID but I am finally feeling good enough to get back to regular posting. That means if you want to catch my new videos when they come out make sure to subscribe to the channel ASAP (you can use this link here): andysterkowitz.link/subscribe Peace out!

[@wildpat03]

First, sorry to hear you've been sick; COVID ain't no joke! Second, I'd add a couple of things to the very valid points you're mentioning. Code organization and separation of concepts, primarily. Then, just behind, debugging acumen. I've had the benefit of working with a couple of really good devs with years of experience. They were not the fastest typers or coders around, but they would see very quickly how to get to a solution, organize and plan their coding and go through the bugs which would occur like machines. I try to apply those learned lessons in my job and it works!

[@slimyelow]

What I always find astonishing is how insanely difficult and intensive programming tasks become almost childs' play when you do them the second time around, never mind the third and fourth. This greatly improves when you also take quick notes and paste links that helped you crack the challenge in round one. My first jr dev job was to build a full stack app with vue and node that centered around the google maps api. I didn't know if I could ever solve this by myself, but I did with sheer grit and perseverance. Now I am building a better and improved version of the app for myself and google maps is like "been there, done that" easy.

[@nikolllezama6512]

Thank you for posting! So inspired by you

[@bryankrauss6334]

Great video, Andy! I've been working lately on memorizing and using keyboard shortcuts. I hear the best way to do it is to not use your mouse for a week, you'll be slow at first but it'll pay off in the end. I haven't been brave enough to try it yet though.

[@AndySterkowitz]

Absolutely!

[@redeagle9312]

Now that is a great idea and I will do same as you do. Thamks.

[@masternobody1896]

@@AndySterkowitz 24h code is make me pro

[@zariyahcampos3565]

I LOVE THIS ADVICE. THANK YOU

[@tonyjays381]

Thanks bro, that was very helpful.

[@redeagle9312]

Thanks Andy. You just showed us one of the best skills that will save time and expedite process.

[@AndySterkowitz]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@masternobody1896]

@@AndySterkowitz bro please make shorts your video is boring

[@alberto-444]

@@masternobody1896 dude really? If you're not able to stand a 10 minutes-long video, you're not good to spend several hours in front of a screen programming an app.

[@adammorrell9553]

I almost completely agree, except one point. Intelligence is absolutely not fixed. There was a psychological experiment where dumb kids with low IQ were told that was that, while another group was told they could change it. Years later, the second group had higher IQs on average. It's not a factor under your complete control, like automation, but practicing your general and deduction logic, increasing your understanding of the underlying systems, and outside studies to broaden your brains ability to make analogies will CERTAILY help the intelligence part of the equation.

[@tnetroP]

I agree with automation. It reminds me of when I was a relatively new mainframe developer back in the late 80's to early 90's. To compile a PL/1 or COBOL program we used to submit a job to perform the compile and then go to the job queue to look at the output. If the compile worked then we would submit another job to link all the necessary libraries to create the executable. Quite early on I realised I could call the compile and link jobs direcly in the foregound while using a CLIST script. Furthermore I could call that script with a new abreviation on the command line. Essentially it changed a batch submission onto something very similar to a command line compile command. So while all my colleagues continued to submit their jobs and go to the job queue I could simply type CC and compile the code, followed by LN to link everything and finally RUN to run it. It saved about a minute per compile and link, which was a huge saving when trying to debug something because we would have to repeatedly add the equivalent of print statements at different point in the code to add debug information. Overnight I became so much more productive. It was a lesson that stayed with me through my career.

[@Diallo268]

Thanks for the video. I'm a huge advocate of automation. It drives me nuts when people can't understand how much it would improve their lives because they don't want to change and learn something new. I would like to eventually get into software development and it's nice to know I'm on the right track.

[@edwincharlery2880]

You are so right about shortcuts, with short lines of code some people may not notice the efficiency but try doing it manually for a wide range of code, that becomes time consuming and requires a whole lot of movement. This forces you to remember the shortcut keys, if you get annoyed.

[@omegapirat8623]

I looked into a plethora of open source projects and learned from the experts for free. That's why I love open source.

[@jonathanjohnson2785]

Yay Andy's back. Missed you bro

[@AndySterkowitz]

Thanks Jonathan! Glad to be back :-)

[@germantoenglish898]

I'd love to see something about programming ergonomics and health. I find I had the tendency to forget to eat and drink or stretch which can lead to thrombosis. I exercise/stretch 3 times daily for 10 minutes, have "healthy" snacks at my desk, and drink at least 5 liters of "water" daily.

[@HowTo-lc2rp]

Was dying to new video of yours ...Andy 🥳

[@AndySterkowitz]

Sorry about the wait!

