Essential Tips to Become a Better Coder
Today, in this world of the digital world, there is no sign of slowing down the demand for professional and skilled coders. As a result, becoming one can open up a lot of job opportunities. However, there is great competition in this field, as the majority of individuals wish to shape their careers in the development industry.
Currently, as of 2022, there are around 24.5 million developers across the globe, and these numbers are expected to increase to 28.7 by 2024, according to Statista.
However, only having knowledge of programming languages is not enough to survive in this competitive world. The only way to stand out from the crowd and be considered a skilled coder is to be exceptional.
I have come across many people who possess in-depth knowledge of various programming languages, i.e., syntaxes, keywords, APIs, and other programming concepts. Simultaneously, what I have noticed is some individuals face an issue when asked to design and code a solution for a specific problem.
So, this is not a trait of an exceptional coder. As an expert coder, you should be able to deliver a solution to the given problem. But remember that only learning the concepts of programming languages will not make you a better coder.
Here, I have compiled a list of some essential tips that will help you become a better coder. As a developer, I personally feel that the below tips would help other developers or coders be exceptional.
Essential Tips to Become a Better Coder
You might be aware of the fact that coding is not an overnight journey. Also, it is not a single skill. Instead, it is a blend of multiple skills. You need to have profound knowledge of data structures and algorithms, operating systems, databases, object-oriented programming, testing, and many other programming concepts.
If you are a computer science graduate, you might have learned all the aforementioned concepts in-depth during your graduation. In addition, these are the concepts that help you during your interviews.
But what is more important to be a better coder is the ability to implement those concepts in the real world. And this requires problem-solving and analytical skills.
Let us stick to our main topic. Here are some tips that you might find helpful to become a better coder.
- Reading Books
No doubt, books are one of the best places to gain knowledge. Not only do books help you gain knowledge of theoretical programming concepts, but they also help you write clean, effective, and good code.
Good code is one that is easy to understand, performs the intended function, is not over-complicated, and is readable.
I am sharing my experience here. With all the basics of Python concepts, I started writing code and solving various problems. But, one of my mentors suggested reading books to understand how to write effective and clean code. Keeping this in mind, I started with the book Clean Code in Python by Mariano Anaya.
Literally, guys, this book has helped me a lot to write efficient and clean Python code. It has taught me to implement industry-approved coding practices to make code better and more effective.
So, I personally recommend you guys find such books that help you improve your code. Rather than reading multiple books, stick to 2 to 3 books that you feel will provide you with enough knowledge.
2. Practice Data Structures and Algorithms
The second thing I’m putting on this list is data structures and algorithms. Data structures and algorithms serve as foundational skills for every coder. The former helps you organize, process, store, and retrieve data, whereas the latter is a set of sequential steps to perform a specific task.
As a coder, it will be your duty to choose an appropriate data structure to solve a specific problem. When you choose the appropriate one, you can significantly save a good amount of time in performing data operations, such as storage, retrieval, and manipulation.
Having knowledge of algorithms is as equally important as choosing the right data structure. Some popular algorithms you must excel in as a coder are searching, sorting, hashing, recursive, and brute-force algorithms.
Now, to excel in both data structures and algorithms, either you can enroll in an online program or opt for a book if you enjoy reading books.
I would like to mention the name of the book that has helped me learn data structures and algorithms. The name of the book is Introduction to Algorithms. I have learned all the basics of data structure and major algorithms.
3. Read Blogs and Tutorials
Now, a question might have hit your mind: How does reading blogs and tutorials will help you become a better coder? From my personal experience, I can say that blogs and tutorials available on the internet actually help you learn programming concepts. The reason is that expert programmers curate those blogs and share their own experiences to help others.
Also, many times, I have found that blogs have helped me understand complex programming concepts more easily. You can prefer Medium.com, Dev.to, Hackernoon, and FreeCodecamp. Expert programmers and developers across the globe share their knowledge of programming and the latest technologies on these platforms.
4. Read Code
Though this heading might seem odd to read, it is true. As your read blogs and books, reading code will help more than that.
Try reading code from open-source projects, expert programmers’ code, your friends’ code, your existing code, etc., and figure out how they work. When you read and implement the code of others, you get more idea of how code works and gain knowledge of different coding patterns.
When you do this, you gain a better sense of code, and you will be able to identify errors in your as well as others’ code. Having such kind of code sense will definitely make you a better coder.
5. Coding, Coding, and only Coding
Of course, coding is a vital aspect of becoming a coder. When you practice coding, you will come to know your errors. Identify the cause of errors and go back to learn that concept again.
Even a lot of platforms exist where you can practice coding. In order to solve coding challenges, HackerRank and GeeksforGeeks have been a huge assistance to me. For various programming topics, these platforms offer coding challenges. You can quickly learn those concepts by working through challenges from various categories.
I have noticed what many learners do is solve a specific problem and stop there. As per my experience, what I feel is to solve that problem again and come up with an optimal solution.
This is because the first solution is just a try, and you will come to know many things while solving the problem for the first time. But when you solve the same problem for the second time, you know how to solve it; you simply need to think about how you can optimize it.
6. Perform Code Reviews
Reviewing code is yet another practice of becoming a good coder. When you review the code of others, you get to learn many things that you are not aware of. Also, you help the author of the code know their errors and mistakes. So basically, code review is a teaching-learning process.
In addition, many times, you think that you have written bug-free code. But it may contain flaws that your eyes may surpass but not other programmers’.
So, it is always better to review others’ code and get your code reviewed by others. Four eye check is always better than two eyes.
7. Open-Source Contribution
This method has especially helped me a lot to improve my coding skills. I strongly suggest contributing code to open-source platforms. Though if you do not have enough skills to contribute code, you can simply sign the mailing list of major open-source platforms.
When you do this, you can learn a lot from the discussions taking place between expert programmers. You can understand their approaches to solving problems and coding habits.
But what makes the most of these open-source platforms is when you become active. Make sure to ask questions that you face during the code-writing process. In addition, you can share your views regarding coding problems stated by others. This process adds value to your knowledge.
Conclusion
Every coder wishes to become a better one. Besides natural talents like problem-solving and analytical thinking skills, you require a lot of hard work, strong determination, consistent learning, and confidence in yourself. Try out the above tips, and I assure you that you will become a better coder.
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