You will find a lot of articles on the web about what it takes to become a senior developer. Many of these articles focus on soft skills. They often advise staying current with technology, learning to communicate well, mentoring junior developers, and other things along those lines. These recommendations are all fine and good, but, well, let’s be honest. They are also pretty much pabulum.
I’d like to add a little depth to the discussion. The essential difference between senior developers and junior developers is time in the software development trenches, and what they’ve learned from it. With that in mind, I’ve come up with a far-from-exhaustive list of four things the senior developers know, usually through hard-earned experience.
