Software development has ways of humbling you. Early in my career, I was certain about a lot of things—best practices, the “right” way to code, how teams should work. Over time, I realized that many of those “truths” weren’t universal. Some were outright wrong. And some—well, present-me now finds hilarious. Chris Kiehl recently wrote a fantastic blog post reflecting on 10 years in software development, sharing lessons that resonated deeply with me. And after 25+ years of hands-on coding, I can say that those lessons only become truer over time. So, in this thread, I’ll highlight some of the biggest mindset shifts that happen after decades in dev, including some of Chris’ insights—and a few hard-earned lessons of my own. 🧵👇

@pie6k Just use "@ apply" in your main app .css.

RT @makowskid: Software development has ways of humbling you. Early in my career, I was certain about a lot of things—best practices, the…

@arthuryuzbashew that's about right :)

2️⃣3️⃣ Seniority isn’t about knowing more—it’s about making better trade-offs. A senior dev isn’t someone who knows every framework inside out. A senior dev is someone who knows when to say no, when to simplify, and when to push back on bad ideas. It’s about making the right trade-offs and knowing which problems are worth solving. 2️⃣4️⃣ Debugging is a skill. Logging is an art. New devs think debugging is about hunting down the problem. Experienced devs know good logging prevents the hunt in the first place. - A single well-placed log statement can save you hours of guesswork. - Log the right things (not just everything). - Use structured logs, not random print statements. - Make logs actionable—timestamps, correlation IDs, and useful context. - Learn to use tools that process and search through logs fast 2️⃣5️⃣ Senior devs make the team better, not just themselves. Early on, you might think seniority means solving the hardest problems solo. Wrong. Juniors assume that seniors have all the answers, and being experts makes them indispensable. When you’re a senior then you learn that: ✅ Your job is to unblock others, not just yourself. ✅ Hoarding knowledge makes you a bottleneck, not valuable. ✅ Mentorship is a core skill—if your team isn’t growing, you’re failing. Helping others grow is more important than showing you’re right. Being a senior isn’t about how much you know—it’s about how much you help others grow. Real senior devs mentor, document, and automate. Your job isn’t just to write code—it’s to help others level up, improve processes, and create a culture where knowledge flows freely. And in 10 years? I’ll probably laugh at today-me too. That’s the job. What’s your biggest dev mindset shift? Drop it below.