r/Experienced
Know the rules before you post. So easy grandma can do it.
- To post
- No minimum in the rules
- To comment
- No minimum in the rules
- Self-promotion
- Banned
- Links
- Not mentioned in the rules
- Promo risk
- High
- From the rules, not from removal counts
- Community age
- 8 years
- Since Jan 2018
- Flair
- Required on every post
About r/ExperiencedDevs
A source-backed Rankhog guide to r/ExperiencedDevs: public rules, community context, posting fit, and startup-promotion risk before you publish.Checked from the r/ExperiencedDevs rules on Reddit.
r/ExperiencedDevs rules
11 rules, in the community's own words.
- 1
Do not participate unless experienced (3+ years)
If you have less than 3 years of experience as a developer, do not make a post, nor participate in comments threads except for the weekly “Ask Experienced Devs” auto-thread. No exceptions.
- 2
No Disrespectful Language or Conduct
Don’t be a jerk. Act maturely. No racism, unnecessarily foul language, ad hominem charges, sexism - none of these are tolerated here. This includes posts that could be interpreted as trolling, such as complaining about DEI (Diversity) initiatives or people of a specific sex or background at your company. Do not submit posts or comments that break, or promote breaking the Reddit Terms and Conditions or Content Policy or any other Reddit policy. Violations = Warning, 7-Day Ban, Permanent Ban.
- 3
No General Career Advice
This sub is for discussing issues specific to experienced developers. Generic career questions are better suited elsewhere. Any career advice thread must contain questions and/or discussions that notably benefit from the participation of experienced developers. Career advice threads may be removed at the moderators discretion based on response to the thread." There are other subs to ask generic career questions.
- 4
No "Which Offer Should I Take" Posts
Asking if you should ask for a raise, switch companies (“should I work for company A or company B”), “should I take offer A or offer B”, or related questions, is not appropriate for this sub. This includes almost any discussion about a “hot market”, comparing compensation between companies, etc.
- 5
No “What Should I Learn” Questions
No questions like “Should I learn C#” or “Should I switch jobs into a language I don’t know?” Discussion about industry direction or upcoming technologies is fine, just frame your question as part of a larger discussion (“What have you had more success with, RDBMS or NoSQL?”) and you’ll be fine. tl;dr: Don’t make it about you/yourself.
- 6
No “I hate X types of interviews" Posts
This has been re-hashed over and over again. There is no interesting/new content coming out. It might be OK to talk about the merits of an interview process, or compare what has been successful at your company, but if it ends up just turning into complaints your post might still be removed.
- 7
No Google-able questions
I.e. no "what are the best language(s), framework(s), tool(s), book(s), resource(s)". Most of these are trivially searchable. If you must post something like this, please frame it in a larger discussion - what are you trying to accomplish, what have you already considered - don't just crowd-source out something you want to know.
- 8
No Surveys/Advertisements
If you think this shouldn't apply to you, get approval from moderators first.
- 9
No Low Effort Posts/Venting/Bragging
No Low Effort or repetitive Posts, Excessive Venting, or Bragging. Using this subreddit to crowd source answers to something that isn't really contributing to the spirit of this subreddit is forbidden at moderator's discretion. This includes posts that are mostly focused around venting or bragging; both of these types of posts are difficult to moderate and don't contribute much to the subreddit.
- 10
AI-topic posts: Wednesdays and Saturdays only
Posts whose topic is AI (LLMs, copilots, agents, AI's impact on the industry, etc.) are only allowed on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Posts on other days will be removed. Intentionally avoiding this will result in a ban.
- 11
Automated posting requirements
Enforced by the modbot: User flair required for posting. Posters need post/comment karma in this sub. Disclose AI tool use by replying to the bot's sticky. OP must comment on their post within 2h.
What to post in r/ExperiencedDevs
What fits the room, and what gets removed.
Works well
- Discussing the trade-offs between RDBMS and NoSQL architectures, framed as a comparison of success, is appropriate.
- Asking experienced developers about the merits of a specific technical process at your company is fine, as long as it is not just a complaint.
- Presenting a complex technical challenge you are facing and asking for experienced perspectives on solutions works well.
- Framing a question about industry direction as part of a larger discussion, such as asking what people have had more success with, is acceptable.
Avoid
- Posting if you have less than three years of experience as a developer.
- Asking generic career questions or discussing salary comparisons.
- Submitting low effort posts, excessive venting, or bragging.
- Posting about AI topics on any day except Wednesday or Saturday.
- Asking trivially searchable questions without framing them in a larger discussion.
- Posting surveys or advertisements without getting prior moderator approval.
Best hours to post in r/ExperiencedDevs
No pattern yet. r/ExperiencedDevs does not have enough top posts from the last 90 days to name its best hours.
