How do I become a super programmer?
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MicManos, You pretty much hit the nail on the head. The issue isn't so much being a "super programmer" but being in a position to be able to solve relevant problems with relevant tools. That's the bottom-line and worth repeating: develop the ability to solve relevant problems using relevant tools. The thing that has kept me employed all these years (30) was not the ability to keep up with all the latest "bells and whistles". No one can do that, there's just too much going on. Some of these sharp young hotshots in our shop THINK they can but, then again, so did I when I was a young "hot shot". What HAS kept me employable is I have developed the ability to find, fix, design, create (pick any) solution using whatever tool happens to be available in my situation at the time. I don't always choose the latest and hottest tool to do it, either - I choose the tool that helps me dig up the problem and fix it the most expediently. Knowing how to FIND OUT what the best approach is works far better than trying to know all the approaches and keep 'em all in your head. Good diagnostic skills will, after a number of years, make what you do look like "Magic" to the un-initiated. Even some of these "hot shots" around here sit amazed when I find the solution to a problem they struggled with for days in a matter of minutes. It has nothing to do with my being more intelligent - I'm not. I'm just more "seasoned" if you will. Seasoning takes TIME - and consistent plodding along, developing your skills and sharpening the skills that serve your problem solving ability best. -CB :)
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How do I become a super programmer that can whip up any algorithm in a short amount of time and design and write the most complex systems imaginable?
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This is a very good question, to which I would love to see good, solid answers. No doubt there are a great number of very experienced, highly talented, and intelligent programmers reading and writing for this site every day. If each of you thought about this problem, approached it like a programmer, and offer suggestions about what you believe would be traits of a super programmer, and how to develop those traits, then a plan for becoming a super programmer could be realized. I could say that a super programmer "thinks outside the box", but that doesn't do anything for anyone unless I suggest ways to do it. Maybe we could all be super programmers eventually if we all put our minds to documenting what works and what doesn't. (Oh, wait... documentation? Nah... It'll never work). I'll start by saying that a good programmer never uses GOTO. I haven't used GOTO in over a decade and I know through experience that if I were to use GOTO, the same routine could be written in a much more robust fashion without it. There is always a way around using GOTO, just restructure your approach and you'll find it. Ok, I've started with the most basic programming fundamental I could think of, aside from "always document your code". If others add to this, we may all benefit from it.
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I Remember the following statement when it comes to programming: We the unwilling, lead by the unknowing, doing the impossible for the ungreatful, have done so much with so little for so long that we are now qualified to do ANTHING with NOTHING! so always start by complaining "You want it when???", and build it in a third of the time! You than automatically become a super programmer.
Amen to that brother. Antony Life is nothing but an individuals perception of an immortals dream. - ME
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"this is the best answer anyone can get" Yup... code, code,code about says it all! Plus it helps to have studied your customers subject domain say accounting or graphic design. Development is such a diverse area that no one method is final. What works for a small application roll out won't work for a major organisation update. What does COUNT is this though: "Delivery" It doesnt matter how good something is (or will be) if you don't deliver. ... Under promise and over deliver!
The two other things I would add to the code, code, code... 1) take classes from the smartest people you can find and 2) the look at and analyze every piece of code you can get you hands on until you understand what it is doing, why it does it this way and if there was a better way to have done it based on the training and analysis you've been doing or is this the best, simplest and cleanest way of doing what the code is intended to do? I've found over the 30 or so years I've been programming that there is always someone else smarter that I am that if I'm really as smart as I think I am, that I do everything I can to learn from both their successes and failures.
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How do I become a super programmer that can whip up any algorithm in a short amount of time and design and write the most complex systems imaginable?
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How do I become a super programmer that can whip up any algorithm in a short amount of time and design and write the most complex systems imaginable?
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How do I become a super programmer that can whip up any algorithm in a short amount of time and design and write the most complex systems imaginable?
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How about becoming an accomplished software engineer? Elaine :rose:
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Richie308 wrote:
People can imagine quite a lot.
Yes they can. They can imagine succeeding rather than not even trying because someone told them nobody can do that.
Richie308 wrote:
Your question is based upon a flawed premise.
Questions are never based on a flawed premise. Only conclusions. Marc
People are just notoriously impossible. --DavidCrow
There's NO excuse for not commenting your code. -- John Simmons / outlaw programmer
People who say that they will refactor their code later to make it "good" don't understand refactoring, nor the art and craft of programming. -- Josh Smith