Week 31 : Growth

It seems that every week I encounter another milestone. This week is the 9th week of the semester, which means I am in the second half.

I'd like use this week's blog to post things I have realized while in school

1) It's not the programming language it is the problem solving skills. Many people ask you 'what is your best programming language' to be honest it is all of them. I realized that it isn't the language so much as the tool you use. Without a good debugger it doesn't matter how good you are at programming a language. Eventually you will make a mistake, and having a good IDE is imperative to finding and fixing those bugs.

2) Ego is everywhere, I have always tried to be humble, especially in regard to coding. There are plenty of other coders who know more about this subject or that, it is important to be able to listen to them.  Being able to work with others is a fundamental aspect of teamwork. You will encounter conflicts, as an adult you must be willing to adapt. If the conflict persist, be the bigger man, don't let your emotions get the best of you, seek a supervisor it is their job to get things worked out.

3) Communicate! I can't tell you how frustrating is is working with someone who never provides updates. As team members we need to talk, daily. I see this regularly with students, especially those fresh out with a Bachelors in Computer Science. Most never have had to work with others professionally, they don't realize their silence is holding up work. For all of you out there, I need to know what you are doing because I don't want to do something you just finished and more importantly I need to know we are 'moving the rock'.

I think those are the top issues to being a successful programmer.

See you in ten weeks