I've found my career to be a continuous ebb and flow of feeling incompetent.<p>Very early on, I started out by learning Perl programming on the job, writing CGI scripts for basic interactive websites. I had no clue what I was doing when I started, but after a while I was pretty good at it (and felt relatively competent). Then I got a job where most of the code was C, which I had done only a little of. After a few years of that, I think I was pretty solid, but then it was time to start learning about Java and its ecosystem. Later, I wanted to do some iOS work, so I had to dive head first into Objective-C and Cocoa - I was pretty lost to begin with, but eventually I got the hang of it. Somewhere along the lines I picked up Python. I struggled for a while (and it took me longer than I'd like to admit to get comfortable with significant whitespace), but I got there.<p>Now I'm working on updating my web dev skills by learning about React and all of the surrounding technologies. Once again, nearly 20 years into my career, I'm feeling pretty lost and incompetent. I've been through this enough times to know that I'll figure it out, but it can still be pretty frustrating and demoralizing to struggle to even get something basic working.<p>I think this is just a fundamental part of software development, and of continuing to learn and expand your skillset. It's good to remind ourselves that no one out there knows everything, everyone struggles from time to time, and if we're hitting speedbumps it means we're learning and improving.
Currently what's making me worry about being a bad programmer is a coworker. I have no idea what I did to him but the guy clearly has some kind of grudge against me. He questions my competence (sometimes subtly, sometimes outright) and doesn't want me changing the code even if I submit a 1-line code review removing an unused variable. He's a lot more lenient with other people and sometimes it's me who catches errors in code changes he's already put a "lgtm" on.<p>Going to work and having to sit next to someone like that every day is quickly making me think of jumping ship.
This is great. I just started my first real full time programming job and was feeling a tad incompetent. It definitely resonates. I'm having issues with really identifying as a programmer and what expectations if any come with it. I'm starting to come to the agreement that improvement at my own pace and in my own direction is going to be vital to not burning out.
"My favorite job of all time was washing dishes. I was good at it, and I could do it on autopilot, and it left my brain free to go braining."<p>I felt the same way for years about working as a landscape laborer. At the time, my 'information worker' gigs required me to think constantly about the most mundane things. Being a software engineer is a lot better than that, but having the freedom to think about anything you want is a very beautiful thing.
> Exactly no one knows what's going on anymore, but a lot of people are drawing paychecks and clicks by maintaining the illusion that they do. Some of them will interview you, and there's nothing you can do about it.<p>and<p>>You will walk into any given interview with what you think of as a cornucopia of arcane knowledge all but forcing its way out of your tear ducts to raise property values in a half mile radius. Much of the time, you will walk out of that interview wanting to give up and raise guinea pigs for a living.
Building software is actually one if the times I've felt least like an impostor (bordering on not at all?). It certainly is much better than science grad school in this respect, which is likely due to fast feedback from the compiler, your tests, and your peers. Seeking out feedback at all levels that you can find it is vital not just for happiness but also for growth, and it doesn't always come in the form of a paycheck.
i would go as far to say if you dont use the tools/tech at your disposal to get the job done as effeciently as possible then you are suboptimal as a programmer. the entire concept of technology is building or gluing others' efforts before you to create something new. there are rare exceptions to this and these are the very ones you stand on.