11 Oct 10 tips to become a better programmer

The programmer job is a demanding but very rewarding job. We have to be recycling our whole lives. We must never stop studying because new technologies always come to light and it is necessary to learn to be up-to-date and not be left behind. And there is nothing worse than a programmer who thinks he already knows everything about everything and does not make the slightest effort to be up to date. No matter how knowledgeable that guy is about a language if he doesn’t catch up with new ways of doing things he’s doomed to extinction. That is what is known as a bad programmer, an outdated person.

That’s what I intend to talk to you about in this article, about how to get out of our comfort zone (very dangerous in the world of development) and improve our jobs to become better developers. Because I think we all want to be the best at what we do, and to be profitable and fast at work. Well friend, for that we have to be better than we are today. For this, I am going to give you 10 tips that every programmer should follow to climb a ladder in their level of development. We hope that you meet all these points to create a level of community.

Practice A Lot

This first point seems obvious, but the act of writing code makes you know yourself much better. This, which may seem very philosophical, is the most important thing in the field of programming. By practicing writing a lot of code you know your hobbies, your most common errors, and the mistakes you usually fall into… Also, as in all kinds of tasks, if we practice, we will be much more efficient and faster when it comes to programming. It seems logical that to be a better programmer you have to program more, and that is because many developers forget to write code using frameworks and libraries from the beginning. Get wet, and get into the world of source code more often, you will see how you will improve when it comes to implementing your projects.

Be Active in The Open-Source Community

I like the development world community because open source is encouraged. A good way to start developing is to contribute to the open-source community, either by developing new projects which you make available to everyone, improving other open-source projects, or contributing ideas. The mission is to collaborate so that everyone can enjoy software at no cost by disclosing your source code.

Read Books

As I have said before, a programmer must always be up to date. Books give us that knowledge that we lack, and they are not an expensive resource to obtain. When you have a little free time in which you have nothing important to do, take the book of that type of language that resists you so much and review it. With effort, everything is achieved, and for this, books are essential allies. In addition, on the net, you can find totally free books related to programming, so, for the money that is not.

Read Blogs

Many programmers share their experiences through personal blogs, and in them, they publish codes that have worked for them as well as other topics related to programming. If you want to improve as a programmer, your thing is to visit these blogs to stay up to date on new trends as well as what’s going on in this world.

See Code from Other Developers

I know that coding is one of the most boring tasks when it comes to programming. But, since it is mandatory, it is best to take advantage of it. See how other developers have implemented a project to collect new points that you can use in the future. Also, this has its rebound effect. When you are a little better and read the code of others, you will even be able to find fault with it.

Get Used to Test Everything

Many of us tend to take this lightly, but it is one of the most important points, perhaps the most when developing a project. We have finished programming everything, we are exhausted and we do not have the courage to do anything else. All right, you’ve made a big titanic tower but you’re not testing if that can support a person. This is the same, we just developed a big project and we don’t check if there are any bugs in it. To be a better programmer, you have to be a good tester and make sure that you make life impossible for your development and that it resists it, before handing it over to the client. This, believe me, will get you out of more than one hurry.

Reread Your Old Code

I like to do this a lot. I love the fact of taking code that I had written a year or two ago, reading it back, and challenging myself with what I would do now with my current knowledge. That is, to look at my own code again and ask myself, how could I optimize this code? Put it into practice and you will see how you improve a lot, especially your logical thinking.

Talk to Other Developers

Depending on yourself it is very difficult to improve. Programming is teamwork and to increase our knowledge we need to be surrounded by developers. Not only are your co-workers or the ones you usually go to class with, but there are also other ways to meet more programmers and share experiences. You can attend the multitude of events that there are today about the world of programming. Here, in programming.net you can find, in the Events section, many of these events. Attend the one that interests you the most and make friends. You will see how grateful you will be in the future.

Share Your Knowledge

Have you developed something that you are super proud of? Are you the envy of your fellow programmers because you have implemented something that has amazed them? Do the community in favor and share what you’ve learned with everyone. Currently, there are many social networks like Stackoverflow and forges like Github where you can post your source code and share it with others. You will appreciate the feedback and, more than as a programmer, it will make you grow as a person.

Have Fun

About all that. Have fun programming. Get excited about each new project that comes into your hands. Get excited to learn a new language that will make the task much easier for the community. Have fun. If you are not having a good time programming, something is wrong.

These are, for me, the 10 tips to follow to become a top programmer. Surely, due to your personal experience, you have different ones or you do not agree with any of those that we propose here. Write it to us in the comments so we can discuss it.

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