12 ms·

As a software engineer, what's the best skill to have for the next 5-10 years?

kc10 10y ago
Can't agree more. I also strongly believe movement is life. Movement introduces you to new people, new skills, new technologies and new patterns. My point is just don't get comfortable with what you are doing. The "repeatable comfortable thing" you are doing today would become obsolete one day.
dboreham 10y ago
Communication with other humans.
- Razengan 10y ago
  I thought we develop technology so we don't have to do that.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
rwmj 10y ago
The ability to ignore the latest fad, but know the basics. If it wasn't known about in 1980, and it wasn't published in a peer-reviewed paper since then, then it's probably not worth worrying about.
- PretzelFisch 10y ago
  This approach fails on the job resume. You'll never have 15 years experience with yesterdays new fad if you ignore it.
  - contravariant 10y ago
    You won't have 15 years of experience either way, but by focusing on the basics you can at least adapt more quickly.
  - eeZah7Ux 10y ago
    It will fail for those companies who hire a buzzword checklist. You don't want to work for those companies.
  - watwut 10y ago
    Fads come and go and nobody cares about year old fad. It absolutely makes sense to learn anything that looks like a new concept you did not encountered before - it will make you able to learn faster in the future. It absolutely makes sense to learn whatever the ads ask for if you are look for job right now. Other then that, don't care about fads, general idea on what they are should be sufficient. Nobody cares that I did not learned CORBA years ago. Nobody cares I skipped browser differences between IE6 and Firefox something whenever that was actual. It does matter whether I can understand JS6 code reasonably fast.
- collyw 10y ago
  I wish it was the case.
- ollerac 10y ago
  If you follow this route, you'll have a lot of deep knowledge and the ability to pace yourself in your learning. I agree that that these things are both 100% more valuable than knowing the latest fad. Plus, you can always take a few weekends to dig into the latest fad if you need to for a specific project and learn it quickly because you're not burned out by constantly scrambling from one technology to the next, trying to pad your résumé.
- jwdunne 10y ago
  Out of curiosity, what are those concepts and papers you most recommend that fit this idea? I think it's very important to master the foundations. In fact, I have a book from some anon. maths professors that say such and I was just reminded of it. They claim a student went from close to flunking to top of the class following their advice (interesting two professors provide that we evidence, however). The book is called "5 steps to effective thinking" if anyone is interested.
  - ChristianGeek 10y ago
    Are you referring to this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691156662 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691156662
    - jwdunne 10y ago
      Yes actually, thanks for the correction. Not sure where I got the anonymous authors from!
  - yawaramin 10y ago
    I'd recommend anything by Parnas on information hiding. It's the basis of abstraction--know it inside and out.
closeparen 10y ago
As a counterpoint to learning something "new" every day, it might instead be wise to learn something you already know, but deeper, every day. As fields advance, the trend is towards specialization. If they aren't already, expert-level skills in a few areas should be worth more than tutorial-level skills in a few dozen JavaScript frameworks.
- newbear 10y ago
  So then, what should I be in expert in? Narrowed down to JavaScript.. And assuming my real passions are outside of programming
yawz 10y ago
Learning to learn better, and also learning to practice better.
PretzelFisch 10y ago
Listening, oral and written communication, Leadership and mentoring.
rethab 10y ago
I think what specifically you need to know about largely depends on the field you are working in. A colleague once told me it is important that you are constantly working on something in your free time that is not something you do at work (eg. different technologies, different programming languages paradigm, different database type, etc). This simple advice does two things: You are constantly learning, and you are making sure you're looking beyond whatever it is you are doing for money. You are widening your horizon. Maybe you discover something that you can eventually use at work, maybe it will never be useful.. Who knows in which direction we're heading?
- lutefisk 10y ago
  Sounds like a recipe for burnout. I've tried a few times picking up a new language in my free time, but since I program for work it made my days feel 3 hours longer. I've started picking up hobbies unrelated to programming, it's much easier to spend the time learning something completely different.
  - rethab 10y ago
    So when I said "work on something not work related", I didn't necessarily mean "creating a side-business". It could also be studying or something. In my specific case, I try to study a specific subject each week, for which I invest 4h per week. In fact, it doesn't even have to be technical, I just try to focus on something rather than reading bits and pieces about everything on HN, Twitter, etc.
imafish 10y ago
Can anyone with wife and kids attest to the feasibility of "painting every day"?
- wasted_intel 10y ago
  Wife and two kids, here. 30 minutes a day is what I strive for, with breaks on weekends. Totally feasible.
  - jon-wood 10y ago
    You make a fair point. I posted the opposite while you were writing this, but I could probably fit in 30 minutes a day. I'm just not sure how much I could learn in that little time - it can take me that long just to get into the right mindset.
    - dbancajas 10y ago
      I also had this problem of difficulty getting in the zone. I find that doing it constantly as a habit you get in the zone easily. Plus the knowledge will be stewed in your brain while you're at work. So you're not really only doing the project when sitting in front of the keyboard.
- jon-wood 10y ago
  Its a pipe dream if you have a wife and kids. I get to paint every week if I specifically make time, but there's no way I could do side projects everyday and not burn out from doing nothing but work.
- vikas0380 10y ago
  i have seen only one example, everybody else stopped painting or paints once in while.
- bryanthompson 10y ago
  I have a wife, kid, and a whole mess of dogs. Job is fairly demanding and I have some other loose-ends from past projects that require some babysitting. I aim for at least 15 minutes per day in my wood shop, a little more on the weekends. It's enough that if I plan well, I can practice interesting things or make progress on projects.
foz 10y ago
It's hard to name one skill, but I'd put these into a single topic: the "soft skills" for becoming a more effective senior engineer. Learning how to pair program effectively, and pass along skills to others. Performing great presentations and demos, and writing about your work. Being able to avoid complexity by finding simpler solutions. Separating yourself from your code and being open to criticism. Studying how goals, objectives and tactics relate to actionable tasks a software team needs to execute on. Becoming better a time management and prioritization, and delivering value faster. None of these are very technical skills, but they require a lot of practice and a ton of patience.
- JeremyMorgan 10y ago
  I came here to say this. So many of us focus on the technical advancement only. But learning to work with people becomes more valuable in the long run. As far as specific tech, my crystal ball is a bit fuzzy right now but AI seems a decent bet.
- jasonpeacock 10y ago
  Similarly, learn how to be a "force multiplier". Don't be the 10x engineer, but instead be the 10x multiplier. How do you increase the quality & output of your entire team/org/company? Better features, fewer bugs, faster releases, etc. Learn what it takes to effect that change, and then learn how to make that impact wherever you are.
  - 1091298301 10y ago
    Leave them alone? I've always worked in "teams" where 1-3 workhorses made everything happen; the rest was talking, spinning intrigues and inventing new workflow procedures (which slowed down and annoyed the workhorses).
    - jknoepfler 10y ago
      Not a sustainable model, or a formula for growth. If you genuinely think this fire your time wasters and raise your hiring bar. If you don't invest a piece of your work week mentoring juniors, you're a lot less productive than you could be.
Findeton 10y ago
VR.
gizmodo59 10y ago
The following are always good to have in my opinion: Operating Systems DBMS DS and Algorithms Proficiency in one of the languages(C/C++,Java,Python) Very good communication skills
__robin 10y ago
Healthy work/life balance.
k__ 10y ago
I started blogging this year about specific web-dev problems. One post a week. Coding AND explainibg really helped me to question my knowledge . http://dev.to/kayis http://dev.to/kayis
- klibertp 10y ago
  It's almost impossible for me, unfortunately. When I set out to describe something, I quickly discover how little I know about the thing. I then proceed to learn the missing bits. The time flows and when I finally feel I know enough the original problems seems too trivial to warrant a write-up... Or the post becomes many tens of thousands of words long behemoths that no one wants to read :(
