Introduction

Software development is a challenging career that requires substantial problem-solving skills. For this reason, we frequently get stuck and being able to manage the stress this causes is of paramount importance. As a software developer, I consider myself to be stuck when all primary approaches to solving the problem such as debugging, logging, break points, Google search and Stack Overflow have not been successful. In the beginning, I could spend the whole night or week retrying the same strategies with no success, which was more stressful and my friends could easily notice that I got stuck.

What I do when I’m stuck

Today, when I get stuck, I get away from the computer, chat with friends or go for an errand. The next morning, I approach the problem with a fresh mind and the likelihood of finding solutions is always higher with this technique. Briefly, taking a pause and engaging myself in non-technical activities has always been useful rather than having 99+ tabs open in Google chrome. Sometimes, I realize that the error is very simple like misspelling in a database query or just forgetting break in a switch statement. The more you get stressed the harder it will be to solve the problem. Managing stresses will not only help you find solutions it will also help you stay positive and motivated.

The most helpful online communities for problem-solving

As for online communities, Stack Overflow and GitHub are the most useful for problem-solving. The problem you have today another software developer faced it in the past and you can easily find guidelines and approaches to solve it on Stack Overflow. As of now, I haven’t asked a question on this amazing platform simply because it would be a duplicate of other several similar questions with approved answers. GitHub on the other hand, not only help me find solutions but also help me learn from top minds in software engineering. Through their repositories, I learn architecture patterns and other useful techniques. There are quite a lot of online communities where a software developer can seek support but not all of them are useful as they claim to be. As a software developer/engineer you need to use a community that helps you tackle your challenges and learn along the way.