by Sun-Li Beatteay

通过孙丽·贝蒂

我是“真正的”软件工程师吗？ (Am I a “real” Software Engineer yet?)

Am I a “real” Software Engineer yet?

我是“真正的”软件工程师吗？

This question has haunted me for years. And it seems I’m not alone. Many people experience this same insecurity. They desire to know if they’ve made it. Are they finally good enough?

这个问题困扰了我多年。 似乎我并不孤单。 许多人也遇到同样的不安全感。 他们希望知道自己是否成功。 他们终于足够好了吗？

While “Software Engineer” is the standard title handed out by employers, many in the software community have different standards. And to new programmers joining the field, especially those without CS degrees, it can feel like the title is safe-guarded. Only bestowed on the select that have proven themselves.

虽然“软件工程师”是雇主发出的标准名称，但软件社区中的许多人具有不同的标准。 对于加入该领域的新程序员，尤其是那些没有CS学历的程序员，似乎觉得标题很安全。 仅授予已证明自己的选择。

Many people refer to this sense of deficiency as Impostor Syndrome, though it goes by many names. Developers experience it in different ways and have differing reactions. To some, it can be crippling, but others might not notice it whatsoever.

许多人称这种缺乏症为“ 冒名顶替综合症” ，尽管它有很多名字。 开发人员以不同的方式体验它，并有不同的React。 对于某些人来说，它可能会令人瘫痪，但其他人可能根本不会注意到它。

In this article, I’m going to recount my own ordeals with Impostor Syndrome. While I don’t pretend to have a cure, I hope to shed some more light on the topic and help others who are dealing with it.

在本文中，我将讲述自己对Impostor综合征的考验。 尽管我不假装有治愈的方法，但我希望对此主题有更多的了解，并帮助其他与之相关的人。

Note: All the comments I’ve shared are real comments I’ve found on the internet. Not all of them were directed towards me, but I’ve heard similar remarks. I’m sure you have too.

注意：我分享的所有评论都是我在互联网上找到的真实评论。 并非所有人都针对我，但我听到过类似的言论。 我敢肯定你也有。

当一切开始的时候 (When it all began)

For me, it started in July of 2016. I had started studying web development as a New Years Resolution. I wasn’t satisfied with my career at the time and was looking for a change. A common origin story that I’m sure many people can relate to.

对我来说，它始于2016年7月。我已经开始研究Web开发作为新年决议。 当时我对自己的职业不满意，正在寻找改变。 我敢肯定，很多人都可以与之联系。

I focused on front-end development as I had heard that HTML, CSS and JavaScript were easy to pick up. I spent my evenings after work parsing through Treehouse, Lynda, and Codecademy tutorials. The first three months of 2016 passed by like this. By April, my notebook was full of thorough notes and my GitHub contained a few static sites. But I wasn’t satisfied. I wanted to sink my teeth into a larger project.

我专注于前端开发，因为我听说HTML，CSS和JavaScript很容易掌握。 下班后，我花了很多时间在Treehouse，Lynda和Codecademy教程中进行解析。 2016年前三个月就这样过去了。 到四月份，我的笔记本上充满了详尽的笔记，而我的GitHub上包含了一些静态站点。 但是我不满意。 我想全心投入更大的项目。

That was when I decided to create a portfolio site for my wife, who was a product designer. For my skill level at the time, it wasn’t an easy undertaking. I struggled a lot and it took the better part of four months to complete.

那时我决定为我的妻子 (产品设计师) 创建一个投资组合网站 。 就当时的技能水平而言，这并不是一件容易的事。 我奋斗了很多，花了四个月的大部分时间才完成。

It’s important to note that while working on my wife’s website, I did my best to surround myself with tech culture. I watched YouTube videos, listened to podcasts, and read blog posts from experienced engineers to keep myself motivated. I daydreamed what it would be like to stand in their shoes. To have a job at a tech company, work on the latest technology, and write “Software Engineer” as my Occupation on tax forms. Silicon Valley made it all look so glorious.

重要的是要注意，在我妻子的网站上工作时，我尽力使自己融入科技文化。 我观看了YouTube视频，听了播客，并阅读了经验丰富的工程师的博客文章，以保持动力。 我幻想着站在他们的鞋子里会是什么样。 要在一家技术公司工作，研究最新技术，并写“ Software Engineer”作为我的纳税表格职业 。 硅谷让这一切看起来光彩夺目。

That’s why I couldn’t have been happier when my wife’s website went live in July of that year. I had done it. I had made my first real website that was going to receive real traffic. Could I finally start calling myself something of a Software Engineer?

