10 Websites On How To Be A Better Programmer
We all want to be better at the things that we do. Why? Perhaps it will lead to less work, less stress, a sense of pride or more money.
Whatever your motivation for improving your skills – the point is that your skills are not static; however, there are different ways that you can approach improving them.
Below are 10 websites that I have found (both old and new) that offer suggestions on how programmers can improve their programming skills.
In no particular order:
1. 8 ways to be a better programmer in 6 minutes
SecretGeek takes you through modifying your development environment and utilizing tools to improve your coding. Most of these tasks can be done in 6 minutes if you are familiar with your IDE or coding environment.
2. How To Become a Better Programmer by Not Programming
Jeff Atwood reflects on interviews he read about with Bill Gates. Bill says that you cannot improve your programming skills only by programming, you must become familiar with your surroundings and work environment.
3. Being A Better Programmer
Written almost 10 years ago, Danny Burbol mentions 10 ways that you can improve – many of which can be applied to life: know your limits, fix it, don’t hack it, don’t get personal, etc.
There is also a nice summary of his points at the bottom of the page.
4. 5 sure-fire ways to become better at programming
This site focuses on programmer passion and interest; and attempts to look at the role of a programmer as similar to a mason.
This could be alternatively titled, “5 sure-fire ways to know if programming is right for you.”
5. 4 ways to become a better programmer
This site takes a simplistic approach to becoming a better programmer. I don’t want to give away the 4 ways, but these could easily be applied to becoming better in any profession.
6. Becoming a better programmer takes exercise
This site focuses on the why of programming. We might know how conceptually a sorting routine works, but you never truly understand it until you attempt to implement it.
I always say don’t wonder how things work, do some research to know how things work.
7. 12 Tips That Will Make You a Better Programmer
Spyros Panagiotopoulos points out 12 areas of which programmers should be familiar (e.g. Version Control, Commenting, etc.)
I feel more often than not programmers know they should do certain things, but just skip to coding for the sake of time.
8. 5 Good Habits That Will Make You a Better Coder
Matt Ward approaches becoming a better code from the perspective of a web developer. The obvious way to get better at something is to read about it and practice.
I find his approach to writing logic through comments intriguing. I agree that writing pseudocode beforehand definitely makes coding easy.
9. Better Programming By Programming Better
Phil Haack picks up where Jeff Atwood left off in How To Become a Better Programmer by Not Programming.
Comparing programming to a sport, becoming a better programmer doesn’t lie in the experience that one has but the effort he/she puts in to identify weaknesses in your current skills.
10. The Joel Test: 12 Steps to Better Code
In another post from over 10 years ago, Joel Spolsky notes that there are things that all programmers should practice if one is to produce quality code.
The 12 steps are actually questions that you can ask yourself to gauge the quality of your software development environment.
I think we can all become better programmers, but we need to start with wanting to become a better programmer – and that involves putting forth the effort to improve.
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