It’s hard work
One of these is just being able to work hard and focus. Being a programmer isn’t easy. We put a hell of a lot of time into this. The industry is constantly evolving and you have to keep up. New technology comes out or changes every single day which can completely change the plans for an entire company.
When Twitter announced there would be ridiculously low API limits, companies making Twitter apps stopped everything they were doing to come up with crazy workarounds or change their entire business models. Prices of some Twitter clients hit upwards of $20. These types of changes happen all the time. If you’re not out there ready to work your ass off when you need to you’ll be left behind and your product will suffer or die.
You need passion
You need humility
There’s one other thing that many programmers forget to tell newbies. You have to learn humility. This seems easy when you start out because everything is so new that you listen to anyone who’ll offer advice. As your skills begin to mature, your belief in certain programming paradigms begin to take shape and harden.
Don’t let your pride get the best of you. Pride will prevent you from trying new concepts which could be really beneficial later on. Sometimes it can be tough to swallow your pride and say “you’re right” to another programmer, but the benefits of doing so can be incredible.
None of these skills I’ve mentioned hinge on being a genius. In fact, these skills can be applied to many other professions. There’s nothing inherently special about programming. There’s really nothing different between fixing a software bug and fixing a “bug” with a car’s engine. Programmers like to think of themselves as special, but really, we’re just good at solving a certain flavor of problems as well as hard-working, passionate people who are always out looking to learn something new.
One of these is just being able to work hard and focus. Being a programmer isn’t easy. We put a hell of a lot of time into this. The industry is constantly evolving and you have to keep up. New technology comes out or changes every single day which can completely change the plans for an entire company.
When Twitter announced there would be ridiculously low API limits, companies making Twitter apps stopped everything they were doing to come up with crazy workarounds or change their entire business models. Prices of some Twitter clients hit upwards of $20. These types of changes happen all the time. If you’re not out there ready to work your ass off when you need to you’ll be left behind and your product will suffer or die.
You need passion
You need humility
There’s one other thing that many programmers forget to tell newbies. You have to learn humility. This seems easy when you start out because everything is so new that you listen to anyone who’ll offer advice. As your skills begin to mature, your belief in certain programming paradigms begin to take shape and harden.
Don’t let your pride get the best of you. Pride will prevent you from trying new concepts which could be really beneficial later on. Sometimes it can be tough to swallow your pride and say “you’re right” to another programmer, but the benefits of doing so can be incredible.
None of these skills I’ve mentioned hinge on being a genius. In fact, these skills can be applied to many other professions. There’s nothing inherently special about programming. There’s really nothing different between fixing a software bug and fixing a “bug” with a car’s engine. Programmers like to think of themselves as special, but really, we’re just good at solving a certain flavor of problems as well as hard-working, passionate people who are always out looking to learn something new.
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