这就是为什么当我妻子的网站于当年7月上线时，我感到更加幸福的原因。 我做到了 我制作了第一个真正的网站，该网站将获得实际流量。 我最终可以开始称自己为软件工程师吗？

“ Web开发不是真正的编程” (“Web development isn’t real programming”)

Not according to the Internet:

并非根据互联网：

“Web development isn’t real programming”, “JavaScript isn’t a real programming language”, and “a front-end developer isn’t a Software Engineer” were all phrases I heard often. While I was determined to change careers, I was also self-conscious. I couldn’t shake the thought that the naysayers were right.

我经常听到“网络开发不是真正的编程”，“ JavaScript不是真正的编程语言”和“前端开发人员不是软件工程师”。 当我下定决心要改变职业时，我也有自我意识。 我不能以为反对者是对的。

If I’d had a Plan B or a stable career to fall back on, I might’ve given up right then and there. Fortunately, I didn’t. For better or worse, I had no other career or skills to fall back on and I had already invested too much time. So I trudged on, with the sunk cost keeping me afloat.

如果我有B计划或可以继续工作的稳定职业，那我可能会在那时和那之后放弃。 幸运的是，我没有。 不管好坏，我没有其他职业或技能可以依靠，而且我已经投入了太多时间。 因此，我沉迷于前进， 沉没的成本使我无法自拔。

I spent the next 18 months studying software development full time. I quit my job and moved in with my in-laws — which was a journey in-and-of itself. I put everything I had into my career move. I studied Ruby, Node, and some Go and built some small web apps.

在接下来的18个月中，我全职学习了软件开发。 我辞掉工作，搬到公婆家去了，这本身就是一次旅程。 我将一切都投入了自己的职业生涯。 我研究了Ruby，Node和一些Go，并构建了一些小型Web应用程序。

By January of 2018, it had been two years since the start of my career switch and I had learned a great deal. I knew the fundamentals, I could program in multiple languages, and I had started contributing to open-source projects. I also had a decent portfolio to show for it. I was excited to finally call myself a Software Engineer.

到2018年1月，距离我开始职业生涯已经两年了，我学到了很多东西。 我了解基础知识，可以使用多种语言进行编程，并且已经开始为开源项目做出贡献。 我也有一个不错的作品集来展示它。 我很高兴终于称自己为软件工程师。

“Not so fast,” said the Internet.

互联网说：“不是那么快。”

At this point, I had dealt with many doubters. While it still didn’t feel great to hear criticism, I had learned to ignore it for the most part. Furthermore, I had an Ace up my sleeve. There was one final step I could accomplish to put all the doubts to rest: Getting a job.

在这一点上，我已经处理了许多怀疑者。 尽管听到批评仍然感觉不太好，但我已经学会了在很大程度上忽略它。 此外，我的袖子上还装有一点王牌。 我可以完成的最后一步就是消除所有疑问：找到一份工作。

Yes, a software engineering job. The holy grail. I would have the title, the paycheck, and the acclaim. No more self-doubt. Only deserved validation from an employer.

是的，软件工程工作。 圣杯。 我将获得头衔，薪水和称赞。 没有更多的自我怀疑。 仅应得到雇主的确认。

And that’s what I did. I started interviewing in early 2018 and signed my first offer letter by March of 2018. My official role was “Software Engineer”. That was that, the hunt for acceptance was finally over.

这就是我所做的 。 我于2018年初开始面试，并于2018年3月签署了我的第一份录取通知书。我的正式职务是“软件工程师”。 就是这样，寻求接受的努力终于结束了。

从坏到坏 (From bad to worse)

At least that’s what I thought. It seemed the gate-keeping extended even into the realm of employment. But it was over. I was a Software Engineer — I had the W4 papers to prove it. The moment I stepped into the office for my first day on the job, all my worries would disappear.

至少那是我的想法。 似乎守门甚至延伸到就业领域。 但是结束了。 我是一名软件工程师-我有W4论文来证明这一点。 我上班第一天走进办公室的那一刻，所有的烦恼都会消失。

But that wasn’t the truth. Who knew that adding obligations and deadlines would make one’s insecurities worse, not better?

但这不是事实。 谁知道增加义务和最后期限会使人的不安全感恶化，而不是更好？

My anxiety hit a fever pitch the moment I arrived for my first day of onboarding. Slack conversations I didn’t understand. GitHub repositories with thousands of lines of code I didn’t comprehend. Development tools I had never heard of or used. My first week on the job was a whirlwind of stress.

