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Dev Journal

Think like a developer

/ 2 min read

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Do you find yourself starring at a JavaScript file, and unsure where to start? If you do, you might be afraid of failing. Many call this “coder`s block”, similar to “writer’s block”. But the good news is, coder’s block is a myth. You can overcome it easily.

Breaking Out of Coder’s Block

To break out of coder’s block. accept that failure is part of the process. You’ll get stuck, write bad code, and feel like you can’t make progress. Here’s how to move past it:

1. Break Down the Problem

Think of the problem as a big task that needs to be broken into smaller, manageable tasks. For example, “putting an elephant in the fridge” involves many steps like:

  • Choosing the fridge
  • Finding the elephant
  • Figuring out how to fit the elephant in the fridge.

2. Find Solutions to Small Problems

Take each small problem and find a solution. For example:

  • What fridge? The one in your kitchen.
  • What kind of elephant? An African bush elephant.
  • How to fit it? Use a shrink gun.

3. Assemble the Solutions

Piece together your small solutions to solve the big problem. For instance:

  • Borrow a shrink gun
  • Fly to Africa and find an elephant
  • Shrink the elephant and bring it home
  • Put it in the fridge

4. Refactor and Improve

Once you have a working solution, refine the code to make it cleaner and more efficient.

Summary

Don’t worry about writing perfect code right away. Break down problems, find solutions, and put them together. Once it works, you can refine it later. Everyone starts somewhere, and messy code is part of the process.