Becoming a proficient software developer entails several critical components.

Let's investigate these elements through short points:

1. Continuous learning.
2. Practice coding.
3. Seeking feedback.
4. Collaboration.
5. Problem-solving.
6. Create a portfolio.
7. Curiosity and Exploration.
8. Communication skills.
9. Testing and Debugging.
10. Adaptability.

To help you on your quest, look into courses on Pluralsight or edX.

Pluralsight is an online learning platform that provides a variety of courses, including "Software Development" and "Cloud Computing."

• It provides detailed, expert-led content to help you improve your skills.
• Its hands-on methodology and tests ensure the practical application of knowledge, making it an invaluable resource for software engineers looking to stay current in a quickly changing technological field.

Learnbay is a popular educational portal that offers complete coding bootcamps and courses. Courses such as the "Software Developer Certification Program" emphasize practical skills and provide a comprehensive understanding of development processes.

• Its emphasis on capstone simulated project-based learning provides students with real-world exposure through project innovation laboratories, making it an excellent choice for anyone looking for practical experience in software development.

Furthermore, platforms like LeetCode and HackerRank provide challenges for improving your coding and problem-solving abilities.

• LeetCode is a popular tool for developing coding and algorithmic skills.

LeetCode provides a wide range of problems, allowing users to practice and improve their problem-solving talents. Whether preparing for technical interviews or looking to reinforce coding principles, its diversified problem sets cater to developers of all ability levels.

• HackerRank is a skill-based website that organizes coding challenges and tournaments.

Courses like "10 Days of JavaScript" appeal to various programming languages and disciplines. HackerRank's innovative approach, which incorporates gamified coding challenges and interview preparation kits, makes it an exciting platform for developers wishing to improve their coding abilities and prepare for technical interviews.

Engaging with the developer community on Stack Overflow and contributing to open-source projects on GitHub can help you improve your collaboration skills.

• Stack Overflow is a community-driven Q&A platform where developers can learn and share information.

With a large user community, it's a valuable resource for troubleshooting code bugs and learning about best practices. From language-specific questions to more comprehensive software development subjects, it promotes global developer collaboration and information exchange.

• GitHub is a top platform for version control and collaborative software development.

GitHub also functions as a project repository in addition to its version control functionality. Developers can display their work, participate in open-source projects, and communicate effortlessly. It is critical to the developer community because it enables efficient code exchange, collaboration, and project management.

By incorporating these pointers and exploiting these platforms, you will not only improve your technical skills. Still, you will also establish yourself as a valued contributor in the ever-changing area of software development.

Thank You!

What is a good way to become a good software developer?

There are multiple ways to become a software developer. Thanks to the internet era, now anyone can access any type of course from anywhere. There are certain qualities that distinguish an average software developer from a good software developer, before diving into the paths to becoming a software developer let us see those qualities. By knowing these qualities one can choose the path to becoming a good software developer wisely.

• Having technical expertise in the tools and technical aspects of software development.
• Prioritizing satisfaction of clients' needs over the developer's own thoughts and ideas for websites.
• Being a good team player now is one of the important qualities that should be mastered in order to become good at software development.
• Specialization and adaptation to new technologies and tools. This helps software developers to avoid becoming obsolete at their work. Knowing how to work on both front-end and back-end will be great quality for a software developer.

Let us see some of the best ways one can become a good software developer who possesses the above-mentioned qualities. It is advisable to go forward with full-stack software development rather than partial development technology.

• Books: Whatever may change but the source of knowledge that one can gain from books will not change. Books are an effective way to know and learn things that are explained by experts. Books have always been a stepping stone for the learner’s learning curve. Let us see some of the best books on full-stack software development.
• Modern Full-Stack Development Using TypeScript, React, Node.js, Webpack, and Docker by Frank Zammetti.
• Full-Stack Serverless Modern Application Development with React, AWS, and GraphQL by Nader Dabit.
• Hands-On Full-Stack Development with Spring Boot 2 and React by Juha Hinkula.
• MOOC & Youtube Tutorials: MOOCs and youtube make education more accessible to everyone who has internet access and smart devices. There are various youtube channels and MOOCs that offer courses on Full-Stack Software Development.
• edX
• freeCodeCamp

• Online courses: Online courses are the most preferred path to learning for both beginners and working professionals. Online courses make collaboration with renowned institutes and companies to produce courses that have an excellent industry-accredited curriculum to teach their learners.

Simplilearn offers a Full-Stack Java Developer Master’s Program.

Features:

• Students will be offered four industry projects that are real-time. These projects are handpicked by faculties from various domains. Projects are offered in the following domains as E-Commerce, Food Delivery, Entertainment, and Healthcare services.
• The students will receive a course completion certificate from Simplilearn itself.
• Simplilearn offers students access to the job portal. This job portal notifies students of new job notifications.

However, they do not offer any domain specialization and comprehensive job assistance to their students.

This institute offers a Full-Stack Software Development Program.

