Hey there! 👋 I'm a React Native developer who has learned things the hard way, and today I want to share my journey with you. These aren't just theoretical tips – they're real lessons that cost me countless hours, numerous headaches, and yes, even a few embarrassing moments in production. Let's dive in!
The Planning Paradox (Lessons 1 & 2)
You know what's funny? I've been on both extremes of the planning spectrum. Once, I jumped straight into coding a delivery app without any planning because "I had it all in my head." Three weeks later, I had to rewrite everything from scratch. Then, on another project, I spent so much time planning that our client started wondering if we were actually building anything at all!
The sweet spot? I now spend about a day planning a two-week sprint. Just enough to have direction without getting lost in the details.
The Quality Conundrum (Lessons 3, 4, & 7)
Oh boy, let me tell you about the time I thought "quick and dirty" was the way to go. I picked the first solution that came to mind for handling user authentication. It worked... until we hit 1,000 users and everything fell apart. Now I live by these rules:
Take time to evaluate at least three possible solutions
Use proper encapsulation (your future self will thank you)
Remember that working code isn't necessarily good code
The Google Pride (Lesson 6)
True story: I spent three hours trying to fix a layout issue, too proud to Google it. Turns out it was a common problem with a simple solution. My tech lead walked by, Googled it in 30 seconds, and fixed it in two minutes. Talk about a humbling experience!
The Test-less Terror (Lesson 12)
"I don't have time to write tests" - Past me, one week before a major production bug that could have been caught by a simple unit test. Now, I consider tests as important as the actual code. They're like a safety net for your circus acts.
The Perfect Code Pursuit (Lessons 15 & 16)
I once spent an entire weekend optimizing a FlatList that was already performing well. Why? Because I read an article about best practices and performance optimization. Meanwhile, users were struggling with a confusing UI that I could have fixed in half that time.
Lesson learned: Focus on what matters to users first.
The End-User Enlightenment (Lesson 17)
Here's a hard truth I learned: Nobody cares about your beautiful code architecture if the app is confusing to use. I had built this "technically perfect" feature, but my mom couldn't figure out how to use it. That was a wake-up call.
The Reinvention Regret (Lesson 20)
Raise your hand if you've ever thought, "I can build a better version of this library!" 🙋♂️ Guilty as charged. I spent two weeks building a custom image picker when a perfectly good one existed on npm. Those two weeks could have been spent building actual features.
The State Management Saga (Lesson 23)
My first React Native app had everything in Redux. Everything. Even temporary form data that could have lived in local state. It was like using a sledgehammer to hang a picture frame. Now I follow a simple rule: Use the minimal state management solution that gets the job done.
The Error Attitude (Lesson 24)
I used to see errors as personal failures. Now? They're like friendly messages from my code saying "Hey, you might want to look at this!" Changed my whole perspective on debugging.
The Break Breakthrough (Lesson 25)
The most important lesson? Take breaks! I once pulled an all-nighter trying to fix a bug. Know when I solved it? The next morning, after a good sleep, in about 15 minutes. Your brain needs rest to problem-solve effectively.
Quick Tips from My Journey:
Write code that tells a story (comments should explain why, not what)
Use source control religiously (lost code is no fun)
Question existing code respectfully (it might be bad, but understand why first)
Pick tools based on project needs, not hype
Remember that code problems today = data problems tomorrow
Final Thoughts
Looking back, every mistake taught me something valuable. The key isn't to avoid mistakes – it's to learn from them and share those lessons with others. That's how we grow as developers.
One last thing: keep learning, stay humble, and remember that even "bad" code that solves a problem is better than "perfect" code that never ships.
What about you? Got any hard lessons you've learned along the way? Drop them in the comments – I'd love to hear your stories! Let's learn from each other's mistakes instead of having to make them all ourselves! 😄