Four Mistakes That Stopped Me From Becoming a True Senior Developer

I have been a programmer for five years, which may not be something to brag about, but many of you have far more experience.

Recently I started seeing myself as a senior developer after becoming the CTO of a startup. In this role I realized I still fell short of senior‑developer standards, not because of poor coding skills, but due to four recurring mistakes I made in the past.

1. Assuming Users Are Stupid

Later I realized the users are not stupid. Their behavior can be surprising, they ask seemingly foolish questions, sometimes request meaningless features, and may not understand basic functionality. Just as doctors don’t expect patients to know the difference between LDL and HDL, we can’t expect every user to know which browser to use.

2. Treating Code as Art Over Pragmatism

Clean code, thorough unit tests, and solid documentation are essential. I constantly push for modern programming patterns, keep dependencies up‑to‑date, and strive for perfect code, but I also recognize that delivering a functional product on time matters more than artistic perfection.

3. Ignoring Product Management Concerns

When product managers ask to skip unit tests to speed up feature delivery, I get angry because I see testing as the only safeguard against regressions. Their short‑sightedness, combined with pressure to abandon documentation and simplify architecture, leads to technical debt and costly fixes later.

4. Sticking to a Familiar Tech Stack

In my previous company we always used Symfony and Angular, assuming they were the best choices. For a WebSocket‑heavy project we chose Symfony with PHP, even though Node.js could have offered a ten‑fold faster API. The lack of familiarity with alternatives forced us into inefficient solutions.

Now my team is open to new technologies; we recently adopted a brand‑new stack for part of the system, believing it will save time despite the learning curve.

Product Management Friction

My relationship with product managers was strained. I used to blame them for changing scopes, but I now understand they have broader knowledge of budget, business, and customer needs. Both sides make mistakes, and collaboration is key to building great products.

Ultimately, a senior developer is not just a technical expert; they step out of their comfort zone, focus on solutions rather than problems, and keep user experience at the forefront.

Happy coding! If you found this useful, please like, share, and comment.

Author: Tian Ye Reference: https://medium.com/better-programming/4-mistakes-i-made-as-a-programmer-but-i-had-to-become-a-cto-to-see-them-19a41ba70411