Are you aspiring to be a good developer ? Here are some tips to become a better developer.
A developer is a
person who is responsible for developing software applications. A developer can
be a software developer, web developer, mobile developer, or an application
developer. It depends upon the type of
software they are developing. A
developer needs to be proficient in at least one programming language along
with the knowledge to structure and develop the software code. However, he/she
is mainly responsible for writing code for the software. Their other responsibility
ties include collecting requirements, designing software, and other related
processes.
How to Become a Better Developer?
Everyone wants to be better in their role. It
requires dedication and time to be better in any specific role. This implies
one has to be ready to learn and be mindful. Similar is the case with a
developer. Having a computer science degree is not enough to be a developer.
Rather, the ability to implement your knowledge in practical work and projects
is required from a good developer. If you want to know how to become a
good developer, then read through the entire article.
Qualities
of a Better Developer
There
are specific skills that a developer needs to work upon. These contain both software development skills as well as
soft skills. Soft skills consist of good communication skills, email writing
skills, interaction with the client, etc.
10 Qualities Of A Good Software Developer
- Team spirit
- Competency
- Business Sense
- Technical Acumen
- Adaptability
- Empathy
- Analytical Mindset
- Inquisitiveness
- Willingness to Learn
Software Development Skills 1.Code Frequently and every day: You may, or may
not be involved in a challenging project to further develop your
technical skills. However, you can still participate in online Hackathons
or coding challenges, where you get the opportunity to solve complex
coding problems and experiment with new techniques that ultimately
improve your coding.
2. Keep Revising Your Codes: Generally, when
someone finds a solution to a problem, we start implementing the code
instead of looking for a better solution. It is always suggested that a
developer should not stop, even if they find solutions. Developers should
focus on thinking from different perspectives and try to find solutions
that give the best results.
3.Understand
Your Framework and Programming Language: You should have a complete understanding of the programming language, the frame-works, and IDE. You should avoid using annotations. They do exactly what you want, but can introduce more complexity to the project.
4.Learn
More Than One Programming Language: Knowledge of more than one programming language can help you in selecting the best language that can solve Learn Your Mistakes with Code Reviews your problem. Moreover, developers should be
ready to learn new technology or programming languages over time and enhance
their skills.
5.Think
and Plan Before Building: Developers should not rush coding. They should try to understand the software
they are developing, its requirements, and the end-users. The deep
understanding of the project and product will help developers in building
the best solution.
6.Keep
Yourself Up to Date: It is very crucial for a developer to keep themselves up to date with technological
developments. This helps them to survive in the organization as a developer.
Therefore, maintaining a positive attitude towards learning is must-have quality of a developer.
7. Learn Different Layers of an Application: An
application has different parts. Usually, we keep our focus on one of
them. But it is necessary to understand every part of an application and
how they work together. Understanding the application completely can
help developers in troubleshooting if something goes wrong.
8.Document
Everything: It may sound challenging and boring to create documentation, but this is actually a crucial
step in a project. This is because the documents created to act as a
guide for new team members and things can be explained easily for
existing team members.
9. Paying attention to details: One of the most
important things for a better developer to successfully complete a
project is to pay in-depth attention to the details of the project and work
accordingly. They do not need to work again and again on coding because
of a small error, such as forgetting to add a semicolon or something
like this. So, the top-notch developers keep their eyes open and check
every single detail carefully, provided by the clients.
10.Keeping
in mind the end product: For any successful project, it is crucial to have a clear picture of the final
product in mind. This is again one of the most prominent features of a
successful developer; to have clear goals before starting the development.
Habits of a better Developer
Apart from the above-mentioned skills, there are some habits
that a developer needs to follow to become a better developer. It is essential
to have the right attitude to
become a better developer. Also, you need to put in enough effort and
time. Here are some other essential habits that developers should adopt:
- Read books: There are plenty of good books written by great engineers, programmers, and developer.