入职第一天，我的焦虑就达到了发烧的程度。 我听不懂的闲聊。 GitHub存储库包含我不理解的数千行代码。 我从未听说或使用过的开发工具。 我上班的第一周压力很大。

Don’t get me wrong, I was thrilled to be surrounded by such experienced engineers. My team was full of some of the smartest engineers I’d ever met and they were incredibly understanding. They mentored me and ramped me up to speed. But it was still intimidating as hell.

别误会我，我很高兴被如此经验丰富的工程师包围。 我的团队挤满了我见过的一些最聪明的工程师，他们的理解令人难以置信。 他们指导了我，并加快了我的步伐。 但这仍然令人恐惧。

Many of my coworkers had advanced degrees, some had been programming since they were teens, and others were core maintainers of large open source projects. And who was I? Some guy who learned to code because it looked cool on TV. I felt out of place and the feeling didn’t disappear.

我的许多同事都具有较高的学位，有些人从十几岁起就开始编程，而另一些人则是大型开源项目的核心维护者。 那我是谁 有些人因为在电视上看起来很酷而学会编码。 我感到不舒服，感觉并没有消失。

My thoughts began to resemble the negative comments that I had worked so hard to prove wrong:

我的想法开始变得像我曾经努力证明自己是错误的负面评论：

How the hell did I get here? Was it luck? Did someone make a mistake?

我到底是怎么到这里的？ 运气好吗？ 有人犯错了吗？

I realized that I didn’t need Reddit to point out my inadequacies — I was quite capable of that myself. It’s true that, with time, I became more familiar with my environment. I began to understand the Slack conversations, the code became more familiar, and I learned how to use the various tools. And yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was a stranger in a foreign land. Every mistake I made only served to prove that point further.

我意识到我不需要Reddit指出我的不足之处-我自己有能力做到这一点。 的确，随着时间的流逝，我对自己的环境越来越熟悉。 我开始理解Slack对话，代码变得更加熟悉，并且学习了如何使用各种工具。 但是，我无法撼动自己在异国他乡的感觉。 我犯的每一个错误只能证明这一点。

I anticipated the day that I made one mistake too many and someone finally asked, “How on Earth did you get hired?” That fear consumed me. I began reading whitepapers, frequenting Hacker News, and taking classes to get a Computer Science degree. All in the hopes that I would finally feel like I fit in. That I was a “real” software engineer. But none of it worked.

我预料到我犯了太多错误的那一天，最后有人问：“你是怎么被录用的？” 那种恐惧把我吞噬了。 我开始阅读白皮书，经常访问Hacker News，并上课以获取计算机科学学位。 希望我最终能适应我的生活。我是一位“真正的”软件工程师。 但是没有一个有效。

Luckily, I found something that did.

幸运的是，我发现了可以做到的事情。

寻找我的解决方案 (Finding my solution)

The solution that I found for myself was simple yet terrifying.

我为自己找到的解决方案既简单又可怕。

Talking.

说。

I had to talk to someone. I couldn’t keep it bottled anymore. However, I was too nervous to ask any of coworkers a question like, “Have you ever felt like a fraud?” Instead, I started with my close friends. But I soon found myself discussing the topic to anyone I could, including coworkers and teammates. Because the more I talked and listened, the more I realized I wasn’t alone.

我不得不和某人交谈。 我不能再装瓶了。 但是，我太紧张了，无法向任何同事问一个问题，例如“您是否曾经感到欺诈？” 相反，我从我的密友开始。 但是我很快发现自己可以和任何人讨论这个话题，包括同事和队友。 因为我说话和听得越多，我就越发意识到自己并不孤单。

As it turns out, impostor syndrome is so common that it has become a cliché!

事实证明，冒名顶替综合症非常普遍，已成为陈词滥调！

Many professionals at the top of their careers experience it. Tina Fey, John Steinbeck, and even Albert Einstein. It was comforting to find out that I was in such good company. Furthermore, when talking with a close friend, he said something that struck a chord with me:

许多处于职业生涯顶峰的专业人员都可以体验到它。 蒂娜•菲 ( Tina Fey) ， 约翰•斯坦贝克 ( John Steinbeck )甚至爱因斯坦(Albert Einstein) 。 得知我在这么好的公司中感到很高兴。 此外，当他与一位密友交谈时，他说了一些令我震惊的事情：

“The only time impostor syndrome is bad is when you don’t have it. Feeling like a fraud is a sign that you’re learning. Having anxiety in a new and uncomfortable environment is perfectly normal. The trouble comes when you feel like you know exactly what to do and how everything works. If you find yourself in that situation, you aren’t learning anymore.”

