> So my question is: What is the best way for me to go about learning best practices in API development, or using MongoDB, or even just being a better software developer in general?
The path to enlightenment leads through suffering. I particularly like "Why I stopped using X" or "X sucks" or "Pitfalls when using X" kind of blog posts. Browsing Stackoverflow to see what kind of issues other people run into also can help sometimes. Focus on the negative. If nobody complains about it, it's probably not a real problem.
That's also why I'm often skeptical about so-called "best practices". It gives people excuses to do questionable busywork passed off as "polish". Real work is not about getting an A+ with a smiley face, it's about choosing the trade-offs that provide the most value. That implies cutting out a lot of "nice" things that aren't strictly necessary.
The path to enlightenment leads through suffering. I particularly like "Why I stopped using X" or "X sucks" or "Pitfalls when using X" kind of blog posts. Browsing Stackoverflow to see what kind of issues other people run into also can help sometimes. Focus on the negative. If nobody complains about it, it's probably not a real problem.
That's also why I'm often skeptical about so-called "best practices". It gives people excuses to do questionable busywork passed off as "polish". Real work is not about getting an A+ with a smiley face, it's about choosing the trade-offs that provide the most value. That implies cutting out a lot of "nice" things that aren't strictly necessary.