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15 Proven Ways to Become A Better Programmer or Coder

Here comes the best proven ways to become a better Programmer or Coder. When we look at how the world is moving right now, everything is about the use of technology. Technology is making everything easier in the world.

People use to ask me, what is this computer programming that you always talk about? Okay no problem let me explain a little about computer programming and how it works.

Computer Programming is a set of languages that uses classes and functions to control commands. Programming is very important because it directs a computer to execute these commands over and over again, with this we do not have to do the task repeatedly. Why because technology can do it automatically and accurately. Almost all programming languages work the same and they have the skills that provides the computer with instructions on what action to perform. Collectively known as ”codes,” these instructions are written by computer programmers to solve problems or to perform a specific task. We use it to program the website, apps, and other technologies we interact with daily.

Let me tell you, you have made the best decision to be a programmer. For you being a developer is a very fantastic career that everyone would like to become one-day, but is full of great challenges and problem-solving that keeps us awake at night. As developers of any skill level are in high demand and tend to be far too busy, they often don’t have enough time to stop and think about their own work. They always keep themselves busily thinking and finding solutions to their problems.

Programming is now one of the best ways to make money online but it involves a lot of learning and consistent practice. It’s very easy to learn but if you are not ready to code, you will give up on the way. Immediately you give up, you lost everything you were looking forward to achieve. I was once a normal person who was also looking forward to become a better programmer and it was not easy for me till I found out these ways.

Now let us move on to the best proven 15 ways to become a better Programmer or Coder.

1. UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS

No business works successfully when there is no understanding in the basics. These means you need to also understand the basics of programming before you can get into it deeply. If you understand the basics that is where you can design and achieve the best solutions at the best possible time. The basic is what you are going to use in your coding career so if you do not understand then am sorry you need to learn and understand the basics well before you start.

For example two people can decide to learn a language, the one who is an infant at the age of one year and a young boy of the age ten years, which of these two people do you think will learn the language before the other one? Sure the infant who is at the age of one is going to learn it faster than the other. So this means everything that you start at the basic is very easy to be learnt.

2. READING OF BOOKS

Programming is easier said than done, and we have a vas difference between a good code and a bad code. How do you know a code is good or bad? Good question, okay the answer is you cannot understand the difference until you have seen a good code and why a particular code is bad. This is where the concept of reading books sets in. Authors are even the great programmers, they use their own wisdom to create something good for we the readers. Many authors too with the experience they have in programming, they offer it to us in forms of books.

In fact, I got more understanding and became use to programming after reading clean code by uncle Bob. I love reading books a lot but this book really helped me a lot. Some people gets all their questions being solved after reading books, some always gets to a problem to which they do not know the way out but with books they except their problems. Write code in the author’s style. Practicing this helps you get into the head of the person who wrote the software, which can improve your empathy.

So, all I want to tell you is you need to read more books if you want to become a better programmer or coder.

Check also – How to make money coding for beginners.

3. STOP SEEING YOURSELF ALWAYS RIGTH

As we normally say, learn from the experiences of the experienced once. As a new beginner which you want to become a better programmer or coder, you cannot tell me you are going to many people who started before we thinking of something we call programming.

 Big time programmers such as Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Dennis Ritchie, Linus Torvalds, Bjarne Stroustrup, Donald Knuth and so many on, these are all people who have their videos that we can watch and listen and also read more about how they started and how they got to where they are today. Just be careful because experience can make you repeat a poor behavior and to create bad habits.

In all, I want to tell you that do not think you can do it alone, you would know you are doing the right thing but it might be the worst ever so you need a coach at all cost. 

4. WRITE IT THREE TIMES

Some good programmers use to always write books that works. The great once also write books that works exceedingly well to become better-programmers. As some proverbs goes like this ”the one thing you always do, you becomes the master of it”. Also as we use to say practice makes a man perfect.

As you want to become a better programmer, your duty is to at least write a code three times a day for you to become more better.

As you can see from the big time programmers, whatever they did looks brilliant why? Because they never stop writing.

Check also – JavaScript vs Java programming language – which is better?

