The jobs of skilled developers and programmers are some of the hardest to fill in the IT industry and in order to claim those high profile positions, one needs to strive hard constantly by not only honing his skills and getting acquainted with the latest technology but also learning multiple programming languages and improving coding skills consistently.
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Rome was not built in a day and surely one cannot become a better programmer overnight. It takes years and years of serious practice and dedication along with an equally strong inclination towards learning the new advances in the technology world and staying relevant with the latest programming nuances and acquiring new skills and improving on the existing ones on a consistent basis. Here are the 10 tips that can help you in the process of becoming a better programmer.
- The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement
The IT industry is constantly evolving with regular advances in the technology and to keep pace with it, a programmer also must evolve by learning tips and tricks of modern warfare of developing on a consistent basis. As a programming professional, you just cannot rely on the employing agency to provide you chances of increasing your skill sets and expertise in the field. One should never hesitate in getting a helping hand from books, internet forums, blogs, web service tutorials or even a training facility to stay relevant with latest coding skills. Just remember, there are a lot of people in this world who can do your job and they are constantly improving, and ready to take up your place and even your employing agency will not hesitate a bit, If they do find a better option to reduce their costs by removing a sagging professional not willing to budge or learn.
- Contribute to open source platforms
The open source projects and platform such as github can provide you with great leverage in terms of not only writing better codes and programs but also honing your overall skills with the help of certain mentorship programs and meaningful discussions led by the best professionals in the industry. Don’t be shy about showcasing your talent or even about the mistakes that everyone does at some point in their carriers. Contributing regularly to open source projects, forums and discussions will make you a better programmer over time and you can learn a lot of things from the community that you just cannot learn from anywhere else.
- Multi-linguistic
The programming or developing jobs are quite challenging and one needs to be on his toes all the time to keep up with the advances and stay relevant with the latest programming skills and languages. Learning multiple programming languages and adding them to your armory can not only make you an overall better programmer but it can also generate better job opportunities at the highest level and it might even help an individual to secure the much-needed promotion in the current job by increasing his skill sets and expertise.
- Move out of your comfort zone
It’s no use, getting stuck in a job that does not provide you with enough opportunities to learn new things. The older technologies get constantly replaced by more efficient and newer ones to cut costs and chances are that it can happen to the individuals like you too. Find out what you’re passionate about and maybe take up a side project. The thing is that you’ll have to constantly move out of your comfort zone to learn new things and acquire the latest skill sets. You can even try developing a game or an app for fun and see how it goes out. There are a lot of projects (both small scale and large scale) available on GitHub that you can contribute to and even get feedback for the contribution. It can really improve your confidence level and help you in trying new things in your field so that you’re not left out ever.
- Know your codes
It’s quite simple, write more and more codes or better write even more codes. The more you code, better you’ll get in the efficiency department and you’ll even learn more about the mistakes that you’re most likely to commit and how you can avoid them on a consistent basis at the highest level. There are no shortcuts at this level and one needs to constantly challenge himself by writing more difficult codes on a consistent basis. You can practice coding at various sites such as Hackerrank, codeforces, topcoder etc. Getting continuous feedback on your codes from the other professionals in your field can help you get better at the programming skills over the period. Don’t be sceptical about your skills as everybody commits mistakes while improving but don’t ever forget to keep challenging yourself by raising the bar constantly in terms of coding and getting it reviewed to point out your mistakes and learn from them.
- Learn from best tutorials
There are many programming tutorials which you will get online. You need to choose the best tutorial which can help you learn programming language quickly and efficiently.
Let’s say you want to learn java. Java is a vast programming language and huge learning curve. You need to choose the best core java tutorial and Spring framework tutorial which can help you learn concepts of Java and its framework in the best way possible. It should explain each and every concept with the help of real-life examples.
- Specialization
Striving aimlessly towards a million things can not only impact your efficiency but also prevents you from focusing on a single goal with the clarity of thought, mind and even energy. Find out what you love and then learn everything associated with the certain field along with constantly updating your profile and skills according to the latest advances in your field. Doing too many things or acquiring too many skills can sometimes make you undesirable at every end and that is never good for any professional.
- Test yourself
Test your skills and expertise as often as you can by giving various unit tests. You can learn a lot about real time situations, problem-solving and different scenarios that are impossible to learn otherwise. The frequent tests help you in understanding the shortcomings of your coding work and that in turn can help you improve your skills on a consistent basis.
- Reading codes
It may sound boring or even uninteresting to you, but reading other people’s codes can really enlighten your programming knowledge and skills. A good programmer can learn a lot of things by reading other skilled people’s work and that can easily fill the gap in the codes and help one develop an overall sense of the coding scenario.
- Play
All work and no play can make you a dull programmer. Every now and then, try to have fun with your skills by working with a partner on some fun projects or developing apps, games, and programs that give you enough opportunities to improvise and have fun at every level. Programming is a difficult and serious job already and one does not need to make it more daunting by taking out all the fun elements.
