The Power of Writing: Learning by Teaching (and Documenting)
Writing articles,whether they’re short blog posts like this, long-form Medium pieces, or even internal docs, has been one of the most effective ways I’ve found to learn and grow as a developer. It’s not just about sharing knowledge; it’s about forcing yourself to really understand a topic, organize your thoughts, and communicate clearly.
Every time I write, I end up learning more than I expected. The process of explaining something, creating example projects, or even preparing a presentation for my team pushes me to dig deeper and clarify my own understanding. It’s like building documentation for yourself and for others at the same time.
There are only upsides: you create a resource for the community, you practice good habits by showing best practices in code, and you get better at presenting ideas, whether in writing or in front of your company. But I don’t think it’s worth writing about just anything. The best articles come from real curiosity, problems you’ve faced at work, or things you genuinely enjoy and want to share.
For example, I used to struggle with understanding navigation layers in large-scale iOS projects. So I wrote three articles about it, built small example projects, and even gave presentations. That process forced me to learn, and now I understand it much better. The same thing happened with networking: I didn’t get how the networking layer worked, so I built a personal project focused on that. That project even led me to learn backend development for the first time, even though I’m an iOS dev!
If you’re thinking about writing, start with something you want to understand better or something you wish you’d found when you were learning. The act of writing, building, and sharing is a superpower for your growth,and you never know who you might help along the way.