How to be a better software developer?

Part 1: actively seek feedback.

When you write code you go to the lowest level of detail of what you are trying to achieve with the program. Therefore, this phase can often surprise you no matter how much you spend time discussing and planning prior to coding. When you do feel like you are "at a cross road" having to make a choice that you didn't realize to discuss with the team beforehand, don't wait for a step in the process to discuss which way to go, but start the discussion as soon as possible.

Examples:

- Your team had a plan where to write the new code but it turned out the code got more complex and you don't feel good about the plan anymore. Instead of waiting for a pull request code review or a daily stand-up meeting, pick a team member who is familiar with the area you are working on and start a discussion. Often talking with one person already helps but if it doesn't, involve the whole development team.

- You thought you understood what the product owner was asking for during a sprint planning or a backlog grooming meeting but during the implementation you come up with questions that are not answered in the user story and you don't remember discussing it. Instead of guessing and waiting for a sprint review, go find the product owner or the service designer and discuss the issue. Perhaps they also didn't think of all the details or they failed to communicate all their thoughts.

In both of these cases, the sooner you start a discussion, the sooner you find the right road to follow and the less backtracking you need to do if you chose wrong.

Keep in mind though that you shouldn't interrupt other people all the time because interruptions cost more time to the other people than the time it took to discuss "your issue". So prepare for the discussion and try to be efficient.