What actually works in r/experienceddevs
These are the highest scoring posts Rankhog observed in r/experienceddevs over the past month, with what each one did differently. Rankhog watches this community continuously, so it sees posts when they are published and again as they climb.
- Upvotes
- 445
- Comments
- 340
- Posted
- Nov 6, 2026
Why it worked
- Rankhog breakout tier from a local post-score estimate
- Broken into a scannable list
- Short paragraphs rather than one block of text
- Upvotes
- 240
- Comments
- 289
- Posted
- Nov 4, 2026
Why it worked
- Rankhog breakout tier from a local post-score estimate
- Short paragraphs rather than one block of text
- Upvotes
- 202
- Comments
- 142
- Posted
- Nov 2, 2026
Why it worked
- Rankhog breakout tier from a local post-score estimate
- Asks the community a question instead of announcing something
- Short paragraphs rather than one block of text
- Kept short enough to read in one pass
- Upvotes
- 182
- Comments
- 303
- Posted
- Nov 5, 2026
Why it worked
- Rankhog breakout tier from a local post-score estimate
- Asks the community a question instead of announcing something
- Short paragraphs rather than one block of text
- Upvotes
- 164
- Comments
- 611
- Posted
- Oct 31, 2026
Why it worked
- Rankhog top tier from a local post-score estimate
- Asks the community a question instead of announcing something
- Short paragraphs rather than one block of text
- Upvotes
- 159
- Comments
- 272
- Posted
- Nov 7, 2026
Why it worked
- Rankhog top tier from a local post-score estimate
- Asks the community a question instead of announcing something
- Short paragraphs rather than one block of text
- Upvotes
- 147
- Comments
- 203
- Posted
- Nov 2, 2026
Why it worked
- Rankhog breakout tier from a local post-score estimate
- Asks the community a question instead of announcing something
- Short paragraphs rather than one block of text
- Upvotes
- 131
- Comments
- 62
- Posted
- Nov 1, 2026
Why it worked
- Rankhog top tier from a local post-score estimate
- Short paragraphs rather than one block of text
- Upvotes
- 96
- Comments
- 52
- Posted
- Nov 2, 2026
Why it worked
- Rankhog top tier from a local post-score estimate
- Asks the community a question instead of announcing something
- Broken into a scannable list
- Short paragraphs rather than one block of text
- Upvotes
- 81
- Comments
- 90
- Posted
- Nov 8, 2026
Why it worked
- Rankhog top tier from a local post-score estimate
- Asks the community a question instead of announcing something
- Short paragraphs rather than one block of text
What r/ExperiencedDevs Is For
This community is for experienced developers who have gained some ground in the software engineering world. It is a specialized subreddit for discussion among individuals who have been working in software engineering for at least three years. It is not for general career advice, but for issues specific to experienced developers.
Rules That Matter Before Posting
Rule 1: Do not participate unless experienced (3+ years), Rule 3: No General Career Advice, Rule 4: No “Which Offer Should I Take” Posts, Rule 5: No “What Should I Learn” Questions, Rule 7: No Google-able questions, Rule 8: No Surveys/Advertisements, Rule 10: AI-topic posts: Wednesdays and Saturdays only.
What To Post
Since this is for experienced developers, you need to contribute something specific and high quality. Frame your questions or discussions around complex technical problems or industry trends that benefit from the deep knowledge of experienced members. If you are discussing a technology, make sure it is part of a larger discussion and not just a simple request for a list of resources. If you are discussing AI, remember it must be on a Wednesday or Saturday.
What To Avoid
Do not post if you have less than three years of experience as a developer. Do not ask generic career questions or post discussions about specific salary offers or job comparisons. Avoid low effort posts, excessive venting, or bragging. Also, do not post about AI on any day other than Wednesday or Saturday.
A note from Anthony
The requirement that AI topics are only allowed on Wednesdays and Saturdays is pretty strict. It really shows how much the moderators are trying to maintain focus on core technical development. It is clear that the community is highly protective of its specialized focus.
By Anthony Riera, founder and operator of Rankhog. Every guide is built from the community's own public rules and data, then checked by Rankhog's grounding audit before it goes live.
Common questions about r/ExperiencedDevs
What subreddits are similar to r/ExperiencedDevs?
Subreddits like r/ExperiencedDevs are r/programming, r/ProgrammerHumor, r/learnprogramming, r/webdev, r/mac, r/AskEngineers, r/javascript and r/gamedev.
Can I post if I am new to software development?
No, you must have three or more years of experience as a developer to post or participate in comments, unless it is the weekly “Ask Experienced Devs” auto-thread.
Is it okay to ask about salary or job offers here?
No, posting about whether you should take an offer or compare compensation between companies is not appropriate for this sub.
What are the rules regarding surveys or advertisements?
You cannot post surveys or advertisements unless you get prior approval from the moderators.
Subreddits like r/ExperiencedDevs
Other rooms for the same crowd.