What Do You Wish You’d Known When You First Started Programming?

This are some of the tips I can give after almost a decade working as a profesional developer:

• Start from the basics, and add complexity little by little. Don't jump to complex topics before understanding the basics.
• Don't reinvent the wheel if you don't need to or want to (if you want to for learning it's fine).
• Don't obsess to much, take time away from the computer regularly and exercise.
• Accept you wont know everything, not even a small percentage, but that's fine. Whenever you need to, you will learn it. One aproach is to know that you can do something, but there's no need to remember how to do it from memory, just look it up when you need it, after a few times you might remember it.
• Have fun, if you're having fun it will be easier to learn. If you find a topic cool or interesting, go ahead and learn it.

I'll say this: Some hype is real, a lot is not. Don't buy into the hype or become to cynical of new things. Try and develop a measured opinion of new things as they come out.

As a newbie, you probably have a hard time gripping the whole perspective of some new things, but also you don't have baked in opinions that hinder some seasoned devs.

All that is to say, just keep an open mind and stay in it for the long haul, and new things that are here to stay will sort themselves out.

• Don't be afraid to put comments in your code. But remember that comments are usually for explaining WHY (rather than WHAT). The code itself should be simple enough to show what its doing.
• Do the simplest thing that works. Working code is more valuable than showing your "brilliance" with some esoteric approach.
• Don't be afraid to make mistakes. But always own up to them and correct them quickly. We all make errors. Just be transparent, learn from them, and do what you can to prevent making the same ones again.
• Share your knowledge and discoveries. If you find a new tool, library, or technique that makes your life easier, chances are that it will benefit your team members, as well.
• Be gracious and grateful. It's a truism that everyone is fighting some battle that we know nothing about. Lighten everyone's load by showing kindness, compassion, and joy whenever you can.

Asking for help is a difficult dance to learn.

I wish I had known earlier the practice of timeboxing activities where uncertainty is high: "I'm gonna work on this for 30 minutes/2 hours. I may be able to solve it all by myself. But if I don't I won't stay in a rabbit hole because I'm too proud, I will go back to my team".

Release early, release often 😎…

Build barebones prototypes as fast as you can.

Seeing others use your application will help you understand what direction you need to go in.

That talking to your customers is part of the job, and selling isn't an evil idea. I think many of us start out badly with selling, and struggle later on. Selling is what we do when we try to convince colleagues to try something new, or ask a manager for a raise. It's part of the things we do when negotiating a job offer.

I am just a newbie and I find this really helpful. I must confess that I feel overwhelmed at the sheer volume of materials I need to learn in order to acquire the skills I need as a developer. The task ahead is such that sometimes I have nightmares knowing that there is no escape for me anytime soon.
But then again I discovered that there are wonderful people here willing to lend a helping hand to a brother.
To cut a long story short: the learning is tough and intimidating but the people I find in the Tech community are some of the most wonderful, helpful and smartest people you will find anywhere in the world, and together they have made the task less intimidating and more fun to participate in.
It is my goal to meet some really nice friends here, whom I can learn from and share other life experiences as the journey proceeds.

That I could be a programmer for a living.

Honestly, I avoided it for over a decade because I didn't think I'd be good enough. Instead I started out with the first role I landed, which was "PC Support" and went on to become a sysadmin. I never risked trying to change tack because I thought I wouldn't be able to hold my own against professional software developers.

What nonsense!

Great question and lots of answers below can be used as valuable shortcuts for beginners 👍💯🚀
I created a list of my tips a couple of years ago, too 😉

• When you run into an error or a bug don't be afraid or intimidated by it. Also, don't go and remove random things without having any clue as to why that error or bug happened in the first place. Try to see every bug as a learning opportunity.
• Make sure that you fully grasp the fundamentals before you're doing anything else.
• Having many years of experience does not necessarily make someone an effective communicator or mentor. If you don't understand someone's explanation, don't go into panic mode because it doesn't mean you're stupid or that you will never be a good programmer. It simply means that you might need the concept to be explained in another way.