[@danielroth4497]

i’ve worked with very successful snd highly respected software developers. Speed of coding is not what separated them from the rest.

[@williamseipp9691]

What was it, in a nutshell?

[@danielroth4497]

@@williamseipp9691 1) Deep knowledge of the space; 2) Ability to ask questions that brought clarity for themselves and others; 3) Prioritization skills (for themselves and the team); 4) Work ethic--they all worked a lot and were conscientious about their work. (Edited to capture the one thing that summed them all up: they were really frickin' smart and knew how to apply those smarts to getting the right things done.)

[@yecyec3927]

THANKS FOR THE ADVICE I WILL BUY SHADES TOMORROW.

[@vasukalluru24]

You are the Inspiration 😍🔥

[@enatethiopia2803]

so inspiring !!!

[@fedebaez]

great video!

[@chibuezephilipokorie3393]

Nice tips ..please can you list the most effective tools that every developer most have .Thanks in anticipation

[@ameladventure4949]

Thank you 👍 knowledge vibes

[@AndySterkowitz]

My pleasure

[@EricMcDonaldSnowshoe]

I would argue that the amount of time it takes to complete a task is only one piece of the puzzle. The problem space you can work within is also another piece of the puzzle. How you communicate, sell, and influence your ideas is another. Etc, etc, etc… There are many pieces when you start considering all the factors. Weighting these factors in the specific environment you are in is also a major factor. For example, in some environments, keyboard shortcuts are nice but knowing a certain concept can blow these factor out of the water.

[@goowawa]

Opening your shades manually exposes your eyes to morning sunlight so much better LOL.

[@mirzakadic9174]

One suggestion from someone who is in video production for over a decade (and now trying to become programmer :D), you should lift your levels, it a bit dark, not because lighting is not lit properly, you just need to lift in in post. Regards!

[@AndySterkowitz]

Thanks Mirza...I will try that out!

[@adriansantiago2963]

I’m currently going to school for Software Engineering. I absolutely have 0 knowledge and experience.. What is the best advice I can get and where can I start to get into becoming a software developer? I need some guidance.

[@mauriciov6460]

I am trying to find an app or a website to put my lines of code on but I do not know which one is good to use. So do you guys have any recommendations for me to use on my Ipad?

[@krushnamahapatra2751]

just answer me one thing while doing a project I need to search few things right how to do this part and how to that part , please reply if you see this ?

[@mark_pribylnov]

Idea for a video: How should you make first projects like to do app when you don't even know where to start: from scratch or following a tutorial? Which way is better? Does following tutorials make you "weaker", instead of putting yourself into struggle as there's no solution and you have to do it yourself?

[@alberto-444]

I don't think it makes you "weaker", I do it and I look at it as an improvement to my creative process. I've seen a lot of people saying that it's not good and you're not a good programmer if you fall into "Tutorial Hell", but as I see it, there's not such thing as that (or at least there shouldn't be) if you're really into programming. I think that the most important thing about doing tutorials is that you really understand what the code is doing, take some time to analyze why it does what it does or why it doesn't work the same if you write a line before or after. Then take some time to add an extra functionality off your own -improve the program in the tutorial. That's how I've done it, hope it helps you.

[@mark_pribylnov]

@@alberto-444 Thank you for the answer. It means a lot to know that I'm not alone working this way

[@sppanday_]

It appears that you and I use same keyboard shortcut to select multiline as javascript developer. Reference: Control + Shift + L.

[@keithturnas6456]

Isn’t it more efficient to work from home rather than do long commutes?

[@Delphinus-Keya]

It is unless you have a driver, but the overall process is still slower vs wake up, coffee, throw kids and dogs outside, and sit down to code.

[@sarahwbs]

Automation is great but you're never going to be 100 times or 10 times or even 2 times faster than other devs 😂

[@frodobe_tbaggin3146]

I think being good at math and knowing how to integrate it what separates a average and great programmer

[@dosomething6975]

Lol what makes a 10x dev is keyboard shortcuts 🤣 I'm dead, but I love it

[@potatochips7900]

Hey, I'm kinda confused right now, should I just learn python first or should I start with the udemy web development course? Ps I'm a beginner and have no prior experience with programming. Btw love your channel.

