It's a crazy time to be in the software industry.

The growth of artificial intelligence. An endless stream of new frameworks. Cloud knowledge becoming more and more powerful. It can be very overwhelming for new developers.

Let's explore what I think you should focus on if you've just started out to help ensure you're on the right path.

Let's dive in.

Always be ready to learn

First off, congratulations on picking this career. You have a truly amazing journey ahead of you. The opportunities are endless and you'll be a pioneer as society embraces coding and technological advancements.

The problem? You're going to have to learn. And I mean a lot.

You'll actually never stop learning. The industry is constantly changing and it's your job to keep up.

You'll have to stay in the loop. Stay informed. Stay on the cutting edge. You either change with the times or get left behind.

That may sound intimidating and scary. It is. It also presents an opportunity.

An opportunity for you to push yourself. To learn more than others and make yourself irreplaceable.

The best skill you can learn is that of how to learn. How to learn a lot and how to learn quickly. You'll get better with time, but expanding your knowledge is a necessity.

Start learning now and never stop.

Grasp the fundamentals

Languages, frameworks, tools and technologies have all drastically changed the last few decades.

What hasn't changed? The fundamentals.

Things like programming concepts, data structures and algorithms are universal and eternal. Languages like JavaScript or Java have been around for ages. There is a reason for this.

They serve as the foundation.

Try learning React without knowing JavaScript. Try creating a database without knowing how to relate entities.

The fundamentals are there to set us up for success. You can expand upon them and specialize as you wish, but knowing the basics is essential to being a good developer.

The better you know the fundamentals, the faster you'll learn everything else.

Focus on problem solving

Your job is to solve problems, not to write code.

You will be presented with business problems and will need to leverage whatever knowledge you have at your disposal to solve it. Sometimes the solution includes writing code. Sometimes it involves leveraging cloud resources. Your job is to determine the best solution for the problem and to then to execute that solution.

The software industry is rapidly changing. The problems we need to solve are changing. The tools we have to use are changing. What doesn't change?

The act of solving problems.

Problems are always going to be present. You need to adjust your mindset to be that of a great problem solver. Tackle each problem as it comes. Think of different solutions. Choose the best one. Implement it. Move on. Solve the next problem.

Use whatever knowledge and tools you have to help solve problems for others.

That takes us to our next point.

Learn the tools

Any plumber will tell you that their tools are what allows them to do their job. The same can be said for developers.

Sure, you could hire a plumber that does everything by hand, but that probably wouldn't be very effective and actually sounds really gross. See where I'm going with this?

Identify what tools are best, learn them and add them to your toolbox. Tools like Figma for designing or ChatGPT for code generation allow us to be better at our jobs. To increase our output and work more effectively. That's what tools are for.

The trick is to know what tool to use and when to use it. You don't want to be using a hammer when you need to measure something. The same applies here.

Learn when to use no-code solutions or when JavaScript is the right language for the job. The term "don't fit a square peg in a round hole" is popular for a reason.

Beyond learning tools, you need to understand when a tool has had it's day. Lighting a piece of wood was great source of light until the common torch came along.

Be ready to adapt and change what tools you use as I can guarantee you they will change.

Embrace collaboration

​You are a part of a team. Even if you're a solo freelancer. You're standing on the shoulders of all the developers before you.

Invest in building connections. In finding a mentor. In learning from those you work with.

I like to think of our careers in the same way we think about evolution.

We need to improve and do better than those before us in order to go further. The only way we can do this is by learning from them. From their mistakes and successes.

Embrace being a part of something bigger than yourself and use those around you to help grow yourself and others.

It's the best thing you can do.

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If you have just started your journey, I wish you all the best. You've got some exciting times ahead.

If you're wanting to learn from my and the experience of many others to help grow your knowledge, go ahead and grab a FREE copy of my book, 101 Tips For Becoming A Better Developer.​

See you again next week.