Hey readers! Today I will be going over 5 skills every developer or programmer should hone. These skills will help you navigate the tech industry with ease for a better career. These are my top 5 from my 8 years of coding experience.
Developing your ability to work with even the most basic data structures is crucial. From HashTables to Graphs, creative and complex solutions only happen with complex structures. DS is something that becomes easier over time with practice. For those who are new: a data structure is a specific format for organizing, storing and retrieving data. In Java, we have Arrays, LinkedLists Trees and more. Each data structure behaves in its own way, so it is important to practice with them all. I’m sure the first time you used a 2D array it felt daunting. As you use these structures more, for work or for practice you will become comfortable in this skill. In the event that you don’t there are resources like LeetCode and Geeks for Geeks that can help you solidify your understanding. In addition to those are textbooks as well as Skillshare classes on the subject.
I’ve written previously about how I love hackathons because they give me the opportunity to work in groups. Doing so allows me to learn specific team-related skills, one being version control. Version Control is a way for different people (usually on a team) to work on the same project and control what code is “final” and what code is in the works. If you don’t use VC and someone adds changes that makes everything break, you’re creating extra work for yourselves. Another advantage is that if someone does accidentally push a change to a main branch that is causing issues, you can view the version history. Then using a command like git revert to straighten out the issue. Git commands really come in handy, but I’ll save it for an in depth post. Version control is necessary for any large scale project even if working alone – having the past revisions comes in handy.
Knowing how to use your tools well will serve you. If you don’t get acquainted with your Integrated Development Environment you risk losing out on optimization of time and code. For example, knowing how to use the Debug perspective in Eclispe IDE can help you figure out where your algorithm is failing. In addition to shortcuts for the program, knowing what tools are available can help you better your workflow. Most IDE’s have Documentation for new users. Seasoned or not, giving them a read at least once is important and worth it in the long run.
There are about 700 programming languages out there. You could be a coding wizard and attempt to learn them. But, even then you’d probably (as the coding wiz) need to also learn platform specific languages, like WordPress PHP or Google Script & etc. The ideal coder is not trying to learn thousands of languages, and neither should you. Mastering a base language in different types of languages and then leveraging that knowledge to be ready for the future will serve you. For example my first base OOP language was C++ some 8 years ago. After learning C++ I was easily able to understand and pick up Java before entering college; I’ve been coding in Java for work since. My first markup language like many others, was HTML. Knowing HTML has made Markdown a breeze (this blog is primarily Markdown). My first scripting language was JavaScript. It’s very handy in web development, and because of my experience with JS, Python, which I am currently a beginner in, isn’t so scary. Knowing and being well versed in one of each type of language will prepare you for whatever language your career path may throw at you.
Patience will carry you through when all else fails. If there is a problem with your code that is driving you crazy the best thing you can do is take a step back. I and others have said it before: sometimes staring at your spotty code for hours and trying to trial and error it into working just won’t work. Take the time to clear your mind and come back fresh to develop a new algorithm or expand the one you are working on in a new way. Being patient with yourself and your work will do wonders for your mental health and productivity!
Thanks for reading! Comment your must-have skill for coding below!