How would you discuss problematic code with a junior developer?

Recorded May 22nd 2020 – watch the full episode on YouTube.

How would you approach a junior developer if they've written sub optimal code? How would you help them improve that code and hopefully improve as a developer as well?

Paola Mata: So I'm assuming, like I saw this in a code review or something. Sometimes code review isn't the best way to convey information. So I might say like, "Let's meet briefly to discuss this," in non-intimidating way. Or like, "Let's jump on a call," now that I'm remote. I think also being available for questions. Just like saying, "Hey, if you need any help, just let me know." Being unintimidating, I would say. I've run into this experience where I gave someone an idea for how to implement something and then the way they implemented it, wasn't quite what I was thinking. I just very nicely said, "Hey, I think if you do it this way, it'd be better or it'd be cleaner," or whatever the issue was. And usually juniors are very grateful for this feedback. I think a lot of the problems I've seen junior developers, people who are learning on their own have are related to just not having enough feedback on their code. So I try to give as much as I can. I would never let something pass that was suboptimal. It's going into a shared code base. I don't want anything that hasn't been thought through enough. So just offer myself for the questions and give ample feedback.

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