In a word - context. This might sound a bit counter-intuitive, but learning how to break things has helped me the most in learning how to create things. I'm no

In a word - context. This might sound a bit counter-intuitive, but learning how to break things has helped me the most in learning how to create things. I'm not at an absolute expert level in the IT security field, but it's the thought process that has helped me build a deeper understanding of how things are developed. From this, I have learnt and continue to learn how to think critically about whether a particular design for a piece of software I'm trying to break is good or bad, and also think about what I would have done had I been a developer. I guess in a sense, it's me asking myself the question of how I could personally design quality software at all levels. Getting into the nitty gritty details from learning how to break things has really helped me learn more about development at all levels. From the low level, where, say, Java might have a function that could be used inappropriately - questioning why they were designed that way. To libraries that have issues - questioning why the developer used this library. To the high-level, the overall pieces of the system - questioning if they interact with each other in a logical way. Then there's also the user interface and experience aspect. So, understanding the reasoning behind choices and why things are the way they are (from the level of the C programming language, to the libraries you use, to how the users expect to interact with it, and what other developers would expect if you want them to contribute to it) is the one thing that has helped me become a better developer. It just so happens that in IT security, you tend to ask yourself and the developers you're working with these exact questions.