Being a developer is hard. Not only we have to know technical skills, but we also have lots of soft skills that we’ve to get good at.
In this article, we’ll look at some ways that we can all become greater programmers.
Think of Different Cases and Solutions Before Implementation
We should think about different ways to implement a problem, their risks, and what ways they can fail before we start implementing a solution.
This way, we won’t run into problems down the road when we forgot to think about some edge cases or something else that we didn’t think of.
We should also consult other people’s opinion in case we’re fixated on anything and we didn’t know it.
This will make our lives easier down the road even though it’s slower at the beginning.
Find Our Niche
No one is good at everything. Therefore, we should get good at a few things and then do them better than anyone else.
This way, we can beat the competition and give ourselves better opportunities.
People like consulting experts for their opinions and so we should become one so people can consult us or ask us for help.
Having Discipline
We all need discipline so that we can keep to our schedules and don’t give up when times are tough.
These times will come eventually, so we should be persistent and let our discipline guide to have good habits.
Also, when we promise somebody something, we should fulfill it. When we’re busy, then we should remove all distractions so that we can focus.
Debugging is a Valuable Skill
More often than not, our code or someone else’s code won’t work the way we expect them to.
Therefore, we should learn how to debug our own or someone else’s code so that we can fix them.
A debugger would help. But the most important is to view what’s being assigned to variables at the moment that some piece of code is run.
We should learn the most effective way to do that so that we can save a lot of time debugging. Also, we’ll know exactly what’s going on so that we don’t have to guess and test.
Keep Our Current Skills Sharp
Keeping our current skills sharp is very important. If we don’t use our skills, then we’ll forget them in no time.
Therefore, we should keep our skills sharp so that we can keep them fresh in our brains.
Also, we should update the skills that we already have with new knowledge so that we can do things better.
Understand Why
Why is a very important question to answer. If we can’t understand why that means we didn’t understand anything.
Therefore, we should find out why something is the way it is.
This helps with our rational thinking and problem-solving skills which are both very important.
Know What We’re Worth
If we’re a capable person, then we should be paid appropriately. We shouldn’t let anyone get in the way of being compensated for what we’re worth.
After all, a day job takes most of the day, and most of us are solving problems and taxing our brains at work solving things that many people don’t want to or can’t solve. So we should be paid what we’re worth.
Otherwise, either find someone that pays us what we’re worth or find an easier job that pays the same.
Ask For Help
Asking for help is always important. If we’re stuck for a while and we’ve no clue how to proceed, we should ask for help.
This way, we won’t be stuck for as long as if we just try things for days. It’s just much easier to ask for help, solve the problem, and get it over with.
Learn in the Way The Suits Us the Most
We should learn in ways that suit us the best. Everyone learns differently. And we have to find the learning method that suits us the best.
In today’s world, we’re overloaded with information, we can learn from books, video, audio, and so on.
But nothing really beats practice in the software development world. So that’s one thing that we should do regardless of where we found our information in the first place.
Conclusion
It’s time to change our mindset and become a good developer. Learning effectively is one change we can all make.
Also, we should think of the risks involved in different solutions before proceeding to save us from misery later.
Finally, we should always stay sharp and find our own niche.
