If you want to be a great software developer, there are
some key traits and qualities you must have.
While there are plenty of jobs out there for software
developers, that doesn’t mean the competition isn’t fierce.
A budding software developer still has to be at the top of
their game and stand out from the crowd in order to get their dream job.
According to Tigran Sloyan, CEO of CodeFights, there are
seven important qualities that all successful software developers have. If
you’re confident you have them too, you’re well on your way.
Be a team player
Engineers who are team players are much more likely to be
successful in their careers than lone-wolf types. There’s a pop culture
stereotype of the brilliant but emotionally stunted programmer – someone who
can pull off heroic feats of code-slinging but can’t connect with the people
around them.
This doesn’t work in real software development teams. As a
software engineer, your job is to solve issues and create a great product, not
just to write as many clever lines of code as possible. That means
communicating with all kinds of people: other developers, quality assurance,
PMs, sales, customers etc.
Remember to treat others with empathy and respect. You want
to be the kind of developer who lifts up everyone else around you, not someone
who only works well in isolation.
Stay humble
Successful developers don’t bring their egos to work. No
matter how good you are at what you do, you’re not always going to be right.
Other team members might have constructive criticism during code review, or
your code might have bugs that you only find out about after shipping the
product.
When this happens, you have to be OK with other people
pointing out and correcting your errors. That’s why humility is such an
important quality for developers to have.
The ability to take criticism and corrections from others,
and then channel this into learning what you can do better, will make you a
much better developer in the long run.
Practice makes
perfect
Successful developers keep their skills sharp. Just like
Stephen Curry continues to put up 1,000 shots in practice every week,
successful developers put in time and effort to practise their skills and
exercise their muscles.
Many professional developers frequent websites such as
CodeFights and Coderbyte to try out new languages or keep up their grasp of
programming using different algorithms or data structures.
Find opportunities to practise and push yourself a tiny bit
harder than you do every day at work. Doing this regularly will keep your
skills sharp and will keep you refreshed, interested and on top of your game.
Invest in your own
work
Developers who feel a personal sense of investment and pride
in the work that they do tend to be much more successful than the ones who
don’t.
Outstanding developers are much like outstanding artists.
What they are creating is not just work they do to collect a cheque. There is a
sense of pride in your craftsmanship and authorship.
This fuels them to go the extra mile to make sure that their
work is of high quality. On the other hand, if you’re half-assing it or aren’t
fully invested in what you’re doing, your work and the project will suffer as a
result.
Keep an eye on the
bigger picture
Being a good developer means being able to balance
completing day-to-day tasks with focusing on the project as a whole.
In other words, they are able to operate efficiently on a
daily basis while focusing on the big picture. This ability to balance the
long-term and short-term perspectives is what separates really good developers
from the ones who are just OK.
Practise this skill by thinking about how the individual
components you’re building will contribute to the product as a whole, how
they’ll interact with each other, and how any changes to them will impact the
scope and direction of the project.
Stay curious
Successful developers tend to be naturally curious people
who love to learn. Try to stay on top of the latest trends in software
engineering, especially in your area of specialty.
Read blogs, listen to podcasts and go to conferences once in
a while. This means that you’ll probably know a little bit about a lot of
things that aren’t directly connected to your day-to-day duties, which will
make you a stronger and more well-rounded developer.
Pay strong attention
to detail
Developers who pay attention to detail tend to write a
higher-quality code.
Computers only do what you tell them to do. If a code does
not compile or a product has a bug, it’s not the computer’s fault. Exercising
the ability to think through corner cases and writing codes that will handle
various use cases allow for a much easier development process.
Also, detail-oriented developers can catch mistakes in their
own code as well as in others’ code.
Source: Siliconrepublic
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