5 Habits Of Most Effective Self-Taught Programmers/Developers

Programming is one of the easiest professions to take without any previous training or background. But when you are an entirely self-taught programmer/developer you can end up with some bad habits that are some times hard to kick off.

When we talk about habits, we know that not all habits are good. The bad habits are basically the negative behavior pattern that keeps you away from accomplishing your dreams, whereas good habits are those that helps you achieve your goals.

‘’ The best way to predict your future is to create it — Abraham Lincoln

Developers who are highly successful in life are because they practice some good habits of successful developers regularly which other people don’t. So, if habits are that successful, then why not we should adopt all these good habits of highly successful developers and list ourselves among successful developers.

Here is a list of 5 habits of successful developers that are common among them.

Love To Code

This may sound a little simplistic or funny, but it’s a crucial point. Someone who is good at whatever work he does, he’s the one who loves that kind of work too. You can’t be able to write good code or develop good software if you do not love doing it. Someone once said: “code is poetry”, because writing code is truly an art.

So, in order to get better at writing code, simply start to love writing code more. Try to feel passionate about digging into the code mechanics, and explore more the good-feeling sensations that come with seeing your own creations in action in many different environments!

Effective Management Of Time

The best software engineer can both code and work as managers of their own time. Most developers are left alone to complete the difficult tasks that require deep thinking and planning. A good engineer knows how to avoid these distractions and maximize their time where they produce the most output.

Start Your Day With Code

When you wake up fresh in the morning, your mind has had time overnight to ponder any problems you were trying to solve yesterday. Try to capitalize on that fresh perspective by working with your code immediately when you sit down to start your workday — even if it is just for 20 minutes. Give yourself a time limit to explore your code, and THEN switch over to finally opening up your email for the first time, or attending a meeting. Do this every day, and it will become a really effective habit.

By starting your day with code, you prevent your fresh mind from being distracted with all of the other demands that are non-technical and will allow you to ride that wave of cognitive focus and energy. Seriously, this code-first-email-after approach changed the game for my programming problem-solving skills and gave me a reason to actually look forward to mornings at work.

Don’t Repeat Yourself (DRY)

There are hundreds of habits developers should follow, but possibly the most popular is DRY: Don’t Repeat Yourself.

This common principle states that “Every piece of knowledge must have a single, unambiguous, authoritative representation within a system.” Or in simpler terms, don’t use the same code in multiple places, and avoid doing the same thing with two different pieces of code.

Personal Projects

It is impossible for one person to keep up the pace of technology on all fronts. Even if you are working on cutting-edge technology, there are many more tech frontiers that you are not exploring or learning. Personal learning and independent projects add great value to your career as a programmer.

In summary, for people who want to take their game to the next level in Programming or Developing, you should take some minutes to reflect on your habits. It’s those habits that set the tone for your day and for your life, in the long run, reflect on them and work on them to get most out of your precious time.

Love what you do if you don’t love what you are doing then there is no point in doing that and wasting your time. When you start loving your work then it doesn't feel like a job or a headache. Time management is the absolute key. The value you time and don’t let social media and stuff waste your time. Do your own project to be on top of your game all the time by keeping up the pace of technology on all fronts.

Next time before you sit in front of your computer for making a fancy algorithm for your Project or any Website for your Clint make sure to follow these habits to lift up your work pace and be more effective and successful.