[@199772AVVI]

Fuck it man, learn what you wanna do, that's the best thing you can do tbh

[@potatochips7900]

@@199772AVVI alright tysm bro

[@170170jon]

I'm the same . I just started in April. A buddy of mine has been coding for 25 years suggested that I get certified in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript with the W3 school online. So I'm doing the HTML course now. Just giving you an option for a direction to go🍻

[@potatochips7900]

@@170170jon I got this course on web development for beginners soo I'm gonna do this first, but I'm gonna go in depth in java script after this. Tysmm tho :))

[@antoinebguitar2869]

yeah thats why i order uber everyday and wear the same clothes, most people would say im lazy, but i think i cracked the matrix

[@LDInThePost]

Love the Silicon Valley reference lol

[@MagdyDoze]

0:25 John Doe?!...is that you Joker?!

[@gyros9162]

Generally, the idea is good and right. But I would like to shorten the periods of time when I'm just staring into the code trying to find solution )

[@odinsdesk986]

One suggestion - I think it would be better if you zoom out a little so that your hands are visible in the video. A show of the palms is psychologically disarming, in general. The way it has been recorded, it feels as if you're hiding your hands from the camera, which, however, isn't your intention at all, I suppose.

[@torwine4895]

I try to automate as much as i can, because - i am lazy - repetitive work is so boring - as a human beeing i will make errors, then i will have to debug afterwards - scripts will not get tired or bored - writing scripts increases my ability to do abstractions - when I am done, they want me to make it again, and again, because the scpecification will change Example: Some time ago i had to implement the import of 40 csv-files. I had an excel sheet with the table definitions. I wrote a script that generated all needed stuff out of this excel sheets. When i was done with the first version, they delivered a new set of definitions for 150 files. It was 1 click, to generate the new import logic, statements, objects, ...

[@malitman]

What code are you working on in the background

[@AndySterkowitz]

An application I use to run my mentorship program probably. It's what I most often work on.

[@srsr-jw5rh]

great

[@stevefox646]

Your videos are Awesome! Thank You. But how can you really work one hundred hours a week? Technically it is Not possible.

[@markusfeljofsen8345]

I have to disagree about shortcuts and also them beeing a form of automation. Automation is great deployment and release actions with GitHub that allow fast iterations and shipping. Automation is a great integration testing tool or framework. Automation is a linter for typescript code or even your API design. Great senior devs don’t write thousands of lines of code every day. They got great infrastructure that allow automating Workflows and are pros in researching stuff and just are way faster in approaching architecture solutions then a junior. Using shortkeys is a showoff with not much behind it, although it can be cool. But automation and effectiveness is something total different.

[@ahmedessamnouraldin]

You should have bought Blindr Shades

[@dijanamatkovic3623]

Is there a list of useful keyboard shortcuts for coding?

[@AndySterkowitz]

For visual studio code yes. Mac: code.visualstudio.com/shortcuts/keyboard-shortcuts-macos.pdf Windows: code.visualstudio.com/shortcuts/keyboard-shortcuts-windows.pdf

[@msamkleaf9945]

you look like Cersei Lannister :)

[@dijanamatkovic3623]

@@AndySterkowitz thank you

[@dijanamatkovic3623]

@@msamkleaf9945 LOL 🤣😂

[@dharmsingh2837]

I'm going to automate how to write quality code .

[@mickaelsflow6774]

Linters and script to scan your own code for consistency in your own defined style. It's a good script to write too, for practice. Include that in your build pipeline.

[@na_wu]

The top 50% devs do shortcuts and snippets. Top 5% developers know how to reverse engineer existing code and integrate new code into existing system neatly.

[@sitrakaforler8696]

omg Hooli x)

[@KennTollens]

Saves 5 seconds on shortcut while searching stack overflow for 20 minutes.

[@skhumbuzocele1330]

Is it me only who realised that Andy Sterkowitz has a face of a computer screen? .... 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@SamDoesTutorials.]

Let me save you guys 9 minutes: Automate stuff. It will be worth it in the long run. You're welcome. 😅

[@techmentormaria]

Yes but it’s the best tip ever

[@mattwaters9008]

thank you

[@bsummer]

who wants to meet Jon DOe?

[@forthesky1092]

your brought the word fixed intelligence quite a lot which is annoying people worked hard to build high mental modals and you start measuring it with the word fixed intellegence , always be in growth mindset side , it also puts you ahead of a lot people and makes you feel more intelligent adaptable, coding is hard don't bring the word fixed intellegence a lot , i'm starting to question your advices ,

[@Luxury.Famous]

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤

[@manuelgonzales6483]

First😘😁❤☕

[@DieterPrivate]

Pro tip: use JetBrains IDE instead of VSCode. All devs I encounter using VSCode are slower than those using a JetBrains IDE.

[@mauriciov6460]

I am trying to find an app or a website to put my lines of code on but I do not know which one is good to use. So do you guys have any recommendations for me to use on my Ipad?