  - Brakenshire 10y ago
    I'd say most of the reading and writing of blog posts are in the "long tail" of people attempting to solve a niche problem in a technology they don't know intimately. Of course most of those are trivial if you already know enough to solve it, but that doesn't mean they're not useful. Extra points for including the conceptual explanation of why it is in fact trivial rather than just the practicalities.
  - donovanm 10y ago
    I would say write it up anyways even if it seems trivial. Things that seem trivial to you could still really help someone out. Especially someone new to the problem.
happy-go-lucky 10y ago
Math and physics.
smonff 10y ago
Having cultural background to deal with non technical stuff. Being able to understand your manager, your boss, your customers, your colleagues.
throwaway12378 10y ago
As somewhat of a failure on this front, I think social skills are very underrated. You may be quite smart, but you know what ? Without a good network you're doomed. We as an industry might like to pretend it is a meritocracy but it hardly is (this from someone who spent a good deal of time in academia).
rasjani 10y ago
Many posts already mention these but in tl;dr: soft skills and ability and will to learn new things.
mcs_ 10y ago
YouTube
ballaa 10y ago
Ability to work across disciplines especially in sectors where digital transformation is having a large impact.
- petra 10y ago
  How does one improve on that?
  - ballaa 10y ago
    Working on embedded systems is how I got started on that path
BeetleB 10y ago
I just gave a presentation at work about how we're ridiculously overeducated on technical skills, and ridiculously undereducated on social dynamics. I mean, I solved more complex technical problems in my undergrad than I've ever had to in my career. My suggestion: While you may want to master a technical skill or two, become good at what they don't teach you: Negotiation skills: https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Yes-Negotiating-Agreement-Without/dp/0143118757/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488045020&sr=8-1&keywords=Getting+To+Yes https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Yes-Negotiating-Agreement-Wit... https://www.amazon.com/Bargaining-Advantage-Negotiation-Strategies-Reasonable/dp/0143036971/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488045053&sr=8-1&keywords=bargaining+for+advantage https://www.amazon.com/Bargaining-Advantage-Negotiation-Stra... The Coursera course from the University of Michigan is decent, if you don't want to read. But the other course (from Yale?) - I would not recommend that as a starter. Communication Skills: https://www.amazon.com/Difficult-Conversations-Discuss-What-Matters/dp/0143118447/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488045088&sr=8-1&keywords=difficult+conversations https://www.amazon.com/Difficult-Conversations-Discuss-What-... https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Conversations-Talking-Stakes-Second/dp/0071771328/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1488045088&sr=8-3&keywords=difficult+conversations https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Conversations-Talking-Stakes-... https://www.amazon.com/Nonviolent-Communication-Language-Life-Changing-Relationships/dp/189200528X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488045125&sr=8-1&keywords=nonviolent+communication+by+marshall+rosenberg https://www.amazon.com/Nonviolent-Communication-Language-Lif... Influence: https://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Robert-Cialdini/dp/006124189X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488045143&sr=8-1&keywords=influence https://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Rober... (His work is often cited in other books - especially related to negotiations). Networking: https://www.amazon.com/Never-Eat-Alone-Expanded-Updated/dp/0385346654/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488045185&sr=8-1&keywords=never+eat+alone https://www.amazon.com/Never-Eat-Alone-Expanded-Updated/dp/0... Finally, a word of advice. Most of us here on HN have no trouble reading stuff and grasping its content. Internalizing it, though, will take work. So don't run away reading all these books. Pick one topic (e.g. negotiation), and read up on it. Take notes (I forget 80% of what I've read after a few months). And try to practice it. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Just focus on one till you feel you are good at it (perhaps for a year). Then pick another topic.
- scarface74 10y ago
daysforbeef 10y ago
Application of Category theory and abstract algebra to Software engineering. Application of Category Theory and abstract algebra to API design and library design. Category theory -> composability on steroids. P.S whoever thinks otherwise is an idiot and what's wrong with the software development world
- 2_listerine_pls 10y ago
  e.g.
  - daysforbeef 10y ago
    Example -> use of Monoids in the design and implementation in the Diagram Library from composition of primitives to caching
- jefft255 10y ago
  This kind of attitude is what's wrong with the software development world.
petra 10y ago
Since stacks change and generally become more abstracted, i would say domain skills: Good ability to work with domain experts and deeply understand the domain and do it in a timely manner, write code as close to the domain level as possible, and having domain knowledge.
sixdimensional 10y ago
So my own anectdotal experience in this has shown the author's suggestions to be true. There's only one major catch that you don't start realizing unless it impacts you - your physical ability to actually absorb and retain continued constant learning. We have to work longer and harder (into advanced age) these days to survive. While many people can learn and adapt and absorb for a long time, I don't think it's true that everyone is that way. Some people, as they age, have more trouble being able to constantly learn and instead end up "stuck" at a certain level of knowledge/skill/ability. In the world of tech where you can get flattened competitively speaking if you fall too far behind, it's incredibly difficult and can become infeasible. Especially difficult if you end up going down the path of memory related diseases. For example, in my family we have dementia running in a few generations. The onset of dementia often shows itself in small ways far earlier than advanced age, for example, the inability to retain short term memory can kick in much earlier. This is one thing that drove my feeling that I had to be as successful as possible and earn as much as I could when I was younger- not to be rich, but in case I literally was unable to keep the pace in the future. But on the bright side, I have aspired to keep my mind open and learning as much as time permits, as the author discussed. So far, my colleagues have always told me they thought I was always a font of knowledge and I always tell them that it's only because I keep trying new things. Not because I actually "know" everything I talk about, just because I try to dabble and learn constantly. I will say though, learning too much breadth, while really fun and a totally valuable way of learning (you start to see cross disciplinary patterns and connections between all kinds of things) - can lead you the "Jack of all trades master of none" conundrum.
ronilan 10y ago
Wordpress. Wikipedia says: WordPress was used by more than 27.5% of the top 10 million websites as of February 2017. With so much agony to go around, ones ability to ease the pain will always be in demand... :)
- t0mk 10y ago
  Let's formulate a skill-in-demand forecast based on Wordpress ubiquity, but sceptical. I start: - Static CMS Advocate - someone who explains that setup for a landing page with contact form doesn't need to consist of Nginx, Varnish, Apache, mariadb and redis.
stupidcar 10y ago
If you're a coder, and you have a job that lets you code (as opposed to sitting in a lot of meetings), then you already "paint every day". Side projects can be a useful way of learning new technologies, but if you're already spending 7-8 hours a day "painting" in work, how much extra skill will you attain doing more in your spare time? I'd argue that you are better off doing anything but programming in your spare time. For example, learn some artistic skills, such as actually painting, or drawing, or playing a musical instrument. Or master a sport, or some other physical skill like woodworking. Don't devote every hour of your life to just one thing. You already spend a third of it programming. That's enough. Step away from the computer and become a more rounded human being.
- fredley 10y ago
  Not necessarily. You may be maintaining a J2EE app by day for a healthy wage at an established firm, and while you're coding every day, you're not "painting" every day. I think what the author is talking about is more than just writing lines of code, it's writing different and experimental lines of code, different from what you do for your day job. I agree though that just writing more code is not the answer. Different people have different appetites for things, and I find a lot of my side projects involve no code (I sometimes do actually paint), but I don't value them any less for it.
- stygiansonic 10y ago
