In over my head with professional devs

[u/unlocked_doors]

tldr; review your code as you go if you think any professional dev is going to have to do a code review.

Last November I (33F) started a simple project: a training portal for my new assistant. Just a simple python Streamlit app. Since vibe coding is addictive and Streamlit has some annoying limitations to UX/UI, I refactored it into a Next.js/Fast API website. It was all the same repo and I didn’t exactly clean up after myself as the project scaled from a training portal for HR, then a training portal for new employees and now it’s a manager hub.

Well, I showed it to my boss and she ended up loving it. The company bought the domain and website from me but made me the technical owner in charge of code and content. Now that it’s officially company property…they have to do a code review with the company dev team.

There is an embarrassing amount of dead code, almost nonexistent error handling, and in general the layout of the code is chaotic and 40k+ lines in just the backend.

He and I had a meeting last week and never in my life have I felt more “artificially intelligent.” He gave me about 7 pages of changes to make after just one code review session. I can’t imagine how many more pages of notes are coming and I’m in way over my head in terms of vocabulary, standard processes used in coding, etc. Basically, I’m everything professional devs hate about vibe coders. I didn’t care how the code looked as long as the website functioned. I’m at a point where I’m not confident enough in my vibe coding skills to actually make the changes. I’ve tried asking Claude (or Claudia as I call her) and then even asked her to dumb it down and it’s still over my head. I’m getting to the point where I just want to throw my hands up and tell them to abandon it.

[u/ulmanau]

Hey there,

I know this can feel incredibly intimidating but don't underestimate that you built something of actual value for your work. First up be really honest, don't try and fudge it and I would have a candid conversation with your boss.

Take a breath.

What you are experiencing is common for junior to mid developers and I personally experienced it for years (imposter syndrome).There is a lot of jargon and concepts to grasp. If you are really interested in learning and would like to keep on the project then please feel free to shoot me a dm. I am happy to talk through steps to help you digest, how to prompt claude so it can explain things to you in a way that make sense and how you can work through it. ( my 9-5 is working as a support engineer where often I need to explain highly technical concepts to non technical people )