Features:

• Students will get to work on 12+ real-time projects from a manifold of domains. These projects are crafted and designed by experts to give more exposure to the students on how real-world projects work. The following are some of the projects they offer Crud, an Online code editor application, and Payment Gateway integration.
• They offer elite domain specialization to their students. These domains act as leverage for the students. This feature makes the learners stand out from the crowd in the interview process. The following are the domains they offer Web 3.0, Web Development, Project Management, and DevOps & Clouds.
• The students will receive comprehensive placement assistance that includes guaranteed interview calls, career guidance, mock interviews, profile optimization, and more.
• The students will receive an IBM course completion certificate, which will certainly add value to their career growth.

Final note:

Now, you know these are some of the best ways to learn and become a good software developer. To satisfy all the skills that are required to become a good software developer, you go forward with online courses. Online courses provide outstanding sources to learn compared to others. Among them, Learnbay offers an excellent course. You can go forward with Learnbay to become a good software developer.

I hope this helps!

Thank you for reading!

Becoming a proficient software developer requires a combination of dedication, continuous learning, and practical experience.

• To start, focus on mastering the fundamentals of programming languages such as Python, Java, or JavaScript.
• Understanding data structures, algorithms, and object-oriented programming principles forms the cornerstone of software development proficiency.
• To enhance your skills, consider enrolling in online courses offered by reputable platforms like Learnbay, Edx, Intellipaat, and Pluralsight.

Courses such as "HarvardX: Introduction to Software with Python" on Edx, "Software Development Certification Program" on Learnbay, "Python Software Course" on Intellipaat, and "Software Development: The Big Picture" on Pluralsight can provide structured learning paths and hands-on exercises to solidify your understanding.

• Additionally, actively engage in coding challenges, participate in open-source projects, and collaborate with fellow developers to gain practical experience and exposure to real-world scenarios. Leveraging resources like GitHub for version control and code collaboration can significantly boost your proficiency and visibility within the developer community.
• Continuous learning and staying updated with the latest technologies, frameworks, and best practices are crucial in the dynamic field of software development. Explore advanced topics such as web development, cloud computing, machine learning, and cybersecurity to broaden your skill set and remain competitive in the industry.

Above all, cultivate a growth mindset, embrace challenges, and never hesitate to seek guidance from experienced developers or online communities when encountering obstacles. Consistent practice, persistence, and a passion for problem-solving will ultimately pave the way toward becoming a proficient software developer.

Thank you

How do you become a great programmer?

There are two sides to it - first is the creative side, which comes from within, though you can learn a great deal following others and getting inspirations from whats already there. But the real creative inspirations come from within. For example - Steve Jobs, he wasn't an engineer, nor a programmer but he was creative. So he drove the Apple to create beautiful programs resulting in beautiful things (iOS, Siri).

Whats creativity have to do with programming ? Everything, if you want to be counted as great programmer. Anyone can go out there, take some courses online or offline, read some books and start coding. But that's what is taught to you. You need to be creative to come up with your own framework, create something amazing. For example Dennis Ritchie (Dennis Ritchie), who got creative writing C programming language (C (programming language)), the most widely used language of all time.

Its like any spoken language, everybody knows some language, but not everyone is a poet or a writer. You need creative skills to be called a great poet or writer.

Second is the technical side. You need to start with some programming language. Many people in olden days started coding in assembly, or C. Then many of started with BASIC. Nowadays people start with Python or PHP. It doesn't matter. Once you grasp the concepts, can write algorithms and draw flow charts, you have a good start. You pick a language and go on with it.

For a year or so, you write variety of code - learning from making mistakes and being creative. Later you pick another language and its comes easy to you, since you have mastered the basics. About 3-4 years later you have now gone thru at least 3-4 languages and then you find your calling. That's when you write your best code, something useful, something creative, something innovative, inspiring, that leads the way for others. You need to put in at least few years into core programming, and work on at least 4-5 good product based projects.

Modern computer languages are easy to learn and master. Compare this to the days when it was either Assembly or C. But even now, there is no shortcut to creativity which is required to create something inspiring.

Does your code has to be commercially successful for you to be called a great programmer. I don't think so. But it has to be inspire something good. For example - C language was inspiring, Unix was inspirational. It lead the way.

Bill gates wrote the BASIC interpreter for Altair 8800 back in 1975 and it led the way for founding of Micro-soft (read more here - Bill Gates). I consider Bill Gates a great programmer, because what he was able to do, inspired the launch of PC era.

Programming is both science and art. And to become a great programmer you need to become master at both.

Here’s how I did it (and, yes, I consider myself pretty awesome at designing and implementing software systems. Not Linus Torvalds or Richard Stallman awesome, but not too shabby :-) ):

• Lots of practice. This is like the way that years of practice puts you in the state where you do not have to think about each individual finger position while playing a musical instrument. Once you know what you want a piece of code to do, the code just seems to flow out of your fingertips onto the keyboard.
• Learn about different programming languages, different kinds of languages, and different operating systems. Each causes you to look at a problem and its solution in a different way. This will help you choose the best tools for each project.
• Study the foundations of computer science: how hardware works, how a compiler does its job, how different algorithms work. Learn how to analyze an algorithm in terms of how much time, memory, and I/O access it will require, as a function of the size of the problem; this may tell you if your approach is even practical. Do you know what “NP Complete” means? You should.
• Remember that you should not be just a “coder.” You design and implement a complete system or part of a system. Often, proper design is more important than the program itself.
• Understand the importance of proper documentation. This is probably the single most important thing which beginners do not realize. If you do not know what the program is supposed to accomplish and how it is supposed to work, how will you ever write it correctly? And if you do not write that down, how will you or anyone else know in the future?
• Think before you code! Decide what you want a function to do, write a header comment for it, and only then write the code to implement it. If you realize that this is not what is needed, update the comment.
• Despite what I just wrote, do not be afraid to write a quick-and-dirty program that you will throw away. This is especially true if you are trying to figure out how a particular language feature or function works.
• Learn to use tools such as Doxygen, Valgrind, and a debugger.
• Learn to analyze systems: What is the problem being solved? How does it need to interact with other mechanical, computerized, and human systems? Sometimes you have to tell a client: “You are trying to solve the wrong problem.”
• Read books and journals. Join a professional society such as ACM or IEEE-CS, and attend their meetings and workshops.