  In general, I agree with this. But sometimes, one's job doesn't provide an outlet for one's passion. It could be because the technology is old, the libraries/tools are out-of-date/internal-only or simply because the work feels like a grind and doesn't lend itself to creativity. In this case, there could still be room in engaging one's creative side through a side project. The key is that a side project like this shouldn't feel like "work". There's no use cargo-culting the side project craze if it doesn't flow naturally. For example, I have a friend who's currently working on a home automation project that involves significant programming. I can tell it brings joy to his life, the same way that painting would to an artist. Maybe this doesn't make him more "rounded", but what's the difference? When I see him talk about it, his eyes light up with the same passion I see from those in the traditionally "creative" fields. In the same way, I love spending time using Jupyter Notebooks/Pandas to do rudimentary data analysis. It's fun, and I've learned a ton, some of which has come back to help in my day job.
lasereyes136 10y ago
Communications skills or ability to learn. Technology will come and go. Best practices evolve all of the time. What technical skills that are best today aren't tomorrow. Learn to communicate and how to learn new things.
stevesun21 10y ago
I would suggest that a mindset that can design systems to solve problems.
moo 10y ago
Finding another career path.
thecity2 10y ago
Some knowledge of machine learning, especially deep learning.
gaius 10y ago
Morse code. Trinary logic. Radio propagation. How to construct an efficient thermocouple from random junk.
- dTal 10y ago
  Ouch. Found the doomsday prepper.
  - mindcrime 10y ago
    I think that list would be more like: 1. How to start a fire with flint and steel, or other technique without matches 2. How to purify water by boiling, iodine, distilling, etc. 3. How to build a shelter using a pocket-knife, some string, and an old tarp. 4. How to trap, kill, skin, dress, and cook wild animals 5. How to catch fish with a homemade hook, or with a spear 5.5 How to make a spear 6. etc. And actually, when you think about it, all of those are things that very well could be valuable.
    - biztos 10y ago
      off-topic and half-joking but... 1. How to predict whether your neighbor will help you or try to kill you. 2. What to say to the Authorities when they find your prepper camp. 3. How to raise chickens in secret. 4. How to fully comply with all orders until you can make it to the border.
dlwdlw 10y ago
Follow your heart, but realize when you're just making an excuse to be self indulgent.
meddlepal 10y ago
Communication, people management and organization. Being able to work with your team effectively is IMO extremely important especially for engineers that jump around a lot to different jobs, teams and corporate cultures.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
vitiral 10y ago
Learn how to write (and edit) design documents. Realizing things are a bad idea early is the best way to do it, and nothing pushes needed change more effectively than a concise and well thought out design doc.
edem 10y ago
Mark Cuban says: “Artificial Intelligence, deep learning, machine learning — whatever you’re doing if you don’t understand it — learn it. Because otherwise you’re going to be a dinosaur within 3 years.”
kozikow 10y ago
I will go against a mainstream of answers like "soft skills" and "computer science" as it's not news that those skills matter. In addition to timeless skills you also need to bet on some new technologies. I have bet on container orchestration and deep learning. Some people would say they are at risk of becoming a fad, but both have been used in solving previously seemingly impossible problems and are rapidly advancing.
- biztos 10y ago
  I doubt deep learning is a fad, considering how "deep industry" (so to speak) is now slowly getting interested. And I think container orchestration will be a Thing for a long time to come, because it's such a pain in the ass. This will be a source of friction for years to come -- somebody set up the damn containers already -- so I think your choices look safe. OTOH they might be wildly different skills, for better or for worse. The Deep Learning person is probably not going to be the Container Cluster Wrangler.
watwut 10y ago
1.) Prioritization. Think straight in situation with a lot of work and decide what is important first instead of jumping into panic mode. 2.) Everyone here focus on teamwork, but I would add a bit opposite one too: ability to work independently for non trivial length of time. Meaning: stays working and motivated without needing manager with all those sticks and carrots. Able to keep module clean without needing others to review it. Able to make decisions - whether architectural or time vs feature set ones or how to prioritize. We often socialize juniors to be completely dependent on elders giving them pretty much zero autonomy. They are smart and all that, but then fail the moment there is a lot work to do, detailed supervision is not available and they suddenly needs to make own decisions. 3.) Willingness to listen to other peoples ideas and thinking about them. Ability to distinguish between "bad code" and "different then what I would do". Seriously.
- tomyws 10y ago
  Good list. I'd expand your first point to include time estimation when prioritising decisions! It'll come in handy, particularly when project planning either short or mid-term.
ruok0101 10y ago
Lots of Q2 time. https://czartodotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/time-quadrants1.png https://czartodotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/time-quadra...
throwaway_374 10y ago
Frankly, interview technique and practice, specifically competitive programming style questions. Entirely pointless and cargo cult but without these skills come a rainy day you will struggle to land a job with the current interview obsession trends.
thunderbong 10y ago
Typing. By far the most under-rated and the most useful skill to have as a programmer. When I seriously started programming, I spent one hour every day for 30 days on typing using one of those many typing softwares. The first thing I noticed was how much less thinking I was doing with regard to my typing. I didn't have a part of my brain guiding my fingers any more - the fingers already knew. The other thing I noticed was that I wasn't typing by characters, I was typing by word. With these two things I was already able to write programs faster. But the other things I've noticed have happened so slowly that I almost didn't realize it. While typing, I can see a broader swathe of the program on the screen than I used to. Code smells popup in my head way sooner. While typing logic patterns that are common, my brain seems to be able to think across the entire program better rather than get caught up in the current file and program flow. All this probably because the brain doesn't need to constantly flit around telling me what key to press. Because of all this, I tend to use keyboard shortcuts everywhere. Whenever I start using a new program regularly, I either memorize or create keyboard shortcuts. Now, when people give me credit for being fast or more productive or knowing a language better, I think probably all of those things, even if true, would surely have taken longer if I didn't know typing. I tell this to every beginning programmer. But sadly, till date, I've not seen anyone dedicate the time to learn this one skill that would help them in their careers, in their knowledge, in their life, in so many ways.
- Koshkin 10y ago
  Hmm. When coding in Assembly, typing skill does not seem to matter. Why, then, should it matter when coding in other languages? Also, whenever I watch a programmer use their typing skill, I can't help noticing that they use the backspace key almost as often as all other keys put together. Oh, and one more thing: one of the best and extremely productive programmers I have known suffered from cerebral palsy. You can imagine that his typing skills were not very high.
- Joeri 10y ago
  > But sadly, till date, I've not seen anyone dedicate the time to learn this one skill that would help them in their careers The first person that tells them is a curiosity, the second a fluke, and the third is on to something. If you're always the first person to tell them, you'll never see them heed your advice.
donovanm 10y ago
The fundamentals of computer science. Data structures, and algorithms in particular.
deleted 10y ago
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Clubber 10y ago
I've been playing a lot of pool lately. A family member gifted us an Olhausen 8'. I played quite a bit in college. It's good, cheap entertainment. A little bit of exercise, and a great way to take your mind off whatever. If you are talking about technologies, WebAPI is what all the kids are using these days, it's a more clever implementation than web services (WCF). Who knows what current saplings will grow. I usually don't pick something up until it's fairly well established.
Animats 10y ago
Statistics and machine learning, or you're toast.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
Entangled 10y ago
Swift. For the next 5-10 years. SQL. For the next 100. Logic. Forever.
faragon 10y ago
Being aware about the Dunning–Kruger effect [1], focus in deliver instead of blindly following brain-dead process religion/s (put your favorite agile/religion here), and learn to identify the best possible talent so you can work with good people ({smart + productive} coworkers makes you grow). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
