My Dev weblog

Yesterday, I listened to a great podcat presented by the folks at High Of Coding about how to become a better developer.The podcast introduced many easy-to-follow steps to enhance your software development skills.

I really liked that podcast, So, I decided to summarize it in 10 points and share it.
So. let’s begin …

1. Love Coding:

   If you don’t have passion for coding, you won’t become a batter developer. you need to take a look at programming and ask yourself:  is it my passion or just a way to get my pay check ?

   "5:01 developers" are  the developers who once it gets5:00 pm is over, they  just close the laptop lid and never open it till the next morning.

   YOU must dedicate one hour daily to develop your coding skills.

2. Keep updating your skills :

   the IT field is the fastest changing field, new technologies emerge every day, get to know them, update your knowledge constantly.

3. Be a part of a community:

   Register to forums, discussion boards, user/developer groups. Ask  questions. Answer others’ questions.
   Usually  the problems posted in discussion boards are real-life and you may encounter them  in the future.

4. Read technical blogs/magazines :

   They  tell you what is going on in the industry, give you great ideas on how things are done.

5. Start your own project :

   Even for fun. You will see when you are in the process of making your own project, many questions come to mind  of how things are done: how to UI design, what version control system to use, how to design the project , how to unit test it, how to build it, what technology/framework  is relevant to use … etc.
   you will find that your knowledge of alot of fields/areas has grown.

6. Learn design patterns/software architecture:

   patterns are very important in the software process. there are dozens of patterns
   out there – not just MVC – . learn and apply as more as possible .

7. Learn to write efficient code :

   don’t repeat/copy-paste the code , it will make problems while refactoring. learn to reuse the code.

8. Attend events as possible

9. Present topics/give sessions if possible:

   it will not develop your programming skills, but it will develop your skills as a speaker. contact with the real people, listen to
   others asking, find out what problems face people.

10. Do code reviews :

    review others code and get others to review your code. this way you will get to find other points of views,
    other ways to solve the same problems, better performance solutions ands so on

The link to the original podcast : http://highoncoding.com/Articles/514_Becoming_a_Better_Developer.aspx