How do i become a good Programmer?
[34 byte] By [mp_direct] at [2007-11-11 7:14:52] 
How do i become a good Programmer?
# 1 Re: How do i become a good Programmer?
- take a serious programming class, in a good college. Forget cheap courses, especially internet-only bargains: good and cheap do not match- books alone are not enough, expecially when you start learning
- be aware of "gurus" who knows everything: they do not exist.
- learn from good examples. The trick here is finding them... trust only good web sites (dev-archive has a whole section of free code, that is mostly good) Download a piece of code, and then study it line by line.
- keep in mind that "programming" and "learning a language" are very different, although you need a language of some sort to learn how to program. The language is just a tool used in the "art" of programming.
- for this reason: do not stick with only one language!
- code, code, code... and after you finish a program ask yourself "what can I do to improve it?"
I hope someone will add more...
Marco
mstraf at 2007-11-12 0:23:17 >
# 2 Re: How do i become a good Programmer?
Further adding to marcos commentsits important you read new stuff as you grow as a programmer. The internet is the good resource, blogs, websites specific to your language or technology.
Becoming a good programmer is also about keeping in touch with new ways and ideas found by other programmers and making sure you make the best choice in developing anything
srinivas_s at 2007-11-12 0:24:17 >
# 3 Re: How do i become a good Programmer?
One point to remember: Read a problem statement carefully and always attempt to resolve ambiguities in the problem description. There are often chances that the programmer thinks different from the end users. :)aniseed at 2007-11-12 0:25:17 >
# 4 Re: How do i become a good Programmer?
Thankyou for your input gentlemenmp_direct at 2007-11-12 0:26:22 >
# 5 Re: How do i become a good Programmer?
I asked my wife (a BA with a software firm) what she considered to be a "good" programmer. She said (paraphrasing):1. Someone with the wit to properly unit test code before passing it on for system testing.
2. Someone with the wit to go back to the Analyst to clarify ambiguity in the spec, rather than making assumptions and going off to "do their own thing".
3. Someone who raises ways to improve the product *during* development, rather than when it's about to go live.
My own take on the actual learning process, is that you only learn by doing. That means to learn, you have to code. And test. And design. Repeat, lots. It's also a *big* advantage if you can show your code to some good programmers - they'll spot things you're doing wrong and suggest better ways of doing things. Taking a course, or looking at "good code" generally isn't enough, as you have to develop an understanding of what "good" actually is. That isn't usually taught.
RikMeucci at 2007-11-12 0:27:21 >
# 6 Re: How do i become a good Programmer?
I asked my wife (a BA with a software firm) what she considered to be a "good" programmer. She said (paraphrasing):1. Someone with the wit to properly unit test code before passing it on for system testing.
2. Someone with the wit to go back to the Analyst to clarify ambiguity in the spec, rather than making assumptions and going off to "do their own thing".
3. Someone who raises ways to improve the product *during* development, rather than when it's about to go live.
My own take on the actual learning process, is that you only learn by doing. That means to learn, you have to code. And test. And design. Repeat, lots. It's also a *big* advantage if you can show your code to some good programmers - they'll spot things you're doing wrong and suggest better ways of doing things. Taking a course, or looking at "good code" generally isn't enough, as you have to develop an understanding of what "good" actually is. That isn't usually taught.
I like your wife's definition, although in my opinion is more related to good programming "behaviour". A bad programmer remains the same even though he/she spends hours testing the software.
I agree that courses (or certifications) are not enough, but I strongly beleive that a solid fondation on engineering (it can be math or computer science) is needed. I know of programmers who do not know boolean algebra, think that a byte is 4bits, do not know what recursion is, have never seen a linked list, or that even do not know how to write a basic loop. They can get around with that if all they do is connection DAO objects or reports to a database, or display a text in a windows dialog. But can I trust them to write a program that store my SSN in a bank database?
Marco
mstraf at 2007-11-12 0:28:21 >
# 7 Re: How do i become a good Programmer?
Being a good programmer -- or being seen as a good programmer? These are two different things! To be seen as a good programmer (which is often more important), then you need to simply strive to deliver systems that meet or exceed the needs of your end users and do so in a manner that is easy for them to use and understand.
While that sounds pretty simple, it often isn't. Often users don't ask for what they need or don't know what they need. Additionally, corporate restrictions may get in the way of delivering a full solution.
Brad!
Brad Jones at 2007-11-12 0:29:27 >
# 8 Re: How do i become a good Programmer?
This is a pretty good article:7 Habits of Highly Effective Programmers
http://www.technicat.com/writing/programming.html
edburdo at 2007-11-12 0:30:31 >
# 9 Re: How do i become a good Programmer?
Nice article. :)aniseed at 2007-11-12 0:31:31 >
