10 KEY SKILLS A GOOD PROGRAMMER SHOULD POSSES! : Tech and innovation Hub
By: Micheal Olanrewaju
Tags: Blogging Tips, Programming, Web Development, Skills, Website Design

Coding is all about flawless expression and problem solving. Learning to code proficiently will offer you myriad job opportunities, programmers usually have more time to work on their passions, side projects, and enjoy a sense of self-reliance most workers don’t. They often spend their time making websites, applications, and systems work, while building real solutions, and improving experiences for end users and employers alike. Coders have enhanced focus, because the issues they tackle require sustained, concentrated effort. Which often leads to greater productivity in all sectors of life.

So how to begin? There are several key skills that I believe you need to have if you want to be a Good Programmer, Here we’ll examine ten skills that every good programmer must possess.

1. A passion for problem solving.

Things that you’re passionate about will require enhanced focus which automatically helps you improve. The best programmers are curious, love building things and just love the impact technology has on the world. It will help you be more creative and pick up skills across the board.

As a programmer, most of the time you will be writing a program to solve a particular problem. If you don’t enjoy solving problems, you won’t enjoy being a programmer. And this could be a huge problem for you! A good programmer thrives on finding ways to make something work, despite the odds.

2. Good communication skills.

Programmers are regularly expected to interact with managers, co-workers, and clients, so the ability to work well with others is a must. If you don’t communicate well, problems will arise and this could cause tension for you or your colleagues. Good communication skills directly correlate with good development skills. A good programmer is able to understand problems clearly, break them down into hypotheses and propose solutions in a coherent manner. They understand concepts quickly, or ask the right questions to understand, and don’t need to have everything written down in a specifications document.

3. Good writing skills.

If you don’t like talking much face to face, become good at written communication to make up for it!

Whether you are writing code(s) or documentation, you need to be able to write in a way that gets your message across clearly. The ability to explain something complicated to someone non-technical will definitely help you and your colleagues in your career.

4. Be a good team player (Teamwork mentality).

A good programmer rarely works alone, even when he\she’s the only developer in a company. The ability to work with programmers, business users, marketing and sales staff, and fellow programmers is essential.

Another great quality of premium programmers is their ability to help other developers get better. They offer teammates help when they are stuck, teach new skills to others and write documentation that would help teammates not only in their organization but the programmer community in general.

5. Basic mathematical skills.

Math in general, improves one’s ability to solve problems. Basic math is unavoidable in programming. You need to ensure you have a basic understanding of algebra and arithmetic. Software engineering and programming are all about problem solving. Discrete Math is very useful in particular as it makes the programmer think more logically and in a systematic way.

6. Planning and Time management skills (Respect for deadlines).

There’s a good proverb saying “A stitch in time saves nine”. If you really want to be productive and meet all the deadlines according to your estimates, you should definitely spend some time on planning. Planning is the most important part of every project. It especially relates to the software/Programming development.

Time management is one of the most critical skills that every Programmer should possess. Having made a habit of effective time management, you’ll be amazed how productive will be your work.

7. Positive Attitude.

A good programmer should care and feel great about his/her work. You should always try your best to stay positive and willing to go the extra mile to get the job done and bring your best every day. Although it’s important not to exhaust a developer with frequent urgent deadlines, sometimes this is unavoidable.

A good programmer doesn’t let their ego get in the way of taking feedbacks. A good way to instill a positive attitude is to take on interesting projects to work on, give yourself a sense of ownership and praise for good work.

8. Patience.

Coding can be extremely difficult at times. At all stages, but especially when beginning, you should expect to feel intense frustrations. However, your ability to endure this frustrations, and go through with it, without letting it discourage you will be of great service to you in all you do.

Looking at your frustrations as a tool to develop your patience is a good practice you should hold onto. Take comfort in the fact that countless people have felt this way before you. How you deal with this feeling is all that matters. If you believe in your ability to overcome, find a new route, or even start from scratch and improve, you can and will (or at least you’ll have a way better shot than those that give up completely).

9. Willingness to learn.

The willingness and ability to learn concepts and apply them to other problems is a great skill a good programmer should possess. Technology is continually evolving and the abilities and skills a programmer possess today will likely be outdated in a few years. It’s important to be a programmer who has an interest in following the latest trends and is eager to participate in any continuing education opportunities that are available.

10. Resourcefulness.

I can’t stop telling people how I got a degree from the university of Google and Research, because most of what has helped me stay updated on the latest developments and news in the Tech industry, I know as a result of searching for the answer in search engines such as Google and other professional research reports. There is an art to searching for answers on the internet and it is a vital skill for any programmer.