February 2023 – This is an insight

RW3: Impostor Syndrome

Impostor syndrome is described as feeling inadequate in the workplace, that leads to the fear of being labeled a fraud or chronic self doubt. When you are having heavy doubts of what you are doing is even correct anymore. All the while you are afraid of being exposed that you shouldn’t “belong” there. This phenomenom affects roughly 70% of people at some point in their lives. It could be the feeling that you are only succeeding due to luck, and not because of your talents or skills. Essentially it revolves around second guessing ones worth in a specific area.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/02/13/the-dubious-rise-of-impostor-syndrome

https://time.com/5312483/how-to-deal-with-impostor-syndrome/

I have personally experienced impostor syndrome while in computer science when I started doubting my own skills with java. I got overwhelmed with the project that I didn’t even think it was possible or where to start. It was worse when I thought I was doing well in the class and turned in labs/projects in a timely manner.

The article covers that within the world of programming, developers can feel developer impostor syndrome since there are many approaches, languages and methods to accomplish a task. That in itself makes it difficult for a developer or programmer to know everything. Since technology is ever-growing it is impossible to keep up with everything new that comes out. This can make some of the practices learned obsolete which can enhance the feeling of being an impostor. One of the ways to mitigate the feeling was to embrace it, remembering that you have constant learning and growth within your field. Another way is to keep track of your achievements, by listing the achievements that you have already accomplished sets a reminder that you are able to complete difficult feats in the past. Lastly, to promote teamwork and camaraderie, you are not alone in this situation, there are other people that either understand it more or have wisdom of a problem set you have.

A way to get over impostor syndrome is to remind yourself of what you have accomplished in the past and what hurdles you had to overcome to get there. That the feeling will pass as long as you chip away at the task at hand. Have to remember that you do not have to know everything in the field, relying on others for information isn’t a downfall.

RW2: Coding Conventions

The benefit of everyone adhering to coding conventions is that everyone’s code should look the same and be legible to any user. This is beneficial when you are asking for help on a problem set within the code or even when giving advice to another person. When the guidelines are used it is easier for someone else to spot errors in your code. You never know who will end up using or seeing your code so having it organized and up to standards alleviates any confusion and allows the reader to follow along smoothly. While sticking to the convention, even while alone, keeps your code in line with those around you. This also reinforces repetition and solidifies the rules to where they become second nature. The only downside that I can think of with coding conventions is that it forces someone to stay within a certain parameter while writing, then again this is the foundation of writing and not taking away from creativity. I was most surprised by the Google guide at 3.3.1 No wildcard imports, whether static or otherwise. The rules for line-breaks makes sense but I didn’t think it would be as precise as stated in the guide (4.1.2). I attempt to try line-wrapping when able to make it more legible but didn’t know there were actual rules to the case. My code tends to waiver from compliant with line-breaks and line-wrapping to not compliant at all. It is usually based on where I am at in my head about the code but will attempt to clean the code up more. I believe my methods are also hit or miss on following the lowerCamelCase.I feel as if being forced to use this style in my programs would help create that baseline for coding and further reinforce good habits going forward.

Recent Posts

Archives