A 20-year software engineering veteran shares 13 lessons about what actually matters in a developer career beyond writing code. Key insights include: most of the job is debugging, not writing new code; code is a liability not an asset; solving the right problems matters more than closing tickets; planning before coding saves significant rework; simplicity is harder to achieve than complexity; tests are non-negotiable; bringing solutions beats stating problems; prototypes win arguments faster than debates; engineering is fundamentally about people and ego management; writing decisions down pays dividends; side projects accelerate growth; career advancement requires self-advocacy; and imposter syndrome never fully disappears but can be worked through.