dandersh 10y ago
The ability to learn coupled with the willingness to adapt. More specifically you should look to balance out what you already know with something new. If you spend your weekdays making CRUD apps, don't spend your free time investigating (yet another) different way to make a CRUD app. Learn machine learning, operating systems, etc. For an actual field, I would think anything to do with large amounts of data, whether it's machine learning, data visualization, etc.
drharby 10y ago
after x-amount of years, it's not so much skill-sets that are valuable, but personal qualities, imo.
ImTalking 10y ago
I would say change one's attitude from a technical-person who happens to make money programming, to a business-person who writes code. You must put business first and understand that coding is only a tool to be used to further yourself.
hermitdev 10y ago
The ability to learn/adapt. As a software engineer, you need to evolve to adjust to the ever changing landscape that you work in. Whether it means learning the next evolution of the language you know (e.g. going from C++98 to C++11, 14 or 17), picking up a new library or even a new architecture (e.g. x86 to x64). You must always be learning. Usually this means a lot of reading, some experimenting. But, the uniform constant is: learning. If you know how to learn (and how this is done differs a lot between individuals), you have a shot at surviving as a software engineer. If you think you now know all you need to know and all you ever will know...well, you might as well inscribe your tombstone in the industry right now.
- nnd 10y ago
  This is mostly true, unless you specialize in legacy technology to serve a niche, like COBOL mainframes. In this regard the profession is similar to that of a doctor or a lawyer, where the knowledge body is not as impermanent.
  - tracker1 10y ago
    But even that has grown/changed... not as much as the broader dev community as a whole, but it's not like its' stood still.
  - hermitdev 10y ago
    I think the learning mechanic still holds. You've still got to learn the old paradigms, but if/when there's an impetus to migrate, you need to learn the new paradigms and (hopefully) provide useful & cost-effective knowledge during the migration (my last project as an intern at a Fortune 500 company was to rewrite a legacy batch-processed mainframe Cobol application to a web-based .Net application. I had to learn at least enough Cobol to understand what was being done in order to replace it. Went from about a 45kloc Cobol program to about a 10k .Net program w/ about 5k of xml configuration. Point is: even if you're not going to write in a language, sometimes you need to understand a different one. I think I saw perhaps the worst language I've ever seen: "MOVE NEXT SENTANCE", which jumps, unconditionally to the next period in the source. Yes, a statement "MOVE NEXT STATEMENT" jumps to the very next period, aka ".". It's a very large goto statement that jumps to an extremely terse label. I don't mind appropriate usage of gotos in C/C++/C#, but this construct is just ripe for abuse and misunderstanding.
pryelluw 10y ago
Learn how to sell/market yourself. Lesser engineers who can market/sell themselves will have work when others wont. Its a cruel reality but thats life.
eranation 10y ago
People skills and other soft skills, including time management, focusing, simplifying, getting your message across, explaining complex things in an easy way. Getting people motivated. Getting yourself motivated. Always learning and never assuming you are in a spot that you can afford to stop learning and being curious.
nnd 10y ago
I don't think it's fair to compare software engineering with painting. One is (mostly) a craft, and another is (mostly) an art form. You success as a software engineer is defined by how fast you can learn, be that a new programming language or a javascript framework, although there are exceptions of the rule if you specialize in some legacy technology which still needs to be maintained. You success as an artist doesn't involve fast learning, but rather creativity and marketing skills.
- biztos 10y ago
  As a painter and a programmer I'm very wary of comparisons between the two, but I think the article was getting at something different. Namely: the daily practice of doing what you do. This can be any discipline, and it can be multiple disciplines for the same person. It does look like there's a certain advantage to quickly learning the latest thing, but that's a job-hopper's advantage. I don't think the fast learning of fashionable things makes one a better or more respected engineer than the deep learning of useful things. (I admit there may be more money for job hoppers, in case that's the measure of success here.) Success as an artist is a much more complex, chimeric thing than just creativity + marketing. But it doesn't happen without a lot of discipline, even if it's the same boring discipline one can achieve by going to the gym three times a week. If you study the great artists throughout history, even contemporary ones, you see time after time the "1% inspiration, 99% perspiration" formula.
vosper 10y ago
Lots of soft skills in this thread (which is not a bad thing; plenty of good stuff there) so I'll give you a technical one: I have been following Typescript and I increasingly believe that it will displace traditional backend web development, and we'll end up with Typescript on the backend and the front end. I think this because: - it's a very modern language with great type features (it's clearly better than JS in my mind) - it's got tooling support in all the major IDEs - it's under rapid development - it's being pushed ahead by Microsoft, and other big industry names - it's been/being adopted by many projects, and it seems especially by people in the React space. - Node is mature for server-side If I was a Rails developer in particular) or a Python person who only does web (Python's not going away in scientific computing) I'd be keeping an eye on it. The way Typescript is going it may end up being a better, safer, faster language than Python [0], with the benefit of running in browser, on the server, and as a mobile app via React Native. [0] this might be part of why Python is slowly starting to move on the typing front, but given there's still a lot of people on 2.x it'll be a while before progress is made. And it's only type hints, not enforcement.
biztos 10y ago
"Paint every day" is great advice for staying sane and remembering the craft of programming (or for that matter painting). I don't know how old the author is, so I have no idea what "5-10 years" means to him, but for anyone not at the beginning of their career I might add: 1) Add value well beyond any specific "engineering" you do. Beyond a certain point you will be valued for what you bring to the business; your coding mojo becomes less interesting to everyone as you get older. 2) Be good (get better) at the social part, including the boring meetings. Or make your "F-you" money in the startup world and do whatever you want... but if you don't do that, over time you will need to be good at the interpersonal side of the business you're in. 3) Don't treat #1 or #2 as excuses to stop caring about the code. Even if you make SVP and can't (shouldn't!) care about the company's code in detail, you should still care about your own, and about good code in general. Otherwise they will see your soul at the edges of your eyes, and it will be corrosive. Like probably most of us, I need to work more on #2, and get better at explaining #1. I do code every day, meaning 5-6 days a week; but I admit that I struggle to actually paint regularly (I am also a painter). Working on it...
nunez 10y ago
Learning how to talk to people and sell things. Fads will come and go, but sales will always be here to stay.
ChicagoDave 10y ago
Primarily, maintain your ability to learn new things, whether it be languages, tools, concepts, strategies, platforms. That's the abstract answer. The concrete answer is the cloud. Learn what serverless microservices are, how to build them, deploy them, and integrate them into a large system. Cloud devops is already growing leaps and bounds and just like we needed to know our OS in the past, we're going to need to know devops in whatever cloud we're using (AWS, Azure, Google, ???). Learn Lambda's and functional microservices. Learn Paas and Saas, learn how to use a tool like DynamoDB even if it doesn't fit your prejudices for a data store. Learn unit testing. You should be able to unit test and integration test using mocks in any platform you need to work in. Agile project management. Sprint planning, planning poker, kanban boards, choosing tasks vs. being given tasks, retrospectives...these are all important to learn. Keep some semblance of knowledge of metal. What I mean is, write some low-level code to understand how memory works, how things work internally within a platform. It's not important to be an expert, but understanding some of the nuts and bolts of software engineering will make you a better programmer. Listen to everyone without prejudice. I can't say this enough. Everyone has ideas and even though new ideas may not make any sense to you, keep an open mind. Be inclusive. Always try to make people around you better at their jobs. Manage your emotions. You can be passionate and sometimes even obstinate about solutions, but manage how you interact with people. The greatest success comes from moderate temperament.

