"I guess the less conforming and more impulsive side of my personality had a thirst for action and wanted to jump to the big leagues prematurely, but how could I learn to get better incrementally, bit by bit while still working on exciting projects from the “get-go”?" Though I don't have a course addiction, I do feel the same sentiments when it comes to my own skills. I did contribute to open source last year, but the project got stalled, and now I am searching for a new one. Anyway, thanks for this wonderful article, Jake.

Much better than me sharing my own notes, which you can barely follow. Thanks for this guide.

Thanks for these tips. I'm slowly breaking out, and interviews are coming my way. I'm sure these tips will help me in handling rejection, and build a great career.

It probably doesn't help that devs don't treat testers with respect. Thanks for writing this article, it caused me to look into something which I often ignored.

Dave Guymon Interesting to find a Ruby developer. Most people give the impression that this language is dead or dying. Perhaps you can shed the light on the real situation?

Thanks for this article. I mostly lose motivation when I don't have anything to show off, or feel my progress is very slow.

Thanks for a wonderful article Dave. I do have a question for you though. You said that you wanted to improve your problem solving skills in object oriented way of thinking. So why did you chose Ruby for this language? What do the other languages lack that you chose Ruby over them? Could it be the choice was random? I doubt that's the case though. Also, it is same in writing. You read a finished book, and you think "What a wonderful author! I could never write like that." In reality, the original draft is riddled with tons of mistakes and errors, but you never get to see that side. Source: I'm a blogger and a small-time author.

Some really good advice here. and for a change, it is not about how to pass an interview, or how to solve codewars or other problem sites!

Thanks for these wonderful tips. I do think engineers who are just starting (like me for example), should read tips like these.

Thanks Arjun, I wanted to solve all these problems for myself, and I always expressed myself better with writing. So I decided to combine them, and admit that I do have some problems first, and then work on their solutions. You just see. I will conquer all my fears, and become a great writer / programmer. Thanks for the comment!