Naturally, when we see a question like this, we see lots of answers like:

"Always be writing code!", "Learn to learn!", and "I started on a Babbage Difference Engine that I built from marbles and gum-drops, so you should do the same!"

Sure. Great. These are fine things, and a lot can be had early on from banging on, noodling with, and tackling problems on your own. Still, I'm going to suggest that you do two things to try to become a great coder:

1. Stop writing code for yourself.
2. Stop writing code.

1. Stop writing code for yourself.
The greats don't just solve coding problems. The greats create tools that others can leverage to solve problems. Whether those downstream of you are in your organization or not doesn't really matter. What matters is that your code is readable, comprehensible, usable, extensible, compatible, ableible, ibleable, etc.

Middling and good programmers can create APIs, components, and frameworks that other teams can interact with on an ongoing basis, but it will typically take coordination, modification, and collaboration. Great programmers can build APIs and components, drop the mic/keyboard, walk away, and still have an impact.

Think of what a good API looks like. Interfaces self-document, allocation and resource retention semantics are coherent, threading concerns are cleanly managed and consistently expressed, etc.

What about components? Capabilities scale cleanly, integration burdens drop, interfaces allow for natural extension, problems that the component author never dreamed of can be solved concisely, etc.

Even if you're never going to share the code, write for others. Write virtuoso code. In a year, when you pull this code out of your bag of tricks to solve some other problem, it will be there, waiting for you, with a bow on it. When I was young, energetic, and writing code only for myself, I would express "false" with "5 == 3" or name all of my variables after farm animals. Needless to say, I don't do that anymore.

When all of this is done right, one coder suddenly becomes tens, hundreds, or thousands of coders in downstream efficiencies. The leveraged impact of direct application of the code is one part, but the reflections of that code in the work of others has a meaningful (though indirect) impact. Which brings me to the larger point:

2. Stop writing code.
This may seem a little counter-intuitive, but stay with me for a minute. In order to write well, we generally need to read quickly, effectively, and thoroughly. The overwhelming majority of what we do is read code. I just spent a couple of weeks reading code so I could take what was expected (by others) to be a few thousand lines of hard-to-maintain code and turn it into about 25 lines of the right (ask me again in six months) code. When you're working in mature codebases, being able to make progress on large-scale bodies of code without introducing technical debt means being able to deeply understand what is in front of you. Wrapping your head around the whole problem in an existing codebase means reading the code in the codebase. It means that you can, for example, look at a thread-safe data structure and understand if it is lock-free, wait-free, or utterly broken. Part of this comes down to you and your fellow coders writing readable code for others (See 1.), but much of it comes down to your ability to ingest and internalize code. You do this by reading code, and you get good at reading code by reading code.

Additionally, reading is your gateway to the party tricks (and substantive methodologies) of others. When you encounter an elegant API, a clever construct, or a complete solution to a complex problem, read the code. When you find a broken hack, a set of classes painted into a corner, or an incomprehensibly complicated stack of band-aids, read the code. You'll learn about good approaches and horrible pitfalls. You'll see a little more through the eyes of the author(s), develop some sympathy for the situational choices involved, and reach beyond your own edges. When you never stop writing, you can fall into the old adage of having a hammer... every problem looks like a nail. You can get very far with a limited toolbox and a lot of effort, but you'll never be great.

I once had a very senior engineer (and mentor... and friend) at a previous company tell me that I was the best "mathematician who codes" that he knew. He is the best reader of code I've ever met, and he was leaps and bounds more valuable to the organization than I was. The most influential programmers I've worked with have all been voracious readers of code, capable of reading code like others read the morning paper.

If you want to be a great coder, you need to stop writing code long enough to start reading it.

