5 Characteristics that every computer programmer should have

Posted on February 19, 2016

Are you a computer programmer or aspiring to be one? I assure you coding is awesome and sweet if you have what it takes to be one, otherwise, you may feel discouraged and see it as a living hell. Just like all other disciplines, I call programming a calling that requires one to have various life skills. The following is a list of characteristics that every successful programmer should possess:

1. Patience

Patience is a virtue required in all fields of life. In programming, even the finest programmer encounters some bugs in the code in day to day life. These errors may be a result of missing or extra commas, semi-colons, apostrophes or braces, etc. A single comma can make 10,000 lines of code programs fail to execute completely. These small errors are usually difficult to identify and can give you a whole day headache. Also, you may have some idea in your mind that you wish to implement but keeps on failing and giving errors whenever you try to run the code. This calls for a high level of patience and those who don’t have patience will be scared and end up quitting.

2. Creativity

Just as art requires enormous creativity, software development is also the same. To come up with a unique product that never existed before and still looks awesome and functions exemplary, one has to be able to view it in mind and design it on paper. With creativity, this is a simple task that is easy to achieve.

3. Passion

Converting ideas into lines of code, encountering lots of errors, and having to learn all the time to keep yourself up-to-date with the latest technology is not a joke. To do all this you have to love everything about programming. There must be a force in you propelling you towards it. With passion, nothing seems a bother.

4. Ready to learn new things/flexible.

Just as technology is dynamic and keeps changing and improving every now and then, also the programmers should not be rigid but be ready also to change. New technologies are emerging daily causing the older ones to be considered obsolete and making the rigid conservative programmers who do not embrace change become less competitive in the job market. Those that keep themselves always updated with every bit of technology improvement are highly considered and competitive.

5. Critical thinker

As a programmer, clients will come to you and give you a list of requirements that they intend the proposed software product to accomplish. They will not care which languages or methodologies you use provided the final product suits their needs and work as expected. It will be up to you to design and implement to come up with the system. This will require critical thinking in order to convert the ideas to come up with the exact required system.

By writing this article, my aim was not to scare anyone but to encourage and tell the reality. These are must-have characteristics that every successful programmer should have. With them, programming becomes enjoyable and interesting. If you have them, then I believe with determination nothing can prevent you from becoming the best of the best in programming.