7 Important but Underrated Skills for Beginner Software Developers

As a beginner software engineer, it’s crucial to acquire essential skills to excel in the field. But which skills are defined as essential skills? Well, it may change from person to person based on their perspective and what they want to become. There are essential technical skills that need an enormous amount of effort and longer time to master, to become a leader in your industry, but I believe that there are some skills often overlooked by beginners, though essential to progress to the next level in your career effortlessly. Let’s have a look at those 7 skills.

1. Using your keyboard without looking

Touch typing is one crucial skill for developers which is often neglected. Here are some tips to improve your typing abilities.

• Utilize a standard keyboard, if possible an external keyboard, because you can learn the keyboard layout, and large keys will make it easier to type.
• Familiarize yourself with the names/functions of each key and also the shortcuts because it will make you more productive.
• Practice, Practice, and Improve your speed.

If you are using Linux and want to learn touch typing, check out KTouch.

2. Using Your Terminal Properly

Familiarizing yourself with the terminal can be a bit challenging for some beginner software developers, though it will become easier with practice. Follow the below strategies to efficiently navigate your terminal.

• Learn a comprehensive set of essential terminal commands that will streamline your workflow.
• Understand how to chain multiple commands together to achieve desired outcomes effectively.
• Familiarize yourself with the command manual pages (man pages) to access detailed documentation whenever needed.

3. Using Your Editor or IDE Properly

If you are a cricketer, you must master the granular things of your pitch and ground, like that, an editor or Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is the software developer’s playground. Familiarize your preferred IDE and optimize your productivity with these techniques.

• Master keyboard shortcuts specific to your chosen editor or IDE for quick navigation and execution of common tasks.
• Leverage the features of your IDE, like code autocomplete, refactoring tools, search and replace, code generation, and comparison.
• Make use of the features of your IDE, such as local history and version control systems, to efficiently manage your code and collaborate with teammates.

4. Reading the Documentation

Official documentation is an invaluable resource for software developers, you are not going to find any crucial information about any technology on any other resources than the official documentation, therefore build the habit of reading documentation before learning any technology.

• Always start your learning journey by referring to the official documentation of the programming language, framework, or tool you are using.
• Familiarize yourself with the location of the documentation for easy access when you need it.
• Thoroughly explore the documentation to discover hidden features and deepen your knowledge.

5. Reading the Error Message Properly

Error messages may seem daunting and as a beginner, it may be demotivating, and you may not have the patience to read the error messages, though they hold vital clues to solving problems, follow these steps to decode error messages effectively.

• Take the time to read error messages carefully, avoiding the temptation to skip or ignore them.
• Seek associated error logs to gain deeper insights into the issue at hand.
• Classify the error, evaluate its impact, and discuss it with your team to devise the best possible solution.

6. Knowing How and Where to Find Information

Being resourceful and having essential information at your fingertips is one of the important skills that will be automatically acquired if you are truly passionate about your profession, regardless of the field. In case you have not acquired this yet, follow the below tips to make it a habit to be resourceful.

• Learn to use the search engine keywords, site search features, and translation tools to learn resources from other languages as well, utilize the power of generative AI to explore and enhance your findings, and improve how deep you can search.
• Look beyond popular platforms like Stack Overflow and Google Search, and explore alternative sources such as Issue/Code Search in GitHub relevant Forum/Email Lists and Google Books Search.

7. Writing and Sharing What You Learn

This is a great way to solidify your knowledge and create long-term memories of your learnings. Over the period it will help you to reach great heights, and embrace the following steps.

• Document your learnings in notes/ mind maps, which will serve as a valuable resource for future reference. Google Keep and X-mind are some useful tools you can try.
• Engage in online forums (such as Stack Overflow, Forums, and Email Lists) and contribute by helping others solve problems.
• Maintain a personal blog where you can share your insights, projects, and experiences with the wider developer community.

These are sorts of skills that are crucial at the very beginning of your career and have to be developed at the beginning of your career, otherwise, it will be harder to develop later on. I believe that these skills will help you to establish a strong foundation for your continuous growth in your software development career and improve your productivity by a big factor.

Share your opinions in the comments!

Author — Vijithan Sivamohan