Skilled programmers continue to be highly regarded in the tech world: developer positions are often the hardest to fill, and the demand for these types of professionals doesn’t seem to be waning.
However, new programmers and industry veterans face multiple challenges in a fast-changing technology world, making it increasingly difficult to stay relevant and climb the corporate ladder in the field.
Here are 10 tips to become a better programmer and improve your career opportunities.
1. Sharpen your social skills
Interpersonal skills, including communication, empathy, and humor, are essential to set yourself apart from other seasoned programmers when it comes to building careers and progressing through the ranks.
2. Code the real world and code often
“There is no substitute for programming solutions to real-world problems and the practice that emerges from those experiences,” said Willie Tejada, IBM’s lead developer advocate
Newsflash: Your schedule will not improve as quickly as you would like if you are not actively working on real projects.
How do you like these projects? Well, you can access freelance websites and offer your services to small businesses. Or email local agencies with freelancer suggestions and offer to help if they’re busy. You’re working on something Experience effective bonsai project management by signing up for a free trial today.
Whatever you do, the point remains: only when you have a little skin in the game will your concentration levels go one step higher and your problem-solving skills rival those of Sherlock Holmes.
3. Be language independent
Learning more than one programming language can dramatically increase career opportunities and income potential as technology advances and new languages develop.
4. Contribute to the open-source community
When you contribute to the open-source community, you get stronger, said Tejada. “Always look at the response you receive from users and other developers, while putting up to a project.”
5. Join a local user group or mentoring program
An unquestionable way to improve your programming skills is by speaking (and listening) to those already working in the field. Join Stack Overflow and ask questions, or log into Reddit and check out one of the many relevant subreddits (programming is a good place to start). Share your code and get advice – you’ll be amazed at how useful the community is.
Pairing programming with another developer is a great way to learn from instant feedback, said Alyssa Mazzina, content writer for developer marketing at Stack Overflow. In this method, one participant writes the code while the other watches the work in progress. The two change roles every few minutes and talk to each other during the process.
6. Work on a side project
A side project can seem daunting, but you should consider starting one just for fun, Mazzina said. “If you’re doing a side project with no expectations other than having fun and learning, you’ll be surprised how much you can grow,” says Mazzina. “Always try to master a new programming language or creating an app to improve and expand your skills.”
7. Develop a specialty
The schedule changes very quickly – you often learn technology and the next week it was replaced with a better one, said Alex Markov, developer and founder of Refersion. Markov said he will recommend concentrating on a smaller technology segment like front-end web development, and database administration, etc. about in career. Organization will admire you much more if you say, ‘I don’t know anything about the other things, but when it comes to ABC, I will surely support you all the time.’”
8 Take Code Review Seriously
In addition to being an effective way to spot bugs, code review is a great way to initiate discussions and share knowledge among team members, said Tigran Sloyan, CEO of CodeFights. To learn Java in-depth visit Java Classes in Pune
9. Learn about the business side
Whether you’re part of a for-profit or non-profit organization, your software supports a business purpose, Sloyan said. When you know how your business makes money and serves customers, as well as your core competency over the competition, you can discover new approaches and improvements that support the business side.
10. Read voraciously
The world of programming is constantly changing, and because of that, many novice programmers tend to ignore books in favor of online tutorials. But the basics barely change, and the best programming books often dig into levels of detail that online tutorials can only dream of.