Being a software developer requires knowledge, skills, effort, and dedication. There are many things to learn and focus on, and practicing is an essential part of the whole process. Sometimes, you need to study and practice for years to become good at your work.
If you ask an experienced developer what you have to do, most of them will say that the most important thing is to focus on the task. No distractions are allowed, primarily when you work on a complex project that requires a lot of attention.
As time goes by, you will be able to improve your programming skills and work on your problem-solving approach. You can even apply to work in proven IT companies or become a freelancer and charge by the project. If this sounds like something you will put your efforts into, read more about how to join the vast community of skilled developers.
In the beginning, you need to know that writing the code is the first step that will take you into the game. But, it’s just a technical skill, and you will have to focus on your soft skills and learn how to improve the code, use fewer resources, and provide practical solutions.
Are you interested in diving deeper into this career path? Stay with us because we have some important tips to share with you.
1. Find a Good Mentor
Having a bachelor’s degree in computer science can be an excellent start for you. If you prefer courses and coding classes, give it a go. But, do you know that there is something even more important than your certificate or degree?
Maybe you can guess this one, but having a good mentor makes a huge difference. That can be your experienced friend, senior developer coworker, coding coach, or career advisor. We can spend time learning all these things alone, but things go more straightforward when we have someone to lead the way and take us to the right path.
Everyone can use some guidance, especially young and inexperienced programmers. We put this in the first place because we find it important for your professional growth.
2. Get Used to the Fact That you Have so Much to Learn
Being a software development talent requires continuous learning without stopping. What you’ve learned in class is enough for the beginning. After that, you still need to know how to overcome specific issues, complete particular projects, or even work on your soft skills.
Don’t adopt the “I know everything and I know the best” attitude because it won’t bring anything good for you. Instead, be open to learning from those who know better than you. There will always be people who can do things in a better manner, and you shouldn’t hate them for that. Indeed, when a new generation of developers comes, you will be better than them, and they will learn from you.
Being a professional and good in your job is simple like that – never stop learning, even when you think you know everything.
3. Read Blogs and Social Media Posts
Blogs are great because the authors can ease the whole thing, making the coding more digestible for the newbies. They know how to rewrite complicated theory and coding practices into valuable content, keeping it relevant for the developers.
Also, you can join some forums, groups, and online communities and see how the developers communicate with each other. That will help you learn how to communicate well, ask questions, or even help someone else resolve an issue.
Sometimes, you can find useful online resources and even some job openings by companies that need to hire developers for some new or ongoing project. There are many different benefits, so it’s up to you to recognize them.
4. Know When the Code is Done
If it works, it doesn’t mean you are done. When it comes to coding, you have so many things to re-check and review. Even if it works perfectly, you still have to make it better.
Surely, sometimes there is nothing to improve, but often, you can reoptimize the code and make it reusable, reliable, and faster.
Modern programming languages and frameworks don’t use too much memory or CPU resources when compiling and executing the code. But we still need to learn how to write clean, concise, and completely neat programs.
Each app is unique, and sometimes long code is the only solution, but when possible, try to optimize it and make it even better.
5. Learn how to Resolve Your Issues Alone
Google can become your best friend in the process. Sometimes, when you ask yourself how someone can handle so many things and perform better than you, a significant part of the answer is their ability to use Google effectively.
It doesn’t make you less of a programmer, but you learn how to use your time and resources and get most of them. During the process, you may find quality learning materials and courses or learn how different the experts think.
Google is a great way to find valuable tools or pre-ready pieces of code you can incorporate into your project. Many developers don’t even write the code from scratch, but they know how to assemble different elements into a completely functional app. And that’s quite a skill, if you ask.
6. Know how to Read the Code
We are sure you can write great code that works all the time. But, do you know that many developers need to read and review some older pieces, so you can improve them? That’s why you need to read and understand what another developer was trying to do.
If you can do that, you can say that you are an exceptional programmer or software developer. Because it’s not all about writing and compiling – sometimes you need to make something work better.
So, now you have a list of six proven ways to become a better programmer and/or software developer. As you can see, most of these skills aren’t even related to syntax and algorithms. But, we can guarantee that everything in this article is helpful for your process of becoming a great coder.