To become a better programmer, you must master data structures, algorithms, OOP design, multithreading, and numerous programming ideas like recursion, divide and conquer, prototyping, and unit testing. Since programming requires various skills, it cannot be learned quickly; rather, it must be acquired via practice and patience, but not automatically.
Programmers do not often use these crucial programming skills. I suspect the average programmer would have performed far better if a required programming test for problem-solving existed. I've compiled a list of resources to make you a better coder.
1. Coding and more coding
Why did I rank coding first on this list? Because it is both the most challenging and an essential component of its programming. By writing code, you become aware of your design flaws, handling errors, and threading, and you can revisit those areas to improve. You can't only work in design; coding creates output, which is necessary to understand and do well. By the way, don't stop after finding the solution; it's usually best to discard your initial effort since it was only a prototype. Your next effort should address any problems or unmet needs you discovered while creating the prototype.
2. Reading Textbooks
There is a huge difference between excellent and terrible code, but how can you know? Coding is easier said than done. You can't tell the difference until you've seen a good code and understand why it's good. Books can be useful in this situation because most authors are also excellent programmers. They publish a book in which they share their experience. I adore reading books, but Uncle Bob's Clean Code has benefited me.
3. Solving challenges involving data structures, algorithms, and system design
That was originally the second item, but it was the third. The majority of competent programmers I've seen and spoken to are quite proficient in data structures, algorithms, and computer science fundamentals.
You can make better use of the resources available by studying these topics. A strong understanding of data structures is helpful when solving problems because they are an essential component of any program. Similarly, developing your programming skills requires knowledge of fundamental programming concepts, search and sorting algorithms, and other well-known algorithms.
4. open-source involvement
Another technique to develop your programming abilities and become a better programmer is contributing to open-source code, particularly from Apache, Google, and other projects. You can learn much by joining their email list and reading the following discussion.
5. Reviewing quality blogs
A minor portion of reading books is reading good blogs. How can reading blogs improve your programming skills? It does. You frequently find blogs relevant because programmers frequently write them, and most of them express their personal opinions and experiences.
Additionally, blogs are concise pieces of information that are easy to process. A blog can also be used to discover new technologies and API and language features.
I've frequently seen nuances or overlooked details from a well-known Java feature mentioned in a brief blog post. I prefer to visit websites like Dev. to, FreeCodecamp, and Medium, especially certain dev-focused publications, while looking for good development articles to read.

I disagree with the consensus that you just need practice to become a great programmer. That goes without saying. That's like asking "how do I become a world class cyclist" and being told, "take more bike rides."

You need practical experience to become a good or competent programmer. It takes much more to become a great programmer. Here are some of my suggestions.

The primary thing you need is mentorship. You simply can't see your own faults and bad habits. This can come in the form of formal classes, with a professor or TA who corrects you. It could be from a code review at work. It could come from a similarly skilled peer during a pair programming session. It could even come from reviewing other programmer's code and seeing their mistakes (which you probably also sometimes make). We all have bad habits. Everyone that is pointed out so you can correct it makes you a better programmer. You could find something to improve in anyone's code.

You should take some time to read the classics. This article is a good place to start building your bookshelf: Programmers Don't Read Books -- But You Should
Also here are a few of my own favorites:
The Mythical Man-Month
The Design of Everyday Things
The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master
Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software

Eventually you will need a specialization. Computer Science and even just Software Engineering are broad fields. No one can be an expert in it all. It would be like a medical doctor knowing as much about eyes as an ophthalmologist and at the same time as knowing as much about feet as an podiatrist. Whether a language, an industry (biotech, finance), a platform (windows, apple, mobile, web), or a sub-field (usability, security, localization, quality, data, networks, performance), or some combination -- you should have things that you are better at than other things.

At the same time, diversification is also necessary. If you are a world class Java programmer, I would bet that you also know other languages. It gives you perspective. Helps you make implementation decisions. Generally makes you a better programmer. I would say any "great" software engineer should have a little experience in an OO language, functional language, compiled language, scripting language, low level language, high level language.

I'm no security expert, but I still made an effort to learn the basics, go to the occasional conference (they're also just fun), and keep up with what's new in the field. I have a much stronger interest in usability. I'm an engineer, not a designer, but I still eat up design and usability publications with as much fervor as if I were one.

It also takes a bit of passion. Software is a fast moving field and it takes effort to stay on top of it. From just the new and trendy to the new standard way of doing things, you're going to need to read off the clock.

Know more than average about Programming Languages. PL is just another sub-field in CS, and some engineers will have more interest in it than others. But IMO, knowing a little more than average about programming languages is a requirement to being a great coder. A great coder picks the best languages for the job. And to do that she has to know what makes it the best language. And she has to know how to take advantage of key features in any languages that she's using.

Similarly, if there is any official "Guide" to becoming a great programmer, it is probably a PhD in PL.

To be a great anything is more of a journey than a destination. The more you know the more you will be aware that you don't know. I would be suspicious of anyone who called themselves a "great programmer".

There are a lot of similar questions here on Quora that might give you some more ideas.

Best of luck on your journey to greatness!

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Update May 26, 2015 -----------------------------------------

I feel compelled to give a reply to Aideen NasiriShargh's mention of my answer. This is a question that deserves different point of views. As we both give reference to, greatness is an elusive thing. Aideen says, "I don't call myself completely qualified to answer this question". I say, that greatness is more of a journey than a destination and "I would be suspicious of anyone who called themselves a 'great programmer'" (meant to imply that I also don't call myself a great programmer).

However, since he goes out of his way to reference and misquote me, I feel it merits a reply.

Aideen and I are coming at this question from slightly different angles and experiences. Specifically our answers differ...

(1) First, our take on Formal Education. I have great value for my Computer Science degree. I feel it complements my practical experience and allows me to write code at a level that I would never have reached with practical experience alone. Based on Aideen's third point, it seems he did not share my positive experience.

(2) Second and more relevant, who is asking this question / reading this answer. Something certainly up for interpretation.