5. OPEN SOURCE CONTRIBUTION

Another strong one is here; this also helps a lot when you want to become a better programmer or coder. You see we have so many times that you cannot get books to read but we have other means of contribution of open source such as Google, Apache and some other projects is a way of improving once programming skills and to become a better programmer or coder.

These places by just signing in their mailings also helps to learn very well.

6. START PUTTING QUESTION TAGS WITH EVERY SET OF CODE YOU WRITE

One thing that made me see that some programmers are far better than others is that some use questions tags in their coding while others do not put question tags.  There is some small group of people who can never leave a code without knowing exactly what is happening when it executes. Question tags such as how, what, why and so on should always reflect in your programming activities to become a better programmer.

Some others too see no importance in using question tags in their programming activities but i will tell you to become a better programmer, do not hesitate to always include question tags.

Examples are how does a programmer work, what can you get from programming and so many questions.

Check also, how to make money on the dark web or darknet as a programmer?

7. SPEND MORE TIME IN ANALYZING THE PROBLEM, YOU WILL NEED LESS TIME TO FIX IT

Here is another thing you need to do when you want to become a better programmer. Spend more time in this activity. In programming, your time is what is going to make you become a better programmer. The more time you spend, the more you understand and get use to a lot of programming languages and also increase your programming skills. If you spend more time, that is where you can understand and analyze problems and find solutions to them. The more you spend time solving problems, the more you find the rest of things being quite easily doable.

Most at times people who spends time thinking, always comes out with something different and also great. They always get new ideas to make their programming activities to work for them effectively.

8. DO NOT COMPARE YOURSELF WITH OTHERS

To become a good programmer, one needs not to compare his or herself to others. You cannot become like others so you need to stop thinking to become like others. Your comparison with others will only result in evolution of negative feelings and un-healthy competition. Don’t try to use the same procedures used by others in their programming, though you can follow some of their styles but try to use what will always fit and benefit you. Don’t try to use their complicated languages but the one to your understanding, because it is more important you use your own understanding and work on it.

Always remember anyone can write codes that the computer will understand but only good programmers writes codes that humans understand.

9. TALKING TO A FELLOW PROGRAMMER

how-to-become-a-better-progrmmer

If you want to become a better programmer, don’t just code participate in events, talk to other programmers, listen to them, and hang out with your fellow programmer and more in listening than talking.

Reading is an inactive method compared to the act of talking.  Selecting a program and analyzing with other programmers helps to get more than you expected from fellow programmers. When you are discussing with your teammates, friends and other people you have found bugs, gaps, design flaws and many more. You talking to others, sharing, and doing other practical sessions help.

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10. BE THE FIRST PERSON TO ANALYZE AND VIEW YOUR CODE

It could be difficult to view your own codes but you just need to try and break your own code before other people can and with the time you will learn to write close- to- bug- free code. Never take others view on your code. Always try to work with good programmers and taking their feedbacks will help you become a good programmer or a better coder.

In the nut shell, a good programmer is a logical thinker, perseverance, have a constant self-education, calmness and optimism, readiness for hard brain works with overtimes in programming.

 11. Keep it clean

A very readable and clean code is very important for code maintainability. When a code can be easily read and understood, it makes it very simple for others to read always. An average life span of a software application is 6 to 8 years. Which means after 8 years the software application will not have any good use again. Large and complex programs with a million lines of code or more can usually last 12 to 14 years. This is talking about a large and complex program which contains about a million lines of codes or more. During the life span of a software application, different programmers come and go. It’s the duty of a good programmer to write code that is easy to read, understand and can be used in a very good and a     productive way.

12.  Analyze and design

 Let me tell you something very important over here if you want to become a better programmer, Programmers always program. That’s what they do.  They don’t just stand and start programming but rather plan very hard before he starts doing something. But that doesn’t mean that jumping into programming is the first step. Don’t just run off to start doing what you are assigned to do. Think about it a bit more before you start. Analysis and design are skipped too often. Good planners and thinkers always make the right projects.

I can recount more than a few stories where even the tiniest bit of up-front thinking would have saved a tremendous amount of time, money and frustration. If only people would have taken the time, read, learn. Ponder about possible solutions, pick one, let it rest, evaluate, ditch it, try again. You will know when you are done. Some ideas or solutions age well, while others fade away over the course of a few days and does not even last for long time.

