Need advice from veteran software developers

Question

I've been programming for 6 years and I feel I'm in a loop and not making a progress.Basically I want to know is how to become better.Few questions for you:- how do you learn new codebase?- do you ever stop struggling?- what helped you become productive?- are you 10x? do you know how to become 3x?To me it feels no matter how much time passes I keep on struggling. Every ticket is a start of new torture. I learned design patterns but it didn't really help. I have read lot of code and written lot of code, but against code bases that are like 8 years old there is really no way to "get it". There is just too much inconsistent abstractions going on. Too much complexity everywhere.I don't consider myself stupid, but I just feel hopeless, like you would if you were a climate scientist and seeing world just produce more and more greenhouse gases despite all you said and did. Trying to stop unstoppable force.I change jobs every 1-2 years and most of my career as a result has been in noob stage of learning new tools, codebase, framework, industry, etc. It takes like 1 year to even feel productive. So this is probably the big thing. But at few jobs things never got easier so had to leave, there it was politics, scrum.Speaking of scrum/agile/points/crap/etc... wtf. How to take something vague, force you to give an estimate over 2 line description and then cry when it's wrong. I feel any team or company that uses scrum is masking for its incompetent management.

RayFrankenstein · Accepted Answer

1. Yes, you still struggle. 2. If you are in control of the architecture, you can mitigate some of the most destructive aspects of scrum. 3. Automate things as much as possible. With scripts/etc. 4. Learn as many productivity tools as you can. Editor plugins, etc. 5. Scrum is a kobayashi maru that is designed to get you fired. Like kirk, the only way to win is to cheat at it. Sandbag/overestimate as much as possible, and use the surplus time for learning/making better tools to get your work done faster. 6. A lot of people have been saying these things about scrum. Even senior people have a problem with it. See for yourself.
https://github.com/rayfrankenstein/AITOW/blob/master/README....
Also, search twitter with the hashtag #AgileKillsKittens

gregjor · Answer

Focus on the data structures when looking at a new (to you) code base. Study the database entities, the most important artifacts of the system.
Learn the business domain, not just the code. The code will implement business domain rules in terms of the data structures.
I can’t say I struggle anymore. I specialize in taking over and maintaining legacy code. Learning to read code takes practice. Learning to write good code also takes practice.
No one “is” 10X. In every team, project, organization some people get more done and deliver more effective solutions faster than others. That comes from talent, experience, asking questions, and paying attention to the important things.
The rut you’re describing sounds like what Eric Dietrich describes as an “expert beginner.”
https://daedtech.com/how-developers-stop-learning-rise-of-th...