How to Speed Up Your Progress With Feedback

Know the key features of an effective feedback loop

A feedback loop is an essential part of all but the most straightforward control systems. And if you care about achieving any goal, such as:

• learning,
• building a working application, or
• making money,

Then you’re dealing with a non-trivial control system. Let’s take a look at the key features of an effective feedback loop and how you can use it in your IT career.

The faster, the better

The sooner you know whether things are going well or poorly, the better. There is no advantage in moving forward in the dark. If you’re already on a good path, the feedback will reinforce your commitment to what you do now. If you’re doing something wrong, you can just correct your course when you get feedback. Imagine how complex driving or riding your bike would become if your vision were delayed by even a fraction of a second. It would be enough to produce effects similar to drunk driving.

Depending on the system’s complexity, acting on that knowledge can still require time. If you learn that your current career is not for you, you’ll still need a few years to get a new one. But you would much rather find this during your first semester at the university instead of after graduating.

Your daily feedback loops

Let’s think for a while about all the feedback loops you are part of every day as a developer.

Code changes

As you work on the code, you have to check the impact of your changes on the code’s behavior. Automated tests are a quick and solid way of getting feedback. Writing tests takes time upfront, but it allows you to be more productive in the long run. That’s even without considering the long-term quality impact of keeping them around.

With complex logic, I often prefer to start with tests. Just wrapping my head around all the internal details is difficult, and I would…