kc10 10y ago

Can't agree more. I also strongly believe movement is life. Movement introduces you to new people, new skills, new technologies and new patterns. My point is just don't get comfortable with what you are doing. The "repeatable comfortable thing" you are doing today would become obsolete one day.

dboreham 10y ago

Communication with other humans.

Razengan 10y ago
I thought we develop technology so we don't have to do that.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

rwmj 10y ago

The ability to ignore the latest fad, but know the basics. If it wasn't known about in 1980, and it wasn't published in a peer-reviewed paper since then, then it's probably not worth worrying about.

PretzelFisch 10y ago
This approach fails on the job resume. You'll never have 15 years experience with yesterdays new fad if you ignore it.
- contravariant 10y ago
  You won't have 15 years of experience either way, but by focusing on the basics you can at least adapt more quickly.
- eeZah7Ux 10y ago
  It will fail for those companies who hire a buzzword checklist. You don't want to work for those companies.
- watwut 10y ago
  Fads come and go and nobody cares about year old fad. It absolutely makes sense to learn anything that looks like a new concept you did not encountered before - it will make you able to learn faster in the future. It absolutely makes sense to learn whatever the ads ask for if you are look for job right now. Other then that, don't care about fads, general idea on what they are should be sufficient. Nobody cares that I did not learned CORBA years ago. Nobody cares I skipped browser differences between IE6 and Firefox something whenever that was actual. It does matter whether I can understand JS6 code reasonably fast.
collyw 10y ago
I wish it was the case.
ollerac 10y ago
If you follow this route, you'll have a lot of deep knowledge and the ability to pace yourself in your learning. I agree that that these things are both 100% more valuable than knowing the latest fad. Plus, you can always take a few weekends to dig into the latest fad if you need to for a specific project and learn it quickly because you're not burned out by constantly scrambling from one technology to the next, trying to pad your résumé.
jwdunne 10y ago
Out of curiosity, what are those concepts and papers you most recommend that fit this idea? I think it's very important to master the foundations. In fact, I have a book from some anon. maths professors that say such and I was just reminded of it. They claim a student went from close to flunking to top of the class following their advice (interesting two professors provide that we evidence, however). The book is called "5 steps to effective thinking" if anyone is interested.
- ChristianGeek 10y ago
  Are you referring to this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691156662 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691156662
  - jwdunne 10y ago
    Yes actually, thanks for the correction. Not sure where I got the anonymous authors from!
- yawaramin 10y ago
  I'd recommend anything by Parnas on information hiding. It's the basis of abstraction--know it inside and out.

closeparen 10y ago

As a counterpoint to learning something "new" every day, it might instead be wise to learn something you already know, but deeper, every day. As fields advance, the trend is towards specialization. If they aren't already, expert-level skills in a few areas should be worth more than tutorial-level skills in a few dozen JavaScript frameworks.

newbear 10y ago
So then, what should I be in expert in? Narrowed down to JavaScript.. And assuming my real passions are outside of programming

yawz 10y ago

Learning to learn better, and also learning to practice better.

PretzelFisch 10y ago

Listening, oral and written communication, Leadership and mentoring.

rethab 10y ago

I think what specifically you need to know about largely depends on the field you are working in. A colleague once told me it is important that you are constantly working on something in your free time that is not something you do at work (eg. different technologies, different programming languages paradigm, different database type, etc). This simple advice does two things: You are constantly learning, and you are making sure you're looking beyond whatever it is you are doing for money. You are widening your horizon. Maybe you discover something that you can eventually use at work, maybe it will never be useful.. Who knows in which direction we're heading?

lutefisk 10y ago
Sounds like a recipe for burnout. I've tried a few times picking up a new language in my free time, but since I program for work it made my days feel 3 hours longer. I've started picking up hobbies unrelated to programming, it's much easier to spend the time learning something completely different.
- rethab 10y ago
  So when I said "work on something not work related", I didn't necessarily mean "creating a side-business". It could also be studying or something. In my specific case, I try to study a specific subject each week, for which I invest 4h per week. In fact, it doesn't even have to be technical, I just try to focus on something rather than reading bits and pieces about everything on HN, Twitter, etc.

imafish 10y ago

Can anyone with wife and kids attest to the feasibility of "painting every day"?

wasted_intel 10y ago
Wife and two kids, here. 30 minutes a day is what I strive for, with breaks on weekends. Totally feasible.
- jon-wood 10y ago
  You make a fair point. I posted the opposite while you were writing this, but I could probably fit in 30 minutes a day. I'm just not sure how much I could learn in that little time - it can take me that long just to get into the right mindset.
  - dbancajas 10y ago
    I also had this problem of difficulty getting in the zone. I find that doing it constantly as a habit you get in the zone easily. Plus the knowledge will be stewed in your brain while you're at work. So you're not really only doing the project when sitting in front of the keyboard.
jon-wood 10y ago
Its a pipe dream if you have a wife and kids. I get to paint every week if I specifically make time, but there's no way I could do side projects everyday and not burn out from doing nothing but work.
vikas0380 10y ago
i have seen only one example, everybody else stopped painting or paints once in while.
bryanthompson 10y ago
I have a wife, kid, and a whole mess of dogs. Job is fairly demanding and I have some other loose-ends from past projects that require some babysitting. I aim for at least 15 minutes per day in my wood shop, a little more on the weekends. It's enough that if I plan well, I can practice interesting things or make progress on projects.

foz 10y ago

It's hard to name one skill, but I'd put these into a single topic: the "soft skills" for becoming a more effective senior engineer. Learning how to pair program effectively, and pass along skills to others. Performing great presentations and demos, and writing about your work. Being able to avoid complexity by finding simpler solutions. Separating yourself from your code and being open to criticism. Studying how goals, objectives and tactics relate to actionable tasks a software team needs to execute on. Becoming better a time management and prioritization, and delivering value faster. None of these are very technical skills, but they require a lot of practice and a ton of patience.

JeremyMorgan 10y ago
I came here to say this. So many of us focus on the technical advancement only. But learning to work with people becomes more valuable in the long run. As far as specific tech, my crystal ball is a bit fuzzy right now but AI seems a decent bet.
jasonpeacock 10y ago
Similarly, learn how to be a "force multiplier". Don't be the 10x engineer, but instead be the 10x multiplier. How do you increase the quality & output of your entire team/org/company? Better features, fewer bugs, faster releases, etc. Learn what it takes to effect that change, and then learn how to make that impact wherever you are.
- 1091298301 10y ago
  Leave them alone? I've always worked in "teams" where 1-3 workhorses made everything happen; the rest was talking, spinning intrigues and inventing new workflow procedures (which slowed down and annoyed the workhorses).
  - jknoepfler 10y ago
    Not a sustainable model, or a formula for growth. If you genuinely think this fire your time wasters and raise your hiring bar. If you don't invest a piece of your work week mentoring juniors, you're a lot less productive than you could be.