Books are a great way of loaming new tricks about programming language or
technology. They provide extensive knowledge about the subject, thus, making
you proficient in a scientific technology. You can get these great programming
books from the library or online shopping websites.
- Watch Recorded Conferences Online: Listening to conferences is another way of learning new things. Go to the Library and Grab Some books There are many conferences talks given by industry leaders available on the internet. You can browse thousands of videos online and learn about what those people have said about programming.
- Get Your Code Reviewed: Review and feedback are an excellent way to improve skills and learn new things. You should always voluntarily get your code reviewed and take the feedback in a positive way. It might seem tough initially, but consequently, you will find that it has helped in improving your skills. If you do not find anyone who can review your code, you can work on an open-source project and ask people online to review the code. It will help you in writing code in a better way and in providing the best solutions.
Keep a Journal: Maintaining a journal is another good habit that can help you in remembering things you have learned over lime. You can record the challenges that you faced and the learning outcomes that you obtained. You can record things such as occasional observations, daily workload, and things learned in the past during software development.
- Read the Source Codes of Real-world Projects: You can read some of the real-world project codes available through open-source. Reading such high-quality codes can help you visualize problems and solutions from different perspectives and make you think about the different ways of solving problems. There are many sources from where you can get open -source codes for some of the world's greatest projects. These sources include GitHub, Bitbucket, etc.
- Listen
to Podcasts: There are many good quality podcasts available on the internet
related to software development. This is another way of learning new things in
programming. You can listen to these podcasts any time as per your convenience.
Software Engineering Radio is an excellent related to software development that
you can listen to.
- Work on Side Projects: Working on side
projects is another way of improving developer skills and becoming a better
developer. The side project can be simple or complex, small or big,
open-source, or in your workplace. You can also open-source your code and
expand your portfolio to a broader audience. Doing side projects will help you encounter
new and different problems. Solving them will be great fun and a learning experience
for you.
- Read
Postmortems: This is another exciting way to enhance your skills to be a better
developer. There are many stories on the internet or in books related to
software projects. These stories are very interesting and enlightening. You can
learn a lot from them. Coders at Work is one such great read.
- Join the Cross-team Community at Work: You can also join a cross-team community at your workplace. The members of these communities meet regularly for discussions. For example, you can make a community in your office, consisting of people working on different technologies and using different languages. You can discuss Cross Community Meet-ups industry developments stuff or problems you encounter in your projects.
- Find a Mentor: You can pick someone who has
more experience than you as your mentor. Working together with such people will
surely help you in learning new things. Also, you can ask for advice from them.
The mentor can be someone from your workplace or can be a virtual mentor. You can pick someone from social media
websites such as LinkedIn. Those are some of the good habits that will help you
in improving your skills for becoming a better developer in a fun way. But it
is suggested that you can use some of these skills together and keep yourself
occupied in one skill. Make sure to avoid overdoing [his and make time for
personal life too.
Some Tips from Great DevelopersBelow
are some inspirational stories from some of the best developers:*As per Christopher Chateau, who worked for
five years with Facebook as a Front-end Engineer, there are multiple levels to
be a better developer. The first level is to be an expert in all the concepts.
For this, you need to practice code as much as you
can. Practicing similar code will make you proficient and train your muscle
memory. The second level is to develop
things such that they work well in the future and need minimal maintenance. The third
level is to prevent the problem from occurring right from the start of the
project. This can be done by understanding the problem well and looking at all
the possible risks or issues that can arise.
* Ronan O'Rolang,
who is the vice-president of Globoforce, said a great passion for
problem-solving is excellent quality for a
top-notch developer. Further, he said that practicing is necessary. Developers
can pick problems related to their hobbies and solve them in the language of
their choice.
* Zendesk
Developer shared his view and said that while developing skills, always start
with a simple problem. Once you solve the simple problem, then add the edge
cases. Once the correct results are found for the problem, optimize the
solution. According to him, the goal should be "make it work, make it
correct, and make it fast".
