You're facing harsh criticism on your code. How do you keep your emotions in check and respond effectively?
When you receive harsh feedback on your code, it's important to manage your emotions and provide a thoughtful response. Here's how to approach this:
How do you handle tough feedback on your work? Share your strategies.
You're facing harsh criticism on your code. How do you keep your emotions in check and respond effectively?
When you receive harsh feedback on your code, it's important to manage your emotions and provide a thoughtful response. Here's how to approach this:
How do you handle tough feedback on your work? Share your strategies.
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Receiving harsh feedback on your code can be challenging, but managing your emotions and responding constructively is essential. Begin by pausing to process the feedback without reacting impulsively. Take a moment to reflect and separate personal feelings from professional input. Seek clarification to understand the critique fully—ask for specific examples or suggestions to pinpoint areas for improvement. Maintain a growth mindset, viewing criticism as an opportunity to learn and refine your skills. Respond with gratitude for the input, demonstrating professionalism and a willingness to improve. This approach fosters collaboration and showcases your commitment to excellence.
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So sharing my first hand experience here. My first CR at Amazon had 13 revisions. Although after 4 revisions I started doubting my abilities and my coding skills that how can I be so bad at writing code. First and foremost thing to keep in mind is to collaborate. My seniors were a guiding candle to me. We used to get on a call and discuss whatever flaws my code had and used to think inside out about why a variable name should be different, why a static method does not makes sense and why there should be a proper UT for a particular code. All these helped me develop my coding standards and my level of understanding the language I was using. At the end I would just say, criticism on code review is temporary but learning is permanent.
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One thing I have found that truly helps is looking at it from a perspective of a learning opportunity in the criticism. I generally prefer connecting 1-1 with the reviewer to review it together. This way I am able to understand what they are looking for while reviewing, able to discuss my view points on things I may not agree with and finally be able to get the review closed faster.
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I really value constructive feedback and see it as a chance to grow. I'll connect with a mentor to get a clearer understanding of my tasks and figure out how to approach them better.
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When facing harsh criticism on my code, I remind myself that feedbacks are ultimately about improving the work, not a personal attack. I usually take a moment to step back and let the initial emotions settle, especially if the critique feels unwarranted or overly harsh. Once I'm calm, I try to analyze the feedback objectively. I'll ask questions to clarify the points being raised and, if needed, request specific examples. This not only helps me understand the critique but also shows that I’m open to collaboration and eager to improve. I also remind myself that no code is perfect and that tough feedback can sometimes lead to the biggest growth. It’s all about staying focused on the problem at hand and finding a solution together.
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A harsh feedback on code can be unsettling for a developer but instead of taking it as a personal attack one should understand that it is a feedback on the code, not the one who did it. It should be taken as constructive criticism. Don't indulge in arguments right away. Try to understand the other person's pov. Take a pause. A calm behaviour helps you stop taking it personal. Also with a calm state of mind one understands why the code is being criticised and how one can improve it. It creates the room for improvement and one should take it as learning. Discussion with other people or some mentors may also help for a better understanding.
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I am not the best person to comment on this as I have never been in this position. I guess in a calm and collected manner I would explain to them why they are wrong.
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Okay so i am summing up everything here. It's totally fine to receive harsh feedback on your code, no one born as a pro everyone learns it gradually then they came at a stage where they could write quality code so you don't have to feel emotional here. What you have to do is to seek guidance from the person who is giving criticism to your code, ask him/her that from you can learn to write quality code or ask them for their github link or something where you can see the code written by them and also you would be able to see folder structure which is another important aspect for the code, comes under code management. You don't have to worry about it you will gradually learn writing quality code. And that's it
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One should take feedback as constructive feedback against reviews and ask for more clarification, if required. -feedback is against code, not against as you as person -if emotions are getting high, try to control it and move discussion towards problem. Take deep breath or break if possible. -ignore tone of reviewers -concentrating on problem, will help with negative emotions -ask for help , research on feedback, if needed -considering this as learning opportunities. -resolve the conflict and conversation and followup with reviewers
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As long as it's motivated fairly, every criticism is a chance to try and get better. At least it's a different point of view that you may have not considered before