“唯一的冒名顶替综合症是在没有的时候。” 感觉像是欺诈，表明您正在学习。 在新的不舒适的环境中焦虑是完全正常的。 当您觉得自己确切地知道该怎么做以及一切如何工作时，就会遇到麻烦。 如果您发现自己处在这种情况下，那么您就不再学习了。”

It was in that moment that I realized impostor syndrome wasn’t something to fight or ignore. With the right mindset, it can be a tool. That may sound like some feel-good BS, but public speakers employ a similar trick to convert anxiety into excitement.

正是在那一刻，我意识到冒名顶替综合症不是要抗拒或忽视的东西。 有了正确的心态，它可以成为一种工具。 这听起来像是一些感觉不错的BS，但是公开演讲者也采用了类似的技巧将焦虑转化为兴奋 。

This isn’t to say that my insecurities have magically disappeared. Far from it. Whenever I’m given a new project to work on, my panic makes an unwelcome return. My heart rate spikes and my mind conjures up fantastical feats of failure. However, I’ve learned to interpret this nervous energy as a sign that I’m learning and pushing myself to new heights.

这并不是说我的不安全感已经神奇消失了。 离得很远。 每当给我一个新项目进行工作时，我的恐慌都会带来不受欢迎的回报。 我的心跳加快，我的脑子变幻莫测了失败的壮举。 但是，我已经学会了将这种紧张的情绪解释为我正在学习并将自己推向新的高度的标志。

When my manager gives me a complicated task, it means that they trust that I can get it done. I may need to ask for help, research the topic, or simply go for a walk to cool my nerves, but I know I’ll get through it. I still make mistakes all the time and that will never change. It’s all a part of the process.

当我的经理给我完成一项复杂的任务时，这意味着他们相信我可以完成任务。 我可能需要寻求帮助，研究该主题，或者只是散步以放松自己的神经，但我知道我会解决的。 我仍然始终会犯错误，而且这种错误永远不会改变。 这是整个过程的一部分。

After all, no one knows everything, not even within their own specialty. Dan Abramov doesn’t know flexbox and David Heinemeier Hansson still looks up ActiveRecord methods he wrote himself. If perfection was a feasible goal, Stack Overflow wouldn’t be as popular as it is.

毕竟，没有人知道任何事情，即使是在自己的专业范围内也是如此。 Dan Abramov不知道flexbox ， David Heinemeier Hansson仍然在查找他自己编写的ActiveRecord方法。 如果完美是可行的目标，那么Stack Overflow就不会那么受欢迎。

我是“真正的”软件工程师吗？ (Am I a “real” software engineer?)

So after all this time, am I a “real” software engineer yet? LinkedIn seems to think so.

那么，在所有这些时间之后，我是否还算是“真正的”软件工程师？ LinkedIn似乎是这样认为的。

The better question is, “Does it matter?” I haven’t always been passionate about tech and I lack the enticing origin story of a Rockstar Engineer. But I’m here now and I’m here to stay. So to those in the tech community who have strong opinions about my title, call me whatever you want. A software engineer, programmer, script kiddie...

更好的问题是：“这有关系吗？” 我并非一直对技术充满热情，也缺少Rockstar工程师的诱人故事。 但是我现在在这里，我会留下来。 因此，对于那些对我的职称有强烈见解的技术界人士，请随便给我打电话。 软件工程师，程序员，脚本小子...

My title no longer matters to me. What matters is what I do. And what I do is use code to solve problems and architect solutions to make peoples’ lives better.

我的头衔对我不再重要。 重要的是我在做什么。 我要做的是使用代码来解决问题，并使用架构师的解决方案来改善人们的生活。

Best of all, I’m damn good at it.

最棒的是，我真该死。

我的更多信息： (More from me:)

Need faster code? Try MultithreadingThere come times in a programmer’s career when they realize that their code simply needs to run faster. Whether it’s…hackernoon.comA Tale of Two WebsitesThe importance of slow progress and self-reflectionmedium.freecodecamp.orgBuilding Conclave: a decentralized, real time, collaborative text editorUsing WebRTC and Conflict-free Replicated Data Types (CRDTs)hackernoon.com

需要更快的代码？ 尝试多线程 在程序员的职业生涯中，有时会意识到他们的代码只需要运行得更快。 无论是…… hackernoon.com 两个网站 的 故事 缓慢进步和自我反思的重要性medium.freecodecamp.org 建立会议： 使用WebRTC和无冲突复制数据类型(CRDT) 的分散，实时，协作文本编辑器 hackernoon .com

翻译自: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/am-i-a-real-software-engineer-yet-a0f38a2248c0/