What does it take to be a good programmer?
dimitrov2k.wordpress.com
What does it take to be a good programmer?
1–10 of 116 posts
Re: What does it take to be a good programmer?
#2> I divide and conquer and get things done.
I had the same insight after many years like the author - that every problem you do can be broken down into smaller problems, which can be worked independently and tested independently. Why it wasn't obvious to me early-on I have no idea. I guess I never developed the intuition to see the efficiency of the method. Did anyone else among you had the same experience?
Re: What does it take to be a good programmer?
#3In my opinion, "be humble" isn't a winning strategy.
Don't be so arrogant that you stop improving or fail to understand mistakes, but by all means don't be humble. Be proud of who you are and the work you've done. You work in an industry where 90% of people don't understand what you do. Chances are your own boss won't understand the actual value you're providing.
So don't be humble. "There's always someone better than you out there" -- sure, but that person's not here, right?
Re: What does it take to be a good programmer?
#4> I divide and conquer and get things done. I had the same insight after many years like the author - that every problem you do can be broken down into smaller problems, which can be worked independently and tested independently. Why it wasn't obvious to me early-on I have no idea. I guess I never developed the intuition to see the efficiency of the method. Did anyone else among you had the same experience?
You are essentially describing 'test driven development', and many of us have either been taught the methodology, or stumbled on to it.[1]
Re: What does it take to be a good programmer?
#5In my opinion, "be humble" isn't a winning strategy. Don't be so arrogant that you stop improving or fail to understand mistakes, but by all means don't be humble. Be proud of who you are and the work you've done. You work in an industry where 90% of people don't understand what you do. Chances are your own boss won't understand the actual value you're providing. So don't be humble. "There's always someone better tha…
> be kind and realize you might be wrong
this is the author mean for "humble", and I think it's damn true
Re: What does it take to be a good programmer?
#6In my opinion, "be humble" isn't a winning strategy. Don't be so arrogant that you stop improving or fail to understand mistakes, but by all means don't be humble. Be proud of who you are and the work you've done. You work in an industry where 90% of people don't understand what you do. Chances are your own boss won't understand the actual value you're providing. So don't be humble. "There's always someone better tha…
> "There's always someone better than you out there" -- sure, but that person's not here, right?
Great response to a devil I've had on my shoulder for a long time.
Re: What does it take to be a good programmer?
#7It helps to be obsessive. Program in your spare time. Don't be one of these people that just learns what they need to know to do their job and then stops learning.
I've been programming professionally for 6 years and I'm learning as much today as when I started.
Re: What does it take to be a good programmer?
#8In my opinion, "be humble" isn't a winning strategy. Don't be so arrogant that you stop improving or fail to understand mistakes, but by all means don't be humble. Be proud of who you are and the work you've done. You work in an industry where 90% of people don't understand what you do. Chances are your own boss won't understand the actual value you're providing. So don't be humble. "There's always someone better tha…
Failing to be humble eventually leads to arrogance. This advice is counterproductive. The part regarding being proud of who you are is completely tangential. I also highly doubt that "90% of people" in the tech industry don't understand what a "good programmer" does.
The best advice is just to become as best as you can by trying as much as you can:
1. Deliberately working
2. Learning from people you perceive to be better.
3. Keeping up with trends.
4. Mastery of the basics/fundamentals.
5. A razor sharp focus on what really matters -- value in the context of the business/domain.
Re: What does it take to be a good programmer?
#9In my opinion, "be humble" isn't a winning strategy. Don't be so arrogant that you stop improving or fail to understand mistakes, but by all means don't be humble. Be proud of who you are and the work you've done. You work in an industry where 90% of people don't understand what you do. Chances are your own boss won't understand the actual value you're providing. So don't be humble. "There's always someone better tha…
Being proud of your work and being humble are not mutually exclusive.
Re: What does it take to be a good programmer?
#10> I divide and conquer and get things done. I had the same insight after many years like the author - that every problem you do can be broken down into smaller problems, which can be worked independently and tested independently. Why it wasn't obvious to me early-on I have no idea. I guess I never developed the intuition to see the efficiency of the method. Did anyone else among you had the same experience?
[deleted]