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Comment by danesparza | Hacker News Reader

Do you want to be a software developer still? (That isn't clear from your summary). If so, you need to learn better habits.

I suggest picking up a book on the subject, like "Code Complete" (at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Pretty sure it's at the library if you'd rather read it for free -- but it'll do better as a reference book on your desk for a few years). Use it and start practicing with personal projects hosted out of Github.

I also suggest using a daily practice like a code kata: http://codekata.com/

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To your last point, it doesn't sound like algorithmic and practice problems are really OP's issue, as they suggested they can solve almost any problem given but do so in a way they now feel is amateur or hack-ish.

In a similar line of thinking to your Code Complete suggestion, a book like Architecture of Open Source Applications[1] might also be a good fit.

1 - http://aosabook.org/en/index.html

About Code Katas -- agreed. They can be used from simply an algorithmic learning viewpoint. They can also be used like an athlete uses weightlifting: Over time, certain motions become second nature.

When you're talking about such a mentally heavy discipline, it helps to have certain behaviors happen effortlessly. You might otherwise learn these things over time with a large team, but I think certain brains needs this kind of practice.

Just like there are different ways of learning any subject, there are different ways of maintaining proficiency (IMHO).

Thirding Code Complete (another top-level recommended it). I read that book very early on, and I credit it with my current ability to write clean code.

Another good one is The Pragmatic Programmer.

Lastly, this wiki is a gold mine of wisdom from hardened devs: http://wiki.c2.com/?StartingPoints

I really recommend you read lots and lots of those pages.

Yep, read these books and apply the ideas directly to your work as you go: Code Complete (which IMO is more detailed and explanatory than Clean Code) then Clean Architecture.

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