Becoming A Better Programmer
Becoming a better programming is something that all passionate programmers strive for including myself. In this article I will give advice and techniques on how you can become the programmer you’ve dreamed of being.
Rules Of Becoming A Better Programmer
- Programming Is Not Just For Geniuses: I don’t know how many times people assume I’m a genius or something when I’m a software engineer. I’m far from stupid but I’m not a genius. I just have spent many years in the industry and I know the quirks of what it’s like being a developer.
- Learn From Your Experiences: The only way to become a better programmer is to actually learn from your own experiences. I’ve had several jobs that I had learned positive experiences as well as negative experiences. If you can learn just a few things from each job you’re becoming a better developer regardless of what happens on the job.
- Technical Knowledge vs Business Knowledge: I don’t really think there’s a sure rule for understanding a job. Technical knowledge is very important but not a sure fire way of becoming a better programmer on the job. I once heard you can give a modest programmer good requirements and he can eventually complete a task. Understanding the business well can easily compensate for lack of technical knowledge (although you should have some technical knowledge).
- Ways Of Learning: Learning can be as hard or easy as you make it. There are many ways of learning new technical materials. Hands on experience, reading books and web sites, and watching videos are the best ways of learning new material. You don’t have to spend hours a day either. It just takes a constant persistent effort to keep learning. I usually spend the entire work day learning and maybe a few hours throughout the day keeping up to date (with most of company time when I have free time).
- Read About Becoming A Better Programmer: There are lots of good articles on the Internet on how to become a better programmer. There are 2 books which I highly recommend including The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master, and 97 Things Every Programmer Should Know.
- Becoming A Better Programmer Is A Life Long Process: If you treat becoming a better programmer is a life long process you will always improve and get better. Making the assumption that you can just sit back and relax and get better does not apply to programming.
There are many ways to become a better programmer. Throughout this article I have discussed some of the ways which have allowed me to become a better programmer.
