I just finished reading an interesting article on BI about being a real programmer. One of the interesting things I found in the article was the Reddit Thread about Real Programmer.
Here are some interesting points from that thread:
- A Real Programmer is someone who loves programming! They love it so much that it's what they spend all their time doing.
- A Real Programmer doesn't really consider it "work".
- A programmer isn't a Real Programmer when they don't volunteer to work 60 to 80 hour weeks (for no extra monetary compensation, remember) because it's "fun".
I disagree with some of these posts. I was a programmer and I still am a programmer. A programmer does more than just sitting at his/her desk and write code.
The definition of a real programmer is different for me. In my career, I have dealt with so many programmers, you can imagine. I've also been involved with millions of programmers (online ofcourse) since I started C# Corner in 1999. I have not worked with them but I have seen it all.
So, if you ask me the definition of a real programmer. I would say, how about being a smart programmer? How about finding the optimal solution for a problem?
I personally know programmers who are really good, dedicated and love to code but they live in their own world. They are stubborn. They don't want to learn new things yet better ways to write code. Sometimes living in their own world is just not good enough. Today, the programming world has changed much. It's not 1998 anymore. Businesses need have changed. Everything moves fast. The real programmers that love to write code but do not use proper tools and technologies are not good enough.
In today's demand, a real programmer should be more than just writing code. A real programmer should think like a user and get in the user's shoes. A real programmer should be a good Tester and a real programmer should think about Design also.
Programming is not a rocket science but it is not an art either. To become a good programmer, you must love coding. You must love the complexity of a problem and you must love to find the optimal solution. Check out my How to become a Good Programmer and let me know what you think.
In summary, a programmer should be more than just writing code. Don't forget to check out these readings:
Cheers!