Findeton 10y ago

VR.

gizmodo59 10y ago

The following are always good to have in my opinion: Operating Systems DBMS DS and Algorithms Proficiency in one of the languages(C/C++,Java,Python) Very good communication skills

__robin 10y ago

Healthy work/life balance.

k__ 10y ago

I started blogging this year about specific web-dev problems. One post a week. Coding AND explainibg really helped me to question my knowledge . http://dev.to/kayis http://dev.to/kayis

klibertp 10y ago
It's almost impossible for me, unfortunately. When I set out to describe something, I quickly discover how little I know about the thing. I then proceed to learn the missing bits. The time flows and when I finally feel I know enough the original problems seems too trivial to warrant a write-up... Or the post becomes many tens of thousands of words long behemoths that no one wants to read :(
- Brakenshire 10y ago
  I'd say most of the reading and writing of blog posts are in the "long tail" of people attempting to solve a niche problem in a technology they don't know intimately. Of course most of those are trivial if you already know enough to solve it, but that doesn't mean they're not useful. Extra points for including the conceptual explanation of why it is in fact trivial rather than just the practicalities.
- donovanm 10y ago
  I would say write it up anyways even if it seems trivial. Things that seem trivial to you could still really help someone out. Especially someone new to the problem.

happy-go-lucky 10y ago

Math and physics.

smonff 10y ago

Having cultural background to deal with non technical stuff. Being able to understand your manager, your boss, your customers, your colleagues.

throwaway12378 10y ago

As somewhat of a failure on this front, I think social skills are very underrated. You may be quite smart, but you know what ? Without a good network you're doomed. We as an industry might like to pretend it is a meritocracy but it hardly is (this from someone who spent a good deal of time in academia).

rasjani 10y ago

Many posts already mention these but in tl;dr: soft skills and ability and will to learn new things.

mcs_ 10y ago

YouTube

ballaa 10y ago

Ability to work across disciplines especially in sectors where digital transformation is having a large impact.

petra 10y ago
How does one improve on that?
- ballaa 10y ago
  Working on embedded systems is how I got started on that path

BeetleB 10y ago

I just gave a presentation at work about how we're ridiculously overeducated on technical skills, and ridiculously undereducated on social dynamics. I mean, I solved more complex technical problems in my undergrad than I've ever had to in my career. My suggestion: While you may want to master a technical skill or two, become good at what they don't teach you: Negotiation skills: https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Yes-Negotiating-Agreement-Without/dp/0143118757/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488045020&sr=8-1&keywords=Getting+To+Yes https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Yes-Negotiating-Agreement-Wit... https://www.amazon.com/Bargaining-Advantage-Negotiation-Strategies-Reasonable/dp/0143036971/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488045053&sr=8-1&keywords=bargaining+for+advantage https://www.amazon.com/Bargaining-Advantage-Negotiation-Stra... The Coursera course from the University of Michigan is decent, if you don't want to read. But the other course (from Yale?) - I would not recommend that as a starter. Communication Skills: https://www.amazon.com/Difficult-Conversations-Discuss-What-Matters/dp/0143118447/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488045088&sr=8-1&keywords=difficult+conversations https://www.amazon.com/Difficult-Conversations-Discuss-What-... https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Conversations-Talking-Stakes-Second/dp/0071771328/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1488045088&sr=8-3&keywords=difficult+conversations https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Conversations-Talking-Stakes-... https://www.amazon.com/Nonviolent-Communication-Language-Life-Changing-Relationships/dp/189200528X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488045125&sr=8-1&keywords=nonviolent+communication+by+marshall+rosenberg https://www.amazon.com/Nonviolent-Communication-Language-Lif... Influence: https://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Robert-Cialdini/dp/006124189X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488045143&sr=8-1&keywords=influence https://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Rober... (His work is often cited in other books - especially related to negotiations). Networking: https://www.amazon.com/Never-Eat-Alone-Expanded-Updated/dp/0385346654/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488045185&sr=8-1&keywords=never+eat+alone https://www.amazon.com/Never-Eat-Alone-Expanded-Updated/dp/0... Finally, a word of advice. Most of us here on HN have no trouble reading stuff and grasping its content. Internalizing it, though, will take work. So don't run away reading all these books. Pick one topic (e.g. negotiation), and read up on it. Take notes (I forget 80% of what I've read after a few months). And try to practice it. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Just focus on one till you feel you are good at it (perhaps for a year). Then pick another topic.

scarface74 10y ago

daysforbeef 10y ago

Application of Category theory and abstract algebra to Software engineering. Application of Category Theory and abstract algebra to API design and library design. Category theory -> composability on steroids. P.S whoever thinks otherwise is an idiot and what's wrong with the software development world

2_listerine_pls 10y ago
e.g.
- daysforbeef 10y ago
  Example -> use of Monoids in the design and implementation in the Diagram Library from composition of primitives to caching
jefft255 10y ago
This kind of attitude is what's wrong with the software development world.

petra 10y ago

Since stacks change and generally become more abstracted, i would say domain skills: Good ability to work with domain experts and deeply understand the domain and do it in a timely manner, write code as close to the domain level as possible, and having domain knowledge.

sixdimensional 10y ago

So my own anectdotal experience in this has shown the author's suggestions to be true. There's only one major catch that you don't start realizing unless it impacts you - your physical ability to actually absorb and retain continued constant learning. We have to work longer and harder (into advanced age) these days to survive. While many people can learn and adapt and absorb for a long time, I don't think it's true that everyone is that way. Some people, as they age, have more trouble being able to constantly learn and instead end up "stuck" at a certain level of knowledge/skill/ability. In the world of tech where you can get flattened competitively speaking if you fall too far behind, it's incredibly difficult and can become infeasible. Especially difficult if you end up going down the path of memory related diseases. For example, in my family we have dementia running in a few generations. The onset of dementia often shows itself in small ways far earlier than advanced age, for example, the inability to retain short term memory can kick in much earlier. This is one thing that drove my feeling that I had to be as successful as possible and earn as much as I could when I was younger- not to be rich, but in case I literally was unable to keep the pace in the future. But on the bright side, I have aspired to keep my mind open and learning as much as time permits, as the author discussed. So far, my colleagues have always told me they thought I was always a font of knowledge and I always tell them that it's only because I keep trying new things. Not because I actually "know" everything I talk about, just because I try to dabble and learn constantly. I will say though, learning too much breadth, while really fun and a totally valuable way of learning (you start to see cross disciplinary patterns and connections between all kinds of things) - can lead you the "Jack of all trades master of none" conundrum.

ronilan 10y ago

Wordpress. Wikipedia says: WordPress was used by more than 27.5% of the top 10 million websites as of February 2017. With so much agony to go around, ones ability to ease the pain will always be in demand... :)

t0mk 10y ago
Let's formulate a skill-in-demand forecast based on Wordpress ubiquity, but sceptical. I start: - Static CMS Advocate - someone who explains that setup for a landing page with contact form doesn't need to consist of Nginx, Varnish, Apache, mariadb and redis.

stupidcar 10y ago

If you're a coder, and you have a job that lets you code (as opposed to sitting in a lot of meetings), then you already "paint every day". Side projects can be a useful way of learning new technologies, but if you're already spending 7-8 hours a day "painting" in work, how much extra skill will you attain doing more in your spare time? I'd argue that you are better off doing anything but programming in your spare time. For example, learn some artistic skills, such as actually painting, or drawing, or playing a musical instrument. Or master a sport, or some other physical skill like woodworking. Don't devote every hour of your life to just one thing. You already spend a third of it programming. That's enough. Step away from the computer and become a more rounded human being.