* According to a Microsoft Developer, it is
essential to keep learning new technology, languages, and staying up-to-date.
To be a better developer, one should seek feedback for his/her written code.
Developers should be open to learn new languages and stay updated with all new
techno- logical developments. They should have the habit of documentation so that
a new person can understand the codes without any difficulty. He further
suggests learning a specific scripting language. * Dr Peter Schachte, who is a lecturer at the
University of Melbourne, suggests that a developer should be organized and
patient. A developer should make a habit of reading code written by other
developers that helps them in understanding the different ways to solve a
problem and ultimately write efficient code. Writing modularized code is
another skill of a good developer that makes your code organized? He further says that a developer should learn
multiple languages to be a top-notch developer. According to him, once a
developer becomes comfortable with a programming language, they should focus on
learning different languages. A good developer should know one language each from a low-level procedural language such as C, object oriental languages such as C++ and Java, functional languages such as Haskell, ML, and OCaml, scripting languages such as Python and Ruby, and a logic programming language such as Prolog.
*According
to David Hsich, who is a software developer; feedback and code review make a
developer understand their mistakes and different ways to solve the problems. This
consequently makes for a better developer.
* When Frank W. Zammetti, who is a load
architect and author of eight programming books, was asked on how to become a
better developer, he said that making games is the best way to become a belter
developer. Developing games touch all the major topics such as algorithms, data
structures, and optimized writing code. Coding games make use of audio and
video coding, and input and output files. Thus, the developer becomes efficient
in all these things. It also helps in learning debugging as well as programming
skills. Coding for an error-free game makes a person proficient enough to be a better
developer. The experience gained in developing so many games has increased his technical
skills and made him a better developer. Therefore, one should practice making
games in the technology or programming language of their choice to get the deep
insights of programming and making one a better developer. * According
to Richard Eng, it is essential to learn programming languages, but that does
not imply learning how to program. He says that the developer needs to focus on
problem-solving, programming techniques, and analytical skills. She first
suggests that developers should choose the simple language for coding, if possible.
* According
to the UK based Software Developer, Andrew Magee, writing a clean code that is
easy to read, reuse, and understand is a crucial characteristic of a better
developer. He says that one function should have one purpose only. Making a
more prominent function will make it hard to reuse.
* Pitaru says
keeping learning and staying updated with new trends and implementing them to
work, is one of the primary characteristics of a good developer. As new
programming languages and methodologies keep on developing in the industry and
adopting these is the key for a successful developer.
A developer is a person who is responsible for developing software applications. A developer can be a software developer, web developer, mobile developer, or an application developer. It depends upon the type of software they are developing. A developer needs to be proficient in at least one programming language along with the knowledge to structure and develop the software code. However, he/she is mainly responsible for writing code for the software. Their other responsibility ties include collecting requirements, designing software, and other related processes.
How to Become a Better Developer?
Everyone wants to be better in their role. It requires dedication and time to be better in any specific role. This implies one has to be ready to learn and be mindful. Similar is the case with a developer. Having a computer science degree is not enough to be a developer. Rather, the ability to implement your knowledge in practical work and projects is required from a good developer. If you want to know how to become a good developer, then read through the entire article.
Qualities of a Better Developer
There are specific skills that a developer needs to work upon. These contain both software development skills as well as soft skills. Soft skills consist of good communication skills, email writing skills, interaction with the client, etc.
10 Qualities Of A Good Software Developer
- Team spirit
- Competency
- Business Sense
- Technical Acumen
- Adaptability
- Empathy
- Analytical Mindset
- Inquisitiveness
- Willingness to Learn
Software Development Skills
1.Code Frequently and every day: You may, or may not be involved in a challenging project to further develop your technical skills. However, you can still participate in online Hackathons or coding challenges, where you get the opportunity to solve complex coding problems and experiment with new techniques that ultimately improve your coding.