While I value my CS degree, I'm not assuming the reader already has one or would benefit from starting one. If you have a degree in CS, then you are probably already heavy on the Theory side and in that case more practice is probably the best prescription for you (and you probably know that). On the other hand, from the sense I've gotten, the audience here is has a lot of people coming from the self-taught experience. In that case, you probably want to beef up your theory.

Combined with my own theory heavy background, I felt more qualified on giving some tips on filling in that side. I think one needs both to reach "greatness". I grant that my list is more theory centric than Aideen's and that this is certainly not what everyone needs. Again, this is a question that deserves multiple answers.

Again in where we are coming from, since there have been so many comments comparing our answers. When I answered this question, there were a dozen answers that simply said "you need practice" and "you need passion". When Aideen answered, my answer was the top answer by over 1,000.

I took the position that practice is a requirement for "competency", but should go without saying when the conversation moves to "greatness".

I put passion toward the end of my list for two reasons. First, while it is worth a mention, we hear a lot about following our passion and I didn't think I needed to emphasize it further. Second, "have passion" is pretty useless advice.

For the second part of my update, Aideen NasiriShargh misquoting me...

Aideen quotes me with:

I don't want to look like a jerk, but the fact that thousands of people upvoted "PhD in PL is the best Guide" and "The primary thing is having a mentor" just blew my mind off.

PhD in PL...

My original answer mentions diversification and specialization in different sub fields of Computer Science. Then, as my very last point, I mention that if one is pursuing a career in Software Engineering, then the sub-field of Programming Languages is specifically worth learning a bit more about. I give some reasons why I feel it is useful in the real (working) world.

I have the impression that Aideen only skimmed my answer, but it also seems he skimmed the question. The question details are, "Is there any guide to becoming a great programmer?".

My entire mention of getting a PhD is this one-sentence paragraph as an afterthought to my shout-out to Programming Languages:

Similarly, if there is any official "Guide" to becoming a great programmer, it is probably a PhD in PL.

I will now explicitly write out what I thought was implied in that statement. There is no guide to becoming a great coder.

The majority of people should not pursue a PhD, but that is really getting outside the scope of this question.

Mentorship...

I've had a few discussions in comments with people about a better word for what I call "mentorship". I give 4 examples of what I mean by "mentorship" and where one might find mentorship. Not a single one is "having a mentor", as Aideen says I say. Perhaps I should have said "outside influence" rather than "mentorship". I just like the word better, and it is my answer :p

I stand by this being #1 (when you already assume practice, as I stated I do). The next most popular answer after ours (at the moment, anyway) simply lists "1. write code everyday" and "2. hang out with other people who code". So despite it "blowing your mind off", it's not so radical an idea.

In Closing, Dear Aideen,

So, Aideen, I hope I'm not sounding like a jerk now. I think your answer is a great addition to this question, with the obvious exception of the first paragraph that is simply attacking and misquoting mine. It's different from my point of view, and that's a good thing. Again, this is a general question that could have a 100 useful answers. I've enjoyed reading the others. I certainly don't think mine should be the only one and I was (pleasantly) shocked by the large and positive (except, of course, for your) response to it.

Your answer lists topics including passion, persistence, bravery, and trust. To me, this comes across more as a motivational speech than an answer to a question. Yours is better than the average expression of the same sentiment and does gets into a few specifics. However, IMO this idea has been repeated as nauseum and is not extremely actionable advice. To me, it comes across more as "this is what you should have been born with" than "these are some things you might not have thought of adding to your arsenal to help push you to the next level". So ditto to you, the fact that you received 3k upvotes "blew my mind off" (though not really, I would have never cared if you didn't first misquote me).

And in case you actually care, which I doubt you do, slightly misquoting me in a way that completely changes the meaning of my words before then insulting that new meaning, does make you a bit of a jerk. Cheers!

Let’s say some day someone says to you, “You’re the best programmer!” What does that mean? Does it say anything about you?

Actually, it doesn’t. “Best programmer” is not only subjective, it has no real meaning in and of itself.

What it does say, though, is how the person who says it thinks about you. In other words, “best programmer” is expressing something about the person saying it. It says nothing about you at all, other than that you’re a programmer.

Have you ever seen those mugs that say things like “World’s Best Dad” or “World’s Best Boss” or whatever “World’s Best” you can think of? Do they say anything about the person who has them besides that they are a dad or a boss? What it does say, though, is how the person who gave them the mug feels about them.

So (after all that), the answer to the question: in order to become the best programmer, you need to do things that will make someone say you are the best programmer. That’s it. It always comes from someone else. There is no actual definition of “best programmer”. It has no objective meaning.

In fact, “best programmer” has no meaning at all. For every person who thinks you’re “the best”, there will be a dozen or more who think you’re not.

Edit: If this sounds a bit snide, it’s just because I see so many questions where people are terribly concerned about being something. But, in the end, it doesn’t matter what you are. It matters what you do. A title like “best programmer” is fleeting. A title like “programmer”, even, is arbitrary. But if you can point to what you have accomplished in your career (or life), that is worth something. Not being called “best” by someone.

The only thing which separates a great programmers for a mediocre ones is being genuinely curious.

While I agree that great programmers practice a lot, write a lot of code, read documentation etc however, all those things are secondary and are the result of being genuinely curious.

