10 CHARACTERISTICS THAT MAKES A GREAT PROGRAMMER
Good day, great mind! Today we will be learning some of the great qualities of great programmers or those qualities that most great programmers have. Thank you for reading to the end and for sharing this article. Okay, let’s kick it…
First of all these are not in any particular order, they are just based on my personal opinion and these qualities are commonly found in many programmers.
1. PATIENCE: In programming, be it coding, networking, setup or just debugging, things don’t always go as planned. Most times, you will run into a problem that will take you hours or days, or even weeks to fix. And when you thought you are done with fixing the problem, you just noticed you have broken two more things as a result of fixing the initial problem. So you have to have a lot of patience to be able to cope with this kind of development/situation. Sometimes, to even figure out what the problem really is, can even take longer than solving the problem itself. HINT: in programming, the QUESTION is more important than the ANSWER.
2. PROBLEM SOLVING: If you are someone that is curious, you enjoy looking up for stuffs, then this is a great profession for you. In general, if you are a pro in problem solving, then coding will just be an easy going thing for you. Most programmers are problem solvers but only a hand full of them are great in logic and problem solving. Logic and problem solving are one of the most essential characteristics of great programmers of all times. So how would you know if you have these qualities? Okay, if you are the type that your mp3 player or DVD player breaks down, you get into it and try to figure out what the problem is, even though you have little or no experience in fixing that particular piece of gadget, than I must say CONGRATULATIONS, you are a problem solver. Problem solvers are anxious, they are inquisitive. They want to know the WHY in every little thing. They pay attention to hidden details and hey!, they would rather broke something first, than not trying to fix it.
3. Passion And Dedication: this is one of the most important feature of a great programmer. Having passion for it. In fact, I must say, if you don’t have enough passion and dedication for programming, you are likely to drop out along the way because programming can be dentine, tedious and hectic. It only take dedication to be able to follow all through. And when you don’t have enough passion for it, you might just be wondering, why the hell am I stressing myself over this shit?. Especially, when you just got started and probably not getting the pay you think you should. Programming is tough that it takes most of your solid time. And by solid, I mean, a lot of your time. Imagine staying up to 8 to 16 hours in front of a computer, typing coding and yet not getting bored. I mean, you have to really like it so much, to be able to do that.
4. TEACHABLE: Alright, being teachable is also a very essential part of every programmers life because technology in general is always evolving so have the love/ passion of learning new things will really go along way to help you become a better programmer over time. If you are to bring back some of our great programmers from 10years back to fit in to our current time, they are going to be completely lost. Though, they might quickly comprehend the new technology but it still going to take them time to study and learn. 10years is even far, cause a lot has changed in the last 3 or 4 years ago. So to be able to adapt and stay connected with the fast evolving technology, you need to study always and learn new things and strategy to better development.
5. TEAM PLAYER: here, when I say team work, I mean being able to take suggestions from others, take feedback, work with other programmers, socialize with other programmers and general be an easy going type and not be proud or arrogant. Technology have change, time is gone when a guy sits on his computer and create sophisticated software that the world would use. These days, you have to be able to work as a team to get the most improved and efficient software. After all, they say, two good heads is better than one. No matter how much you know, you cant know it all because there are just a lot to learn and a little bit of specialization would make you a better programmer while you work with other programmers that has other area of specialization.
6. NOT BEING ARROGANT: This is very important too. Most programmers are assholes. They feel they have arrived. They are the best. That no one can do what they can do. They think they no it all, while whenever you think you know it all, just remember you are not God, there is always a bit more to learn. And if care is not taken, in a little bit of time, you see yourself getting outdated. Those things you brag about becomes old technology and the new ones will take preeminent. Being arrogant makes you to look down on other programmers, mostly up coming programmers and it makes it difficult for you to work with a team cause you will always disrespect them, no one will take such from you. There is no need of making someone feel bad because they made a mistake or because the way they approach a problem is not the same way you would have done it, perhaps, you could do it a better way. But that would be a reason for being a dike about it. Even if you must correct someone, do it with love and respect, and in turn, you will see the person will be more grateful to you than when you just want to show off yourself In fact, pride and arrogance are two things every programmer should avoid at all cost, no matter your class or what you think you have achieve, stay calm because there are other people who have achieved much more and yet, they stay cool. Humility will take you far while pride will take you down. And this is not just in programming but to life in general, always stay humble and you will get even much more.
7. BE PROUD OF YOUR WORK: this one relates mostly to beginners who just started creating their own contents. You need to be confident about your work, even when it seems you are not completely sure about it. At least be proud of yourself that you could create something, even though it might not compete with the market but at least, you did something. Not everyone could do that. So no matter how small your work is, even if its just a static web site or you just finished a course project, be proud of it. In fact, no developer are more enticed by such work than even most of the sophisticated web application you see online today. So encourage yourself, go ahead and show what you can do. Let them criticize your work, it will make you a better programmer tomorrow. Guess what? No one started as a pro, no one is born a legend, no one is born a genius. Even though some people might know Math and logic more than the others, but that doesn’t mean that if you study and be deligent enough, you couldn’t get there. So encourage and be proud of the little you can do because there are people out there, who which they could do the little you know how to do.
8. TIME/TASK MANAGEMENT: Time, they say is money. Anyone who have ever programmed before will agree with me that time has always been one of the major challenges of ever great programmer. Having to accomplish a lot within a small period of time is quite a very great character that every programmer must have. Time management together with Task management is your ability as a programmer to schedule your activities into smaller achievable units and carrying them out sequentially without having to procrastinate it. What makes a great programmer is NOT in writing great applications but in how much you could achieve in very little time. But most times, it is NOT how fast, but how well. Therefore, even though we are trying to beat time during production, we also must put into consideration the quality of our production.
9. FOCUS: Distraction is no body’s friend, therefore, one MUST have quality of every great programmer is FOCUS. Personally, I think focus is everything. Many people who could not be programmers have problem with focus. While non-developers wonder how someone could stay on a computer screen for several hours debugging a piece of application. Its amazing how a programmer could code from eight to sixteen hours and never get tired or bored. And I’m not of the opinion that if you can not code that much, that you lack focus, NO!, I’m saying it can only take focus to do that. Truly speaking, when you focus your energy on a particular thing, you made great impact. Focus helps you to be consistent in what you do.
10. Listen To Others: Now, whether you are a freelancer or professional developer, you definitely need to be able to communication with others. Yes!, most programmers are introverts, but that will not be a limitation for you not to socialize with other programmers. Because by just interacting with others, you are also developing yourself. No body knows it all, so by listening to others advise and suggestions can generally make you a better developer. As a developer, you need to be teachable, you need to go beyond being humble to being meet. Humility, I can define, in my own opinion to mean listening to those who have gone ahead of you, while Meekness, would be listening those who you are better of by far, but yet you pay attention to them, not in a bossy way, rather, in a way to learn from them. You might say, what the hell can I ever learn from them. Guess what? You can even learn from your students. Being able to learn from anyone and everyone is one of the great qualities of great programmers.
In Conclusion, you don’t need to have all these qualities, to become good in programming but having at least half of it can really go along way to making you a great programmer.
