As a self-taught software developer, I understand your feelings. Many tutorials, workshops, and boot camps focus on the technical aspects of software developmen

As a self-taught software developer, I understand your feelings. Many tutorials, workshops, and boot camps focus on the technical aspects of software development. Coding, fixing bugs, and handling incidents are thrilling and give a sense of accomplishment. However, when the applications I built became older, as more and more people started using them, and as the underlying tech stack continued to release new versions every year, I found myself spending more and more time patching up code to fix issues reported by users. I was patching the same code again and again or doing the exact change at ten different places and messing up in multiple ways. Since these applications were mission-critical for my clients, there was no way to avoid this. I realized that behind-the-scenes, "boring" concepts of planning, refactoring, discussing with team members, and architecting were essential for my future as a developer. These practices allow me to spend more time on the "fun" aspects of development and less on the "boring" stuff. It's similar to going to the gym. It may not seem important in the short term, but it's essential for a healthy long-term future.