Close to 5 years. I read docs too and love the immersion and the fully grasping of concepts when going with your route, but most days there's just not enough hours for this.
> The boring work is where you usually learn the most. It's also the time you don't recognize that's happening
That was always how I did it before mid-2025. And I do still do boring work when I truly want to master something, but doing that too much just means (for me) not finishing anything.
5 years isn't that long. I've been doing 3X that and I'm constantly learning new things. Not even about new language features but even languages I've been using that whole time. New ways to problem solve. New algorithms. New tools.
Not finishing things can be okay but also not. An important skill to learn is what's good enough. And to write good enough to be easily upgradable. It's important to write code to be flexible for this reason. It's also important to realize it's okay to completely throw away code. But also this is the reason comments are so important. Don't just write what functions do but also write how you envision the design. Even if you can't get to it now. Then when you or anyone else comes back (after lunch, next week, next year, whenever) there's good hints about all that. Knowing how to get up to speed and be effective fast. If anything this helps agents even more. Commenting is a vastly under appreciated skill and only becoming more valuable
> The boring work is where you usually learn the most. It's also the time you don't recognize that's happening
That was always how I did it before mid-2025. And I do still do boring work when I truly want to master something, but doing that too much just means (for me) not finishing anything.