2. Keep Revising Your Codes: Generally, when someone finds a solution to a problem, we start implementing the code instead of looking for a better solution. It is always suggested that a developer should not stop, even if they find solutions. Developers should focus on thinking from different perspectives and try to find solutions that give the best results.
3.Understand Your Framework and Programming Language: You should have a complete understanding of the programming language, the frame-works, and IDE. You should avoid using annotations. They do exactly what you want, but can introduce more complexity to the project.
4.Learn More Than One Programming Language: Knowledge of more than one programming language can help you in selecting the best language that can solve Learn Your Mistakes with Code Reviews your problem. Moreover, developers should be ready to learn new technology or programming languages over time and enhance their skills.
5.Think and Plan Before Building: Developers should not rush coding. They should try to understand the software they are developing, its requirements, and the end-users. The deep understanding of the project and product will help developers in building the best solution.
6.Keep Yourself Up to Date: It is very crucial for a developer to keep themselves up to date with technological developments. This helps them to survive in the organization as a developer. Therefore, maintaining a positive attitude towards learning is must-have quality of a developer.
7. Learn Different Layers of an Application: An application has different parts. Usually, we keep our focus on one of them. But it is necessary to understand every part of an application and how they work together. Understanding the application completely can help developers in troubleshooting if something goes wrong.
8.Document Everything: It may sound challenging and boring to create documentation, but this is actually a crucial step in a project. This is because the documents created to act as a guide for new team members and things can be explained easily for existing team members.
9. Paying attention to details: One of the most
important things for a better developer to successfully complete a
project is to pay in-depth attention to the details of the project and work
accordingly. They do not need to work again and again on coding because
of a small error, such as forgetting to add a semicolon or something
like this. So, the top-notch developers keep their eyes open and check
every single detail carefully, provided by the clients.
10.Keeping in mind the end product: For any successful project, it is crucial to have a clear picture of the final product in mind. This is again one of the most prominent features of a successful developer; to have clear goals before starting the development.
Habits of a better Developer
Apart from the above-mentioned skills, there are some habits that a developer needs to follow to become a better developer. It is essential to have the right attitude to become a better developer. Also, you need to put in enough effort and time. Here are some other essential habits that developers should adopt:
- Read books: There are plenty of good books written by great engineers, programmers, and developer.
Books are a great way of loaming new tricks about programming language or
technology. They provide extensive knowledge about the subject, thus, making
you proficient in a scientific technology. You can get these great programming
books from the library or online shopping websites.
- Watch Recorded Conferences Online: Listening to conferences is another way of learning new things. Go to the Library and Grab Some books There are many conferences talks given by industry leaders available on the internet. You can browse thousands of videos online and learn about what those people have said about programming.
- Get Your Code Reviewed: Review and feedback are an excellent way to improve skills and learn new things. You should always voluntarily get your code reviewed and take the feedback in a positive way. It might seem tough initially, but consequently, you will find that it has helped in improving your skills. If you do not find anyone who can review your code, you can work on an open-source project and ask people online to review the code. It will help you in writing code in a better way and in providing the best solutions.
- Read the Source Codes of Real-world Projects: You can read some of the real-world project codes available through open-source. Reading such high-quality codes can help you visualize problems and solutions from different perspectives and make you think about the different ways of solving problems. There are many sources from where you can get open -source codes for some of the world's greatest projects. These sources include GitHub, Bitbucket, etc.
- Listen to Podcasts: There are many good quality podcasts available on the internet related to software development. This is another way of learning new things in programming. You can listen to these podcasts any time as per your convenience. Software Engineering Radio is an excellent related to software development that you can listen to.
- Work on Side Projects: Working on side projects is another way of improving developer skills and becoming a better developer. The side project can be simple or complex, small or big, open-source, or in your workplace. You can also open-source your code and expand your portfolio to a broader audience. Doing side projects will help you encounter new and different problems. Solving them will be great fun and a learning experience for you.
