How to Become a Better Programmer

How to become a better programmer? Practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practise.

programming is one of those skills where you can always get better. But how do you make better an already complicated skill?

Most programmers will agree that there is always room for improvement.

This is the way it should be. We strive to make ourselves better because we want to be better.

Of course, there are also reasons beyond that: we want to get promotions, we want to get raises, we want to get featured on Hacker News, we want our code to be used. No doubt you've heard people repeating the mantra: "Practice makes perfect".

Master vim

Most programmers use their keyboard when they code. But to be “good”, you have to use it much more than that. You should be using your keyboard like a reflex. You should be able to think in code and code in code.

You should know the editor you use fluently. vim is my favorite editor. I use it every day, and it has completely changed the way that I program.

You can learn vim online, master the keyboard shortcuts and focus on your code.

There are a lot of good reasons to use vim. It’s ubiquitous. If you are on a Linux machine or even if you are on OSX, vim is probably already there for you. The resource footprint is low, it’s incredibly configurable, and most importantly, it’s highly efficient.

Tutorials

The best way to learn to code is to code! However, that’s easier said than done. Career paths are littered with pitfalls that get in the way of someone learning how to code. Luckily, there are ways to navigate these hazards and have a clearer path toward success.

There are many tutorials and courses online on places like udemy, youtube and others.

Of course watching videos doesn't make you a great programmer, but it can help you knowing what's possible.

Side Projects

Taking on a side project is a great way to get into new technologies and programming paradigms. Here are some things that I learned through my experiences:

1. Choose something you're already interested in.
2. Automate what would otherwise be manual.
3. Use a lightweight framework.
4. Don't be afraid to experiment.
5. Expect to learn more than you plan for.

Take advantage of the time you have to learn new technologies.

Learn Linux

Learn about linux and how it can make you a better programmer.

Linux is an operating system. You can use this program to surf the web, listen to music, or watch movies. But you can also do much more with it.

Linux is used very often in things like servers, which are powerful computers that store and send information back and forth to other servers.

Linux is also used to make smart phones work. Key to understanding how to use Linux, is using the Linux shell

Learn multiple languages and technologies

Learning new programming languages is the most obvious thing to do, but you also need to learn about things outside of your program. I've known many programmers who are great at one language, but fall short when it comes to others.

The reason for this is that there are various parts of programming that are generally common to all languages. If you can understand these concepts, you'll be able to pick up new languages very quickly (and you'll also gain a lot of
insight into how programming works).