Here is a technique that I saw and I used once (and note to self, I will start using more): When you are debating possible solutions, (this works best when combined with #10 Work as a team) and you are in the heat of the moment defending the greatest idea ever (because it’s your idea), switch roles. Let someone else defend your idea and start shooting holes in it. This is very refreshing and very effective. 

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13. Leave a trace

Maybe it is just me, but when I read code from a year ago or sometimes just a few days from different programmers I forgot about the why. It may still look like great code, but there was probably a reason why it ended up like this. There were so many reasons to pick a certain approach, perhaps a limiting factor or a constraint of some kind. You can’t read that from your code. Leave a trace, for yourself and others too. There are more than a few excellent ways to do that:

  • short comments in your code;
  • elaborate comment sections in your code;
  • additional notes in the issue tracker that can be traced back from a commit;
  • an elaborate commit message in your vcs of choice;
  • documentation in a wiki;
  • architectural decision records (adr).

I’m gaining more experiences with adr’s lately and I’m liking it so much. It’s markdown, it’s close to your source code, easy to read and to write and also to understood.

Leaving a trace in your code may take a bit of time and effort, but we all know it’s the breadcrumbs that saved Hansel and Gretel and many more.

14. SPECIALIZE YOUR SKILL AS A PROGRAMMER

As a programmer, you don’t need to always use only one way to do your things. Your programming styles need to be dynamic, this means your styles need to change always. Your method and processes needs to change from time to time. If you focus on only one method, you are not going to move forward and also you are not going to get any new experience aside the old one you have always been using. So, let me tell you that specialize in a particular niche and keep up with new things and changes in methods, processes, frameworks, and so on. With this way, you stay on top of your game as a programmer. As a new beginner who want to be better in programming, it is very okay and professional to learn and know more than one Programming language.

Also, considering the dynamic nature of programming, a particular programming language could go out appreciation for certain projects at any time. You don’t want to be that Programmer stuck with a relic or new languages. You have to get a developing skills like teamwork, time management, good networking, and so on, set you apart from people who denizens you of “full-stack” programming. Also, you have to acknowledge interpersonal communication as a soft skill which would improve your interaction in your team as a team player.

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15. LEARN COMPUTER NETWORK

Before we start with this one, I want us to see something about computer network and it works and how we should use as new people who want to become a better programmers.

A computer network is a group of two or more computers that are linked together to work at a specific time at a given place. Networks are usually used to share resources, exchange files or communicate with other users. Typical library network, in a branching tree is mapped and controlled access to resources. A network is a set of nodes connected by communication links. Computer Network helps in the delivering of information from one point to another.  For you to be a programmer, you need to know how computer networks works, and to program it. Maybe you might be in a situation where you need that knowledge. Having that kind of knowledge can save you in one way or another or even many ways.

Most computer-related programs teach this in colleges and universities. For self-taught programmers, it’s worth giving it a look, it is sometimes hard but very easy if you study it well. Computer networks support processing distributed in different locations. These different locations can be physically close together inside a single computer room, or they can be separated from each other by a long distance across mountains and oceans. Physical transportation of the intermediately processed data is impractical. Hence, a computer network becomes indispensable in distributed processing. It allows timely passing of semi-processed data between computers located in distributed locations. Computer networks allow information sharing by allowing connected people or computers to access information on databases distributed in different locations. There are databases hosted on many computers. People or computers may need to access the data in these databases. Without a computer network, it would take a long time to select and transport the required data from the database to the requiring users. With computer networks, we can conveniently access the databases to retrieve data.

If you want to become a better programmer you need to learn a lot on how to use the computer network because it involves time and not so that easy to learn

Conclusion

Conclusively, anybody can be a better programmer. Like I said earlier, try these tips at your own risk. Take charge of your growth as a professional, and then you would probably be on your way to near-perfection. 

Don’t take it so easily and also not so difficult to study, you can do it if someone has done it, you need to also believe in yourself and see yourself that everything is possible in this world.

You are going to be the one of the better programmers in this world. Am expecting to see you in the next training good bye.

Thank you.

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About Justice Ankomah

computer science certified technical instructor. Who is interested in sharing (Expert Advice Only)
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