🔮 My strategy to learn faster than anyone else: Copying from the best

Entry-level roles now demand real experience. Learn how smart copying from experts accelerates your software engineering career. Copy, Learn, and Innovate.

Despite the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projecting a 17% growth in software development roles from 2023 to 2033, many entry-level positions now require two to three years of experience

I was surprised to learn this. Now new grads need to ramp up faster, they don't have much time to explore by themselves. They need to learn fast from the experience of others. The best way I know to build solid models that speed up your learning is copying.

Every successful software engineer I know started by copying others. This isn't a secret, it's a strategy. At Amazon, where I work, even senior engineers look at how other teams solved similar problems before creating their solutions. The difference between those who advance quickly and those who don't isn't is in how they copy.

⭐ In this post you'll learn

• How imitation creates a clear starting point

• How to choose the right code and patterns to copy from

• Common mistakes when copying and how to avoid them

• How to turn copied work into original solutions

🧠 #1 The science of learning through copying

Your brain learns faster when it has a reference. When I began interviewing, I felt lost until I shadowed experienced colleagues. Their questions served as a guide. I built muscle memory and picked up patterns without starting from scratch. This gave me patterns to recognize, strategies to reuse, and most importantly, confidence that I was heading in the right direction.

Copying reduces the mental load of starting from zero. Instead of juggling all possible approaches, you begin with a working solution. This lets you focus on understanding why things work, not just what works. You remove the fear of a blank page.

However, copying without thought can backfire. I once copied a checklist from another team without considering our unique needs. I wasted time implementing checks we didn't need. This made me learn that not every template fits every situation. Always evaluate what you copy. Choose examples that match your current context.

Benefits of copying:

• Reduced cognitive load

• Pattern recognition enhancement

• Muscle memory development

🚀 #2 Leveraging peer insights & iterative improvement

The strategy for effective copying

Watching peers work can provide a ready-made backlog of ideas. Shadowing others gave me a starting point for further adjustments. Small changes, repeated over time, built my confidence.

Copying won't work when you:

• Copy-paste without understanding

• Copy outdated patterns

• Copy from a different context you don't understand

Another time, I copied security group configurations from another project instead of checking the primary documentation. This led to misconfigured permissions because I didn't understand the context of why those rules existed in the first place. This taught me to be critical about what I copy. Regular review and discussion with peers ensure that you improve on the original work.

The key is to copy smartly:

1. Start with primary sources, not other teams' interpretations

2. Understand why something works, not just how

3. Evaluate if the solution fits your current needs

💡 #3 From copying to creating

The real value comes from transforming what you copy. Recently, someone in my team copied a technical design document from another project. The document had gaps, but they didn't re-evaluate the content. The result was a document that focused on topics that didn't concerned the project it was copied from, but not this one .

Here's what works better:

1. Pick high-quality examples to learn from. Only choose the best examples

2. Use trusted sources such as primary documentation and proven codebases. For secondary sources, question every decision. Some decisions are accidental.

3. Adapt the solution to meet your current needs. Transform it into something that fits your project

4. Document why you kept or changed each part

🎯 Conclusion

Building software isn't about reinventing the wheel. It's about knowing which wheels to use and how to adapt them. Like a civil engineer doesn't recalculate the laws of physics for each bridge, we shouldn't restart from zero on every project.

Imitation gives you a strong start. Use it to build a clear framework for learning. Leverage the experience of your peers and refine the examples over time.

Next time you face a new challenge, ask yourself: "Who has solved this before, and how can I adapt their solution to my needs?"

If you are interested in these topics, I can recommend the books “Learning How To Learn” and “Steal Like an Artist”

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