One of the best people I know in almost every profession are the ones who are genuinely curious about their fields.

This curiosity in turn gives them the motivation and drive to do the right things needed.

What do I mean by being genuinely curious?

There are a lot of people who get into programming just because it seems like a good paying career.

Although there is nothing wrong in choosing a career which pays well, but that should not be the only thing which drives or motivates you to learn to code.

Lets be honest here, we all want to get paid and make more money, however having that as the only motivator would do more harm than good in the long run.

On the other hand, when you are so interested in learning how things work and why they are the way they are, things start to change.

You are now naturally driven to learn and do things the right way.

The motivation which comes out of curiosity is internal rather than external and hence lasts much longer.

What happens to people who don’t have the curiosity ?

People who are driven by external factors are more likely to give up.

Lets face it, programming is hard and it gets harder as you dig deeper.

If you are not curious, you will be frustrated all the time when you are hit with a problem.

People who are not curious will always do their bare minimum to get the job done and would never go the extra mile.

How curiosity makes you a great programmer:

You will have that inner motivation which comes from being curious.

You will love problems, not hate them.

You will love your job not because it pays you well but because you are doing what you are curious about.

Learning how to code will feel like an enjoyable journey rather than an uphill battle.

I hope this helps.

Stay curious!

Read my other answers:

Saurav Sharma's answer to What are some good, free resources to learn Python?

Becoming a great and successful programmer takes hard work and determination. If you want to be a great programmer, you need to learn constantly. You should study how other great programmers do things, and then try to implement those methods in your own code. Like any other skill, programming requires practice and effort. There is no shortcut. The effort you put into learning the principles of programming is far more valuable than the time you spend writing code. To become a successful programmer you need to be driven by the pursuit of excellence. People who are driven by money, power, fame, or prestige will never be happy. If you work hard and are willing to do the things that most programmers won't, you will be able to attain success and glory in your field.

It truly is an art to master programming. Programming is not so much about following a set of instructions, as it is about solving problems, thinking critically, and learning new things. Your approach to your work is much more important than any specific set of skills. One of the most important things you can do to become a great programmer is to be passionate about it, and never stop learning new skills. You should never stop reading or watching tutorials. Most programmers learn a lot of their skills from reading books, Wikipedia articles, and other resources. Try to keep an open mind when learning. There are some great books that you can use to learn from, and also online tutorials. Find a good online tutorial site and study hard.

It is a fact that programming is fun and pays good money. So if you love programming, then invest sufficient time, energy and commitment to be really good at it. It won't be easy in the beginning, but the satisfaction and success will be immense in the long run. Here is the formula to become a great programmer:

How to Become an Expert Developer ?

I've been asked several times about how to become an expert developer, so I decided to finally answer this question to the best of my ability. Of course there is no single path to expertise that works or is right for everyone. It depends a lot on what industry you are developing software for, and what tools your company uses etc. Anyways, in this text I'll present a general "path" to expertise which you can adapt to your own situation.

Keep in mind as you go through this text, that there is a difference between being an expert, and being perceived as an expert. Lots of people are being promoted as experts, who really aren't. But, if people believe they are, they still make lots of money, being only mediocre. Additionally, there are many experts that nobody knows are experts. If you truly are an expert, your next move would be to also be perceived as an expert. How to become that is out of the scope of this text though. That's a different story about personal branding etc.

What is an "Expert", and How Long Time Does it Take to Become One?

Before I start discussing how to become an expert, let me spend 30 seconds on what an expert is, and how long time it takes to become one.

No, you are not an expert after 3 months of using a skill, nor after 3 years. According to the book "Outliers" by Malcom Gladwell, it takes 10.000 hours on average to become a true expert. A virtuous if you like. 10.000 hours! That's 10 hours a day, every day, for 3 years. Or, more likely, 5 hours a day, 200 days a year, for 10 years. 10 years!

Along this claim, I've noticed that I believed I was an expert or senior developer already after about 3 years of experience. Now, in 2010 with about 10 years of experience, I've learned how much there is to know, and how much I still don't know, and now I don't feel like such an expert anymore.

Additionally, the industry (Java enterprise development) has changed a lot over the last 10 years, so the skill I used to master, are not all that "cool" anymore. So even if you are an expert, you may find yourself becoming obsolete, and having to start over.

One more thing: You are seldom an expert in everything, meaning you may be better than person B in one skill, and person B may be better than you in another skill. It's not like you are either better in every skill than someone else, or worse. You can almost always learn something from everyone. Several developers I have met act as if they know everything best, even when the clearly don't.

In fact, this is often a way to spot a noob. The believe they know it all, and will argue to death either online or offline. They will argue in absolutes, like "This is ALWAYS better than that", or "This is THE way to things" etc. Experts rarely do that. They know, that it all depends on situation, skills your developers have, tools chosen by your company, company policies, personal preferences etc. Inexperienced developers (and people in general) tend to believe the world is black and white. Experts know, it's full of gray scales, and even lots of additional colors and shades.

How to Become an Expert

For most skills you need to learn, there are four steps that will help you become an expert. Most often you will go through these steps in sequence, yet with iterations up and down the steps on the way too. Here they are:

• Learn it
• Do it
• Discuss it
• Teach it

Learn it

Before you can master a skill you must learn it in theory. You can do this via books, tutorials, via education, or by messing around with it.