- Read Postmortems: This is another exciting way to enhance your skills to be a better developer. There are many stories on the internet or in books related to software projects. These stories are very interesting and enlightening. You can learn a lot from them. Coders at Work is one such great read.
- Join the Cross-team Community at Work: You can also join a cross-team community at your workplace. The members of these communities meet regularly for discussions. For example, you can make a community in your office, consisting of people working on different technologies and using different languages. You can discuss Cross Community Meet-ups industry developments stuff or problems you encounter in your projects.
- Find a Mentor: You can pick someone who has more experience than you as your mentor. Working together with such people will surely help you in learning new things. Also, you can ask for advice from them. The mentor can be someone from your workplace or can be a virtual mentor. You can pick someone from social media websites such as LinkedIn. Those are some of the good habits that will help you in improving your skills for becoming a better developer in a fun way. But it is suggested that you can use some of these skills together and keep yourself occupied in one skill. Make sure to avoid overdoing [his and make time for personal life too.
Some Tips from Great Developers
Below
are some inspirational stories from some of the best developers:
*As per Christopher Chateau, who worked for
five years with Facebook as a Front-end Engineer, there are multiple levels to
be a better developer. The first level is to be an expert in all the concepts.
For this, you need to practice code as much as you
can. Practicing similar code will make you proficient and train your muscle
memory. The second level is to develop
things such that they work well in the future and need minimal maintenance. The third
level is to prevent the problem from occurring right from the start of the
project. This can be done by understanding the problem well and looking at all
the possible risks or issues that can arise.
* Ronan O'Rolang,
who is the vice-president of Globoforce, said a great passion for
problem-solving is excellent quality for a
top-notch developer. Further, he said that practicing is necessary. Developers
can pick problems related to their hobbies and solve them in the language of
their choice.
* Zendesk
Developer shared his view and said that while developing skills, always start
with a simple problem. Once you solve the simple problem, then add the edge
cases. Once the correct results are found for the problem, optimize the
solution. According to him, the goal should be "make it work, make it
correct, and make it fast".
* Dr Peter Schachte, who is a lecturer at the
University of Melbourne, suggests that a developer should be organized and
patient. A developer should make a habit of reading code written by other
developers that helps them in understanding the different ways to solve a
problem and ultimately write efficient code. Writing modularized code is
another skill of a good developer that makes your code organized? He further says that a developer should learn
multiple languages to be a top-notch developer. According to him, once a
developer becomes comfortable with a programming language, they should focus on
learning different languages. A good developer should know one language each from a low-level procedural language such as C, object oriental languages such as C++ and Java, functional languages such as Haskell, ML, and OCaml, scripting languages such as Python and Ruby, and a logic programming language such as Prolog.
* According to a Microsoft Developer, it is
essential to keep learning new technology, languages, and staying up-to-date.
To be a better developer, one should seek feedback for his/her written code.
Developers should be open to learn new languages and stay updated with all new
techno- logical developments. They should have the habit of documentation so that
a new person can understand the codes without any difficulty. He further
suggests learning a specific scripting language.
*According
to David Hsich, who is a software developer; feedback and code review make a
developer understand their mistakes and different ways to solve the problems. This
consequently makes for a better developer.
* When Frank W. Zammetti, who is a load
architect and author of eight programming books, was asked on how to become a
better developer, he said that making games is the best way to become a belter
developer. Developing games touch all the major topics such as algorithms, data
structures, and optimized writing code. Coding games make use of audio and
video coding, and input and output files. Thus, the developer becomes efficient
in all these things. It also helps in learning debugging as well as programming
skills. Coding for an error-free game makes a person proficient enough to be a better
developer. The experience gained in developing so many games has increased his technical
skills and made him a better developer. Therefore, one should practice making
games in the technology or programming language of their choice to get the deep
insights of programming and making one a better developer.
* Pitaru says keeping learning and staying updated with new trends and implementing them to work, is one of the primary characteristics of a good developer. As new programming languages and methodologies keep on developing in the industry and adopting these is the key for a successful developer.
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