This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Benjamin Kalungi
Learning how to code isn't the end of the journey for a software developer; it's just the beginning of a new journey. Developers need to open up their minds to learning new stuff at anytime. This would lead to growth and improvement of skill and these improvements would lead to career success thereafter.
The Software Industry is indeed fast-paced with lots of new technologies poping up quite often. This kind of race leads to an ever-increasing demand for top talent. What that means for developers is that they have to be willing to keep up with the pace in order to stay relevant to potential employers or clients.
But keeping up with this flashy pace is easier said than done and staying relevant requires some serious hardwork and consistency. In this article I'll share with you seven proven habits that will make you a better developer. These habits worked for me and if you are willing to put in the work, they will work for you as too.
Let's get started.
Read other people's code
Exposure to expert work will most likely make you an expert too, atleast in some way. You will be able to learn way too much from other people's code e.g new concepts, tricks, best practices, etc. Continually doing this will inspire your own ideas and insights when writing your own code. It's easy; Go to github.com, fork some repositories and do some deep reading.
Be clear about what you know and what you don't yet know
It's a good trait to let go of your geeky ego and accept what you don't yet know. It'll really be a great way for you to learn. It's such a wonderful habit that comes with multiple benefits for you as a developer eg. You will have clear guidance on the specificity of the questions that you want to seek answers to, Your focus will be put to the areas where you need it most, You'll get quality answers to your questions since your questions will be to the point, etc.
Share your knowlege and skill
No developer is an island; Just the way you need support from other devs, it's the same way that they need your support. However little the contribution might seem, it'll make a bigger difference in the long run and the community will be proud you. So whichever opportunity that you get to giveout something, never hesitate. These contributions can be made in multiple forms eg. answering a question on stackoverflow.com, a reply to a tweet, publishing an article, a comment on someone else's article, contribution to opensource, etc. Just share something whenever you get a chance.
Be social
Oh God I just can't believe I have to mention this! Don't forget to be human my friend whether it's online or offline. Making this a habit will open up so many doors for you as a developer eg.
On the humanity side of things; you wont suck and many people will love to be around you, engaging with you, etc. You'll be able to impact the world in a naturally appealing way.
And on the developer side of things; you'll become a wonderful colleague to work with and your team members, your manager, your boss, your clients, will easily love you. It's absolute that work naturally becomes a breeze when engaging with a team-member who's socially welcoming and easy to approach.
Build with other people
Although it's sometimes cool to build stuff alone, building with other people is much more awsome and the benefits will be clear. The active support you'll get from team members is priceless. These folks will help alot in clarifying your key strengths and weakness. The benefits are obvious; getting to know the areas where you strive will enable you to use your energy effiently and save time. You will also learn faster with a team than when you're solo since you'll be getting guidance from other members.
Utilize your perspective
Your perspective is so important, it's what makes you standout from others. So undermining your own views and insights is quite unfair. It's important to count on your own thoughts too whenever you're faced with a challenge in code. Instead of always coping code from elsewhere, first try your best to take on the challenge using your own perspective.
How's that beneficial to a dev who's seeking to be on top of the game?
You'll be able to discover a lot about your own thoughts. Piquing your thoughts will lead to magical things in your day-to-day life as a developer.The process will you teach you good problem solving techniques and as a developer, this is what matters most in the world.
The other thing is that you'll learn to reason about computer programs quite so well. This is a no-brainer! To a developer, the merits of this are self-explanatory. Every dev strives to be able to understand code and if you learn this habit, it'll get you there.
Practice Practice, Repeat
Using your newly found knowledge to build stuff is useful too. Without practice your knowledge will not stick and your skill wont improve. So after going through the boring learning process and finally grasping that cool technique, make sure you craft stuff with it. Do it always, whether it's out of curiosity or expression of your ideas.
conclusion
Habits aren't that easy to get used to but a little bit of work will get us there day by day. If you found the above points valuable, make them part of your daily routine you'll ultimately become a better developer. If you think I forgot to include some relevant info, please share it with me in the comments below.
Thanks for stopping by.
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Benjamin Kalungi
Benjamin Kalungi | Sciencx (2021-08-12T08:08:06+00:00) These habits will make you a better developer. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2021/08/12/these-habits-will-make-you-a-better-developer/
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