Dr Milan Milanović

Software developers are lifelong learners

Not because we're curious. Because we have no choice

The tools change. The frameworks shift. The best practices from last year have become antipatterns today

You either keep learning or you become obsolete.

Read more code than you write. Build things outside your job's stack. Learn one new language every 2-3 years. Follow people who challenge what you think you know

The learning never stops. That's the job

If you're a developer who ships code daily, remember these:

- First, make it work; nobody cares how elegant broken code is
- Then make it fast, slow code that works still frustrates users
- After that, make it pretty, so that your teammates read code more than they write it
- Add tests that actually catch bugs, not just boost coverage metrics
- Refactor when you finally understand what you're building (usually the second time through)

Perfect code on the first try is a myth.

Fast iteration beats slow perfection every time

Walking is the best debugger

Your brain works better when you stop trying

Stuck on a problem? Walk away. Take a shower. Sleep on it. Your conscious mind steps aside, and something else takes over

The subconscious doesn't work linearly. It connects patterns you didn't see while staring at the screen. It runs in the background, rearranging pieces until something clicks

Then the answer arrives, fully formed, obvious in hindsight

You can't force insight. But you can create the conditions for it. Movement helps. Distance helps. Boredom helps

Next time you're stuck, close the laptop. The solution finds you when you're not looking

Clean code is too clean to make money

Clean code optimizes for maintainers
Money optimizes for customers

Customers don’t pay for elegance
They pay for speed, reliability, and outcomes

Ship a thin slice that solves one painful problem
Measure usage
Fix what breaks
Refactor what earns

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝗯𝗯𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲

Where do you draw the line: “clean enough” or “clean forever”?

The best software engineers I know don't obsess over the latest framework

They obsess over solving the actual problem

They write code that humans can read 
They ship working software over perfect architecture
They delete more than they write
They know the best code is the code you don't have to maintain

Your users don't care about your stack. They care that it works

That's the only metric that matters

LinkedIn today, 99% slop posts straight LLM outputs

Every post has the same pattern

Same hook, same bulleted points, same “agree” at the end

Most of the comments are either bots or people adding comments just to increase their own visibility

Really wierd to witness this

I've reviewed 1,000+ resumes as a hiring manager

Most get rejected in 6 seconds

Here's what separates the ones that land interviews:

𝟭. 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲. 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗱.

If you can't distill 10 years into one page, you don't understand what matters. Senior roles included.

𝟮. 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀

❌ Bad: "Responsible for maintaining authentication service."
✅ Good: "Cut login failures by 40% by rebuilding authentication with Redis caching."

Metrics tell me you understand business outcomes.

𝟯. 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗯𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲

Recruiters scan in an F-pattern. They read the first 2-3 words per bullet.

✅ Use: Built, Led, Reduced, Scaled, Architected
❌ Avoid: Assisted, Helped, Worked on

𝟰. 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘇𝘇𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀

"Visionary leader driving transformational initiatives with cutting-edge AI solutions" = noise.

Just say what you did and what changed.

𝟱. 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝟭/𝟯 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝟴𝟬% 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Polish your first section obsessively. That's where hiring decisions happen.

𝟲. 𝗧𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲

One resume for all jobs = one resume that fits none. Match your bullets to the job description.

𝟳. 𝗡𝗼 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿𝘀

If you can't proofread when it matters most, I won't trust you with production code.

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