fredley 10y ago
Not necessarily. You may be maintaining a J2EE app by day for a healthy wage at an established firm, and while you're coding every day, you're not "painting" every day. I think what the author is talking about is more than just writing lines of code, it's writing different and experimental lines of code, different from what you do for your day job. I agree though that just writing more code is not the answer. Different people have different appetites for things, and I find a lot of my side projects involve no code (I sometimes do actually paint), but I don't value them any less for it.
stygiansonic 10y ago
In general, I agree with this. But sometimes, one's job doesn't provide an outlet for one's passion. It could be because the technology is old, the libraries/tools are out-of-date/internal-only or simply because the work feels like a grind and doesn't lend itself to creativity. In this case, there could still be room in engaging one's creative side through a side project. The key is that a side project like this shouldn't feel like "work". There's no use cargo-culting the side project craze if it doesn't flow naturally. For example, I have a friend who's currently working on a home automation project that involves significant programming. I can tell it brings joy to his life, the same way that painting would to an artist. Maybe this doesn't make him more "rounded", but what's the difference? When I see him talk about it, his eyes light up with the same passion I see from those in the traditionally "creative" fields. In the same way, I love spending time using Jupyter Notebooks/Pandas to do rudimentary data analysis. It's fun, and I've learned a ton, some of which has come back to help in my day job.

lasereyes136 10y ago

Communications skills or ability to learn. Technology will come and go. Best practices evolve all of the time. What technical skills that are best today aren't tomorrow. Learn to communicate and how to learn new things.

stevesun21 10y ago

I would suggest that a mindset that can design systems to solve problems.

moo 10y ago

Finding another career path.

thecity2 10y ago

Some knowledge of machine learning, especially deep learning.

gaius 10y ago

Morse code. Trinary logic. Radio propagation. How to construct an efficient thermocouple from random junk.

dTal 10y ago
Ouch. Found the doomsday prepper.
- mindcrime 10y ago
  I think that list would be more like: 1. How to start a fire with flint and steel, or other technique without matches 2. How to purify water by boiling, iodine, distilling, etc. 3. How to build a shelter using a pocket-knife, some string, and an old tarp. 4. How to trap, kill, skin, dress, and cook wild animals 5. How to catch fish with a homemade hook, or with a spear 5.5 How to make a spear 6. etc. And actually, when you think about it, all of those are things that very well could be valuable.
  - biztos 10y ago
    off-topic and half-joking but... 1. How to predict whether your neighbor will help you or try to kill you. 2. What to say to the Authorities when they find your prepper camp. 3. How to raise chickens in secret. 4. How to fully comply with all orders until you can make it to the border.

dlwdlw 10y ago

Follow your heart, but realize when you're just making an excuse to be self indulgent.

meddlepal 10y ago

Communication, people management and organization. Being able to work with your team effectively is IMO extremely important especially for engineers that jump around a lot to different jobs, teams and corporate cultures.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

vitiral 10y ago

Learn how to write (and edit) design documents. Realizing things are a bad idea early is the best way to do it, and nothing pushes needed change more effectively than a concise and well thought out design doc.

edem 10y ago

Mark Cuban says: “Artificial Intelligence, deep learning, machine learning — whatever you’re doing if you don’t understand it — learn it. Because otherwise you’re going to be a dinosaur within 3 years.”

kozikow 10y ago

I will go against a mainstream of answers like "soft skills" and "computer science" as it's not news that those skills matter. In addition to timeless skills you also need to bet on some new technologies. I have bet on container orchestration and deep learning. Some people would say they are at risk of becoming a fad, but both have been used in solving previously seemingly impossible problems and are rapidly advancing.

biztos 10y ago
I doubt deep learning is a fad, considering how "deep industry" (so to speak) is now slowly getting interested. And I think container orchestration will be a Thing for a long time to come, because it's such a pain in the ass. This will be a source of friction for years to come -- somebody set up the damn containers already -- so I think your choices look safe. OTOH they might be wildly different skills, for better or for worse. The Deep Learning person is probably not going to be the Container Cluster Wrangler.

watwut 10y ago

1.) Prioritization. Think straight in situation with a lot of work and decide what is important first instead of jumping into panic mode. 2.) Everyone here focus on teamwork, but I would add a bit opposite one too: ability to work independently for non trivial length of time. Meaning: stays working and motivated without needing manager with all those sticks and carrots. Able to keep module clean without needing others to review it. Able to make decisions - whether architectural or time vs feature set ones or how to prioritize. We often socialize juniors to be completely dependent on elders giving them pretty much zero autonomy. They are smart and all that, but then fail the moment there is a lot work to do, detailed supervision is not available and they suddenly needs to make own decisions. 3.) Willingness to listen to other peoples ideas and thinking about them. Ability to distinguish between "bad code" and "different then what I would do". Seriously.

tomyws 10y ago
Good list. I'd expand your first point to include time estimation when prioritising decisions! It'll come in handy, particularly when project planning either short or mid-term.

ruok0101 10y ago

Lots of Q2 time. https://czartodotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/time-quadrants1.png https://czartodotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/time-quadra...

throwaway_374 10y ago

Frankly, interview technique and practice, specifically competitive programming style questions. Entirely pointless and cargo cult but without these skills come a rainy day you will struggle to land a job with the current interview obsession trends.

thunderbong 10y ago

Typing. By far the most under-rated and the most useful skill to have as a programmer. When I seriously started programming, I spent one hour every day for 30 days on typing using one of those many typing softwares. The first thing I noticed was how much less thinking I was doing with regard to my typing. I didn't have a part of my brain guiding my fingers any more - the fingers already knew. The other thing I noticed was that I wasn't typing by characters, I was typing by word. With these two things I was already able to write programs faster. But the other things I've noticed have happened so slowly that I almost didn't realize it. While typing, I can see a broader swathe of the program on the screen than I used to. Code smells popup in my head way sooner. While typing logic patterns that are common, my brain seems to be able to think across the entire program better rather than get caught up in the current file and program flow. All this probably because the brain doesn't need to constantly flit around telling me what key to press. Because of all this, I tend to use keyboard shortcuts everywhere. Whenever I start using a new program regularly, I either memorize or create keyboard shortcuts. Now, when people give me credit for being fast or more productive or knowing a language better, I think probably all of those things, even if true, would surely have taken longer if I didn't know typing. I tell this to every beginning programmer. But sadly, till date, I've not seen anyone dedicate the time to learn this one skill that would help them in their careers, in their knowledge, in their life, in so many ways.

Koshkin 10y ago
Hmm. When coding in Assembly, typing skill does not seem to matter. Why, then, should it matter when coding in other languages? Also, whenever I watch a programmer use their typing skill, I can't help noticing that they use the backspace key almost as often as all other keys put together. Oh, and one more thing: one of the best and extremely productive programmers I have known suffered from cerebral palsy. You can imagine that his typing skills were not very high.
Joeri 10y ago
> But sadly, till date, I've not seen anyone dedicate the time to learn this one skill that would help them in their careers The first person that tells them is a curiosity, the second a fluke, and the third is on to something. If you're always the first person to tell them, you'll never see them heed your advice.

donovanm 10y ago

The fundamentals of computer science. Data structures, and algorithms in particular.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

Clubber 10y ago

I've been playing a lot of pool lately. A family member gifted us an Olhausen 8'. I played quite a bit in college. It's good, cheap entertainment. A little bit of exercise, and a great way to take your mind off whatever. If you are talking about technologies, WebAPI is what all the kids are using these days, it's a more clever implementation than web services (WCF). Who knows what current saplings will grow. I usually don't pick something up until it's fairly well established.

