After 25+ years in the IT industry, I’ve developed a mental model that completely changed how I approach any codebase. This is the framework I wish someone had handed me early in my career. They don’t teach the real world in bootcamps. Get 25 years of production-grade experience on my YouTube: 🛠️👉 https://www.youtube.com/@lessonsfromproduction ⚡ Typing First Is a Trap The fastest way to get humbled as a developer? Open a new codebase and immediately start typing. I’ve done it. You’ve probably done it. And if you haven’t done it yet — you will, and you’ll remember it for the rest of your career. Because here’s the thing nobody tells you early on: the instinct to just start coding feels completely rational. It feels like the right move. It feels productive. And that’s exactly what makes it dangerous. Productive-looking is not the same as actually productive. What you’re doing is optimising for the appearance of progress. And that confidence? It costs you later. 🏃 Speed Feels Like Progress (But It’s a Lie) Let’s talk about why smart developers do this. You get assigned a ticket. You open the repo. And instead of slowing down, something in your brain goes: “I’ll figure it out as I go.” And honestly? That impulse makes sense. The industry rewards people who move fast. Standups reward people who “made progress.” PRs reward people who shipped something. Nobody in a sprint review has ever said, “Wow, great job spending two days just reading.” So you skim. You…
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