Upon running my daily blogging circuit, I came across this article that really hit home with me and I feel compelled to share. Go ahead and read it, and if you'd like, read my comments on it.
http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/archive/2007/08/21/4486197.aspx
This is an article that epitomizes how I felt on my first day here at PC Doctor. Starting off as a brand new developer to anywhere, I looked a lot to the people around me to understand and manipulate the code. It felt really easy to ask questions and watch the people who know the code make the fixes almost magically knowing where the problem lies. Well, that sort of mentality lasts about two days, the first two. Then I had a much needed realization, I was going to have to code something here sooner or later. I can't really get by on my code reading ability.
The hardest part about making that realization though is that the person who works on the code is not the person who owns the code. They just probably know more about how it works than you do. They won't get offended if you start making changes to work on a problem. In fact, they'll probably just be ecstatic that they can offload the work and have someone else that understands the specific code base.
There is someone who does own the code though. Ultimately it's the source control that owns the code. Luckily, here we have one with a pretty good memory. And any changes made can be saved, undone, merged, on files or directories of files. So while worrying about something breaking is a well-founded fear, you shouldn't if you have a really good "undo button".
So for any new developers, step up to the plate, crack up some code, and don't be shy.