Animats 10y ago

Statistics and machine learning, or you're toast.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

Entangled 10y ago

Swift. For the next 5-10 years. SQL. For the next 100. Logic. Forever.

faragon 10y ago

Being aware about the Dunning–Kruger effect [1], focus in deliver instead of blindly following brain-dead process religion/s (put your favorite agile/religion here), and learn to identify the best possible talent so you can work with good people ({smart + productive} coworkers makes you grow). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect

dandersh 10y ago

The ability to learn coupled with the willingness to adapt. More specifically you should look to balance out what you already know with something new. If you spend your weekdays making CRUD apps, don't spend your free time investigating (yet another) different way to make a CRUD app. Learn machine learning, operating systems, etc. For an actual field, I would think anything to do with large amounts of data, whether it's machine learning, data visualization, etc.

drharby 10y ago

after x-amount of years, it's not so much skill-sets that are valuable, but personal qualities, imo.

ImTalking 10y ago

I would say change one's attitude from a technical-person who happens to make money programming, to a business-person who writes code. You must put business first and understand that coding is only a tool to be used to further yourself.

hermitdev 10y ago

The ability to learn/adapt. As a software engineer, you need to evolve to adjust to the ever changing landscape that you work in. Whether it means learning the next evolution of the language you know (e.g. going from C++98 to C++11, 14 or 17), picking up a new library or even a new architecture (e.g. x86 to x64). You must always be learning. Usually this means a lot of reading, some experimenting. But, the uniform constant is: learning. If you know how to learn (and how this is done differs a lot between individuals), you have a shot at surviving as a software engineer. If you think you now know all you need to know and all you ever will know...well, you might as well inscribe your tombstone in the industry right now.

nnd 10y ago
This is mostly true, unless you specialize in legacy technology to serve a niche, like COBOL mainframes. In this regard the profession is similar to that of a doctor or a lawyer, where the knowledge body is not as impermanent.
- tracker1 10y ago
  But even that has grown/changed... not as much as the broader dev community as a whole, but it's not like its' stood still.
- hermitdev 10y ago
  I think the learning mechanic still holds. You've still got to learn the old paradigms, but if/when there's an impetus to migrate, you need to learn the new paradigms and (hopefully) provide useful & cost-effective knowledge during the migration (my last project as an intern at a Fortune 500 company was to rewrite a legacy batch-processed mainframe Cobol application to a web-based .Net application. I had to learn at least enough Cobol to understand what was being done in order to replace it. Went from about a 45kloc Cobol program to about a 10k .Net program w/ about 5k of xml configuration. Point is: even if you're not going to write in a language, sometimes you need to understand a different one. I think I saw perhaps the worst language I've ever seen: "MOVE NEXT SENTANCE", which jumps, unconditionally to the next period in the source. Yes, a statement "MOVE NEXT STATEMENT" jumps to the very next period, aka ".". It's a very large goto statement that jumps to an extremely terse label. I don't mind appropriate usage of gotos in C/C++/C#, but this construct is just ripe for abuse and misunderstanding.

pryelluw 10y ago

Learn how to sell/market yourself. Lesser engineers who can market/sell themselves will have work when others wont. Its a cruel reality but thats life.

eranation 10y ago

People skills and other soft skills, including time management, focusing, simplifying, getting your message across, explaining complex things in an easy way. Getting people motivated. Getting yourself motivated. Always learning and never assuming you are in a spot that you can afford to stop learning and being curious.

nnd 10y ago

I don't think it's fair to compare software engineering with painting. One is (mostly) a craft, and another is (mostly) an art form. You success as a software engineer is defined by how fast you can learn, be that a new programming language or a javascript framework, although there are exceptions of the rule if you specialize in some legacy technology which still needs to be maintained. You success as an artist doesn't involve fast learning, but rather creativity and marketing skills.

biztos 10y ago
As a painter and a programmer I'm very wary of comparisons between the two, but I think the article was getting at something different. Namely: the daily practice of doing what you do. This can be any discipline, and it can be multiple disciplines for the same person. It does look like there's a certain advantage to quickly learning the latest thing, but that's a job-hopper's advantage. I don't think the fast learning of fashionable things makes one a better or more respected engineer than the deep learning of useful things. (I admit there may be more money for job hoppers, in case that's the measure of success here.) Success as an artist is a much more complex, chimeric thing than just creativity + marketing. But it doesn't happen without a lot of discipline, even if it's the same boring discipline one can achieve by going to the gym three times a week. If you study the great artists throughout history, even contemporary ones, you see time after time the "1% inspiration, 99% perspiration" formula.

vosper 10y ago

Lots of soft skills in this thread (which is not a bad thing; plenty of good stuff there) so I'll give you a technical one: I have been following Typescript and I increasingly believe that it will displace traditional backend web development, and we'll end up with Typescript on the backend and the front end. I think this because: - it's a very modern language with great type features (it's clearly better than JS in my mind) - it's got tooling support in all the major IDEs - it's under rapid development - it's being pushed ahead by Microsoft, and other big industry names - it's been/being adopted by many projects, and it seems especially by people in the React space. - Node is mature for server-side If I was a Rails developer in particular) or a Python person who only does web (Python's not going away in scientific computing) I'd be keeping an eye on it. The way Typescript is going it may end up being a better, safer, faster language than Python [0], with the benefit of running in browser, on the server, and as a mobile app via React Native. [0] this might be part of why Python is slowly starting to move on the typing front, but given there's still a lot of people on 2.x it'll be a while before progress is made. And it's only type hints, not enforcement.

biztos 10y ago

"Paint every day" is great advice for staying sane and remembering the craft of programming (or for that matter painting). I don't know how old the author is, so I have no idea what "5-10 years" means to him, but for anyone not at the beginning of their career I might add: 1) Add value well beyond any specific "engineering" you do. Beyond a certain point you will be valued for what you bring to the business; your coding mojo becomes less interesting to everyone as you get older. 2) Be good (get better) at the social part, including the boring meetings. Or make your "F-you" money in the startup world and do whatever you want... but if you don't do that, over time you will need to be good at the interpersonal side of the business you're in. 3) Don't treat #1 or #2 as excuses to stop caring about the code. Even if you make SVP and can't (shouldn't!) care about the company's code in detail, you should still care about your own, and about good code in general. Otherwise they will see your soul at the edges of your eyes, and it will be corrosive. Like probably most of us, I need to work more on #2, and get better at explaining #1. I do code every day, meaning 5-6 days a week; but I admit that I struggle to actually paint regularly (I am also a painter). Working on it...

nunez 10y ago

Learning how to talk to people and sell things. Fads will come and go, but sales will always be here to stay.

ChicagoDave 10y ago

Primarily, maintain your ability to learn new things, whether it be languages, tools, concepts, strategies, platforms. That's the abstract answer. The concrete answer is the cloud. Learn what serverless microservices are, how to build them, deploy them, and integrate them into a large system. Cloud devops is already growing leaps and bounds and just like we needed to know our OS in the past, we're going to need to know devops in whatever cloud we're using (AWS, Azure, Google, ???). Learn Lambda's and functional microservices. Learn Paas and Saas, learn how to use a tool like DynamoDB even if it doesn't fit your prejudices for a data store. Learn unit testing. You should be able to unit test and integration test using mocks in any platform you need to work in. Agile project management. Sprint planning, planning poker, kanban boards, choosing tasks vs. being given tasks, retrospectives...these are all important to learn. Keep some semblance of knowledge of metal. What I mean is, write some low-level code to understand how memory works, how things work internally within a platform. It's not important to be an expert, but understanding some of the nuts and bolts of software engineering will make you a better programmer. Listen to everyone without prejudice. I can't say this enough. Everyone has ideas and even though new ideas may not make any sense to you, keep an open mind. Be inclusive. Always try to make people around you better at their jobs. Manage your emotions. You can be passionate and sometimes even obstinate about solutions, but manage how you interact with people. The greatest success comes from moderate temperament.