What qualities should a good programmer have? This is a good question to ask yourself and your colleagues to make you think about the profession of a programmer. It’s important to understand that writing code is the first step to success in a programmer’s career, but it takes a lot more to become a good programmer. In this article, we will analyze the qualities that distinguish an ordinary programmer who has learned to write code from a good programmer who will always have more opportunities and success in his work.
The main qualities of a good programmer
1. Willingness to learn
This is a trait that is often overlooked by job seekers as technology is constantly evolving and the knowledge and skills that a programmer possesses today are likely to become obsolete in a few years. It is important to be a programmer who is interested in keeping up with the latest trends and who is eager to take every opportunity to learn new skills and improve existing ones.
2. Problem Solving Skills
Professional developers are usually independent and self-taught. They are able to independently learn new technologies and are not afraid of new challenges. For those who have never tried to create an application from scratch, programming can be compared to solving the most complex mathematical equation. A good programmer strives to innovate and find ways to make things work despite the difficulties.
3. Communication skills
Good communication skills are directly related to professional development skills. A good developer is able to clearly understand problems, break them down into hypotheses, and come up with solutions in a consistent manner. They grasp concepts quickly or ask the right questions to understand them and don’t need everything written down in a white paper. Professional programmers usually speak multiple languages fluently and are well versed in English documentation.
4. Passion for work
While some programmers may just work 40 hours a week, many hiring managers are interested in finding someone who is happy to work long hours when needed. Real programmers are self-proclaimed “computer geeks” who spend their time playing games, creating servers or applications for themselves or friends. While this passion is not a necessity, it often sets great programmers apart from the rest.
5. Debugging skills
Creating code is only part of a programmer’s job. When software does not work as expected, the programmer must quickly and efficiently get to the root of the problem. Instead of spending hours blindly making changes, look for a programmer who prefers to carefully examine their code and investigate possible problems until an answer is found.
6. Ability to work with limited resources
Every project or job has a number of constraints, be it time or budget. A good programmer knows how to write code in terms of time and space complexity. Since budget is very important in many projects, a good programmer will create a program using fewer resources. A good programmer knows how to manage project requirements and is very flexible.
7. Ability to meet deadlines
Most programmers, like everyone else, work on projects with deadlines. While it’s important that managers understand reasonable lead times for writing code for a new application or debugging an existing one, programmers must also respect deadlines.