Do it

Once you have learned the skill in theory, you need to apply the skill in reality. By applying your skill in reality, you learn where the theory you learned is right, and where it is wrong. Yes, often universities will teach you theory that doesn't work in reality, or that doesn't apply in your situation.

Discuss it

Once you have used your skill for a longer period, and find that you were able to solve pretty much any problem thrown at you, which required this skill, it is time to discuss the skill with other experienced people. Discuss what the best ways to apply the skill is, where the limits of the theory are, what could be added etc. In short, discuss how to push the skill even further (e.g. an API. How to make it better / different etc.).

Through discussion you will learn a lot from other people, even if you thought you new it all.

Teach it

Teaching your skill to others is a really great way to polish the last corners of your skill. There may be many things to just do, without thinking about why you do them like that. Having to explain your ways and methods forces you to think about why you do what you do.

Additionally, there may be corners of your skill that you have never needed to master (say, corners of the web service specification). Having to teach your skill will force you to also master these corners too, making you better than you were before.

How to Become an Expert Developer

Now that I've talked about becoming an expert in general, I'll talk a bit more about how to become an expert developer.

As a developer you will most likely be developing software for a specific industry (at least for a while), and using a specific platform. If not, if you are switching tools and industry constantly, like some web developers do, you will most likely never become a real expert. You will become a Jack-of-All-Trades, which is also useful in some situations. If you are not focused on platform and industry, and you want to become an expert, you need to focus.

On your path to expertise, you will have to chose a platform, and possibly an industry too. Industry is less important, but having business domain knowledge really strengthens your profile.

When learning a platform you will start out with the language. For instance, the Java language. After the language you need to learn the platform (all the API's and tools). In Java, the platform is divided in two: The standard edition and the enterprise edition.

Once you begin to master your platform, you should start learning platform independent skills, like design patterns, distributed system design, architecture, usability etc. As you get better, you will spend more and more time learning these skills. This is a good thing. These skills are more easily transferable to a new technology platform.

Finally, you may move away from software development all together, moving into different business areas like project management, an architect job etc. Just remember, that once you stop using your developer skills, you will slowly stop being an expert.

You have to fill in the concrete tools, techniques etc. for your industry, your company, and your platform. This is not something I can do once and for all, for everyone.

A good way to find out what you should learn is to look at job ads.

What tools and techniques are they requiring most often?

Read software magazines online.

What technologies are they talking most about?

Read forums.

What technologies are people asking most questions about?

And, what technologies are people buzzing most about?

In other words, what will become hot tomorrow?

All The Best !!!

• Code as much as possible… practice is the key…
• Do not believe that ‘someone’ will teach you entire coding skills. It is true that lectures and teachers may help you, but at the end of the day, you have to give efforts by your own too.
• Be the incharge of yourself. It will allow you to learn more things quickly. You have not to wait for your teacher to come on that topic.
• Teachers can only give information, it’s all about you that how you get and learn it.
• Work on Data structures the most.
• Must do competitive programming on the language you are interested in.
• Set practical specific goals and deadlines for learning coding or to make a project.
• Plan before coding; but planning too much before coding is also bad.
• Endlessly research technologies without spending time actually writing code is worthless.
• Choose a programming language that suits you. For general purposes, Python is best option. You should learn C/C++ as well, it will give you deep inside of how to code.
• Take small steps. Don’t just try to make a big leaps, start with small coding problems and let your skills grow continuously over time.
• Seeing someone else’s code is not a crime - if you have tried your best to solve that problem. It will definitely give your mind other dimensions of thinking how to code a problem.
• Do not think that coding is too difficult. Once you know all basic ideas and functions, it will seem to be too easy.
• But don’t think that is too easy and you will learn it after some-days… Making mistakes is not a ‘crime’ but procrastination is…
• Help others :
• While explaining code, the concepts will be more clearer.
• Use Google. In today’s case if you know ‘what to do ?’ - your good problem-solving skills; Google can tell you ‘How to do ?’
• Don’t get desperate too early. At first, you might not be able to solve all problems, but have faith in yourself. Learn continuously.
• Know the full expressive power of your language :
• e.g., C++ has STL function libraries which gives you predefined functions with best possible complexities; e.g., algorithm, vector, string, etc.
• Always dry-run the code or use Debugger. It will give you actual picture how your code is working.
• And don’t waste much of your time thinking how you learn coding, just roll your sleeves up and jump in the ground to make actual efforts.

See : What are the mistakes people do while learning programming?

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Visit my profile for more Tech/ Programming answers : Keshav Kabra

I’m gonna answer with an old musicians’ joke.

A tourist is walking in the streets of New York and asks a street musician:

-How do I get to Carnegie Hall?

To which the musician replies:

-Practice, practice, practice

Hmm.

Well plan to learn something every day. If you learn just one thing every day for ten years you will know a lot.

Direct those learning efforts. I found a book called C# essentials. I read a bit of it. Yes, I know a lot of it but this book was written by people on the Microsoft compiler team. The detail of the book is fantastic. Remember that even if you have experience there will be holes in your knowledge. Try to fill those holes.

