Non-programming skills every programmer should have
singhrahul.com
Non-programming skills every programmer should have
1–10 of 49 posts
Re: Non-programming skills every programmer should have
#2he started programming with 18. what a loser.
Re: Non-programming skills every programmer should have
#3"Spiritual - I am still not sure whether I should have included this one or not."
And I can see why! There might be a point in this section, but it's tough to find among all the fluff.
If you're trying to say that meditation is helpful, that's great, but I don't see why that would be labeled "spiritual". If it's something else, I can't find it.
Re: Non-programming skills every programmer should have
#4"Spiritual - I am still not sure whether I should have included this one or not." And I can see why! There might be a point in this section, but it's tough to find among all the fluff. If you're trying to say that meditation is helpful, that's great, but I don't see why that would be labeled "spiritual". If it's something else, I can't find it.
Clarity? Calmness of Mind.
Re: Non-programming skills every programmer should have
#5Replace programmer with cook and then comes the shocker - these still apply.
Re: Non-programming skills every programmer should have
#6while i don't have a problem with anything here, particularly, these kinds of post (and we seem to get a lot) usually strike me as "a list of good things about me" or "why everyone should be like me".
i'm not sure how you avoid that. perhaps it is up to the reader to piece together a more balanced view by reading several.
Re: Non-programming skills every programmer should have
#7he started programming with 18. what a loser.
Isn't that cute? User ``gnarlyjoe'' trolls HN. (What a loser!)
Re: Non-programming skills every programmer should have
#8While I'm a generalist myself, and I can relate a bit to his advice, I really don't get this recent trend of patronizing everybody to become one man shows. There is a saying that shallow knowledge can be worse than no knowledge at all. For every generalist you need many specialists, and IMO the most important gain of acquiring side skills is being able to share a deeper understanding of other people's work. As an effect - you can surround yourself with the right people and more easily assess their qualifications.
Are non-programming skills helpful? Of course. Do one man bands exist? Sure. Should "every" programmer be one? I don't think so.
Re: Non-programming skills every programmer should have
#9[deleted]
Re: Non-programming skills every programmer should have
#10I'm not fond of these "should" articles. I'd like to acknowledge the programming specialists out there and the 9-5 programmers. The "should" means that if you're not doing these things, then you're doing something wrong. (That's not even the connotation of "should", that's the literal meaning.)
> Also, it's good to have some management and leadership skills.
It's good, but not everyone wants to be a leader, and if everyone led it would be chaos. You're not a failure for not getting promoted into management.
> A programmers aim shouldn't be to simply write good programs, rather it should be developing really great products.
Yes, but programmers can work on teams with great designers. They don't need to do all the jobs.
Every skill on this list is a skill that takes the place of something else in your life. There's simply a finite amount of time in each week, and if I want to get better at design does it mean that -- maybe I give up on guitar or baseball or something?
I encourage programmers to think about what they really want -- not just at work but in their life -- and remember that the loudest folk are also the strangest.