Don’t get hung up on one language. I have programmed professionally in many languages. One language is not “good” nor another “bad”. They all do different things well.

Focus on fundamentals. Learn algorithms. Even if you don’t code them yourself you will have a better appreciation of how to do things efficiently. Actually everything you do with a computer involves an algorithm so learning some of the more common ones will help you. Be sure you understand recursion. The concept isn’t that hard — it is just a little weird to think of a method that calls itself. Remember each time the method calls itself it stacks variables unless you declare something static. This is just like calling any other method.

Also learn object oriented programming. It isn’t really hard — just takes some getting used to. Don’t make the mistake of thinking objects are not important. Unless you use C or Cobol, you will need objects. Companies have embraced object oriented coding an you have to know it.

Learn the basic software engineering patterns like DRY and SOLID. There are many others but those two will help you right away write better code right away.

Read the code of others. Read as much code as you can. You will find that some code is bad and some is really cool. You will learn coding styles so that you’ll know who wrote the code without anyone telling you. Learning to distinguish good code from bad is an art. You only improve by looking at many samples of code, some good, some bad.

Then just practice.

The one easy way to become a good software developer is by making mistakes and learning from them. The path to a developer is never smooth because you will be facing a lot of challenges especially when you are trying to adapt to a new coding environment. For example, previously coders preferred Java and C moderations to code because those are high-level languages. However, after some years, one scientist invented Python and the rest is history.

Similarly, the one easy solution is to be open to change and adapt to the new working environment as much as possible. It is a very well-known fact that technologies are changing or rather improving rapidly, hence staying up-to-date with the changes comes as a second priority. Learning to adapt always remains the first. This is closely followed by learning the skills, especially trending skills which can help recruiters to choose you above other candidates.

Due to changes and improvements in the IT sector, the selection process has become very strict. Hence, having competitive skills nowadays is mandatory for whatever reason.

There are some stages, which you can follow for better results:

1. Building a foundation?

Solution: To build a base or foundation in software development, you can start studying from books. Once you do a google search, you will find a lot of options to study from. If you are worried about the expenses of books, there are many free e-books available on the internet. It is best to visit an online library and register to enjoy the services.

2. Developing competitive skills and landing a job?

Solution: This is perhaps the most crucial part and books can not help you to study everything within a year and land a job. Hence, in this step, it is better to go for an online course. The suggestion is an online course because it will save a ton of time and money. If you are a working professional, then this is the best option. In the pool of institutes, the reliable ones are handfuls like Udemy and Learnbay.

This institute offers a Full-Stack software development course where they have industry experts assigned to make you understand the industry requirements. They have affordable course fees and less course duration, which you can learn at your own pace.

However, they do not have any job assistance programs.

Compared to other institutes, Learnbay’s Full-Stack software development course offers multiple benefits to the students such as:

• Live interactive classes with professors who will offer you 1:1 doubt-clearing sessions as well in case you have any queries.
• They offer domain-based training on elite domains (Web development, web 3.0, Project management, and DevOps & Cloud). Domain-based training will enhance your topic understanding.
• They will offer IBM certification for the course and you will receive it after course completion. This certification can make you stand out from the crowd.
• They offer 15+ real-time projects on trending topics like VR-Based applications, CRUD, and Authentication among others.
• Lastly, they have an effective job assistance program where the industry experts will prepare you for the big interviews through mock interviews, interview quizzes, and resume-building activities. This will be followed by assured interview calls from top recruiters.

Overall Summary

As you can already guess, adapting to changes and learning the right skills are crucial to become a good software developer. Having the right mindset can boost your chances to grow in any domain. Hence, it is advisable to opt for Learnbay, they have domains that can help you to become an expert within a year.

Thank you for reading!

To become a good software developer you must have a passion for it. Other than this, you must:

1️⃣Learn continuously- Technology is an evolving field, so learning continuously is crucial. For this, you can also join online courses or institutes to stay updated and get a proper understanding of software development.

Here are some referral courses, based on my research. These courses will help you to achieve your goal as a good software developer.

Learnbay offers a Software Development Certification Program. This program is provided in collaboration with IBM and Microsoft. Moreover, it is designed for professionals to gain advanced knowledge in software development. In addition, they also offer placement assistance, simulated real-time projects, and certification.

Not only this,

You can also explore other platforms like:

• Software Development program offered by the University of British Columbia. This program is available on the EDX platform.
• Software Development Explained offered at Pluralsight platform.

After gaining theoretical knowledge, you need to enhance your practical skills. You can build your projects, solve coding challenges, and more to showcase your skills.

Additionally, ensure to have a strong foundation in programming and specialized knowledge. Because it shows your in-depth knowledge of a particular field.

There are some other factors you must consider so that you can become a good software developer, such as:

2️⃣Keep your code clean, well-organized, and properly documented.

3️⃣Embrace the opportunity to learn and grow.

4️⃣Communicate with other developers to seek guidance and learn how to work harmoniously within a team.

5️⃣Lastly, stay open-minded to new ideas and ask for help if needed.

Overall, these are some ways one must look after to become a good software developer.

In summary,

Continuous learning, problem-solving, and collaboration are essential for great software development, not just writing code. Enjoy the process, and may your coding adventures be filled with joy and success!

Happy Learning and Coding!