4 ms·
People often ask what's the single biggest difference between a good programmer and a great programmer. I've heard a lot of good answers dealing with talent, h
by edw519 16y ago
People often ask what's the single biggest difference between a good programmer and a great programmer.
I've heard a lot of good answers dealing with talent, hard work, experience, imagination, communication, cleverness, simplicity, vision, and even laziness.
The shift from procedural to OO brings with it a shift from thinking about problems and solutions to thinking about architecture.
This makes me think about my answer: You first enable yourself to become a great programmer the moment you stop worrying about your own problems and focus primarily on your customer's.
- randallsquared 16y agoI'd say many of the best programmers never had a customer, and therefore only had their own problems to worry about in the first place. The person you're describing is a great businessperson, but that's neither necessary nor sufficient for being a great programmer.
- swannodette 16y agoThis definition is far too narrow. Some of the greatest programmers are researchers and teachers.
- CrLf 16y agoWhen you focus primarily on you customer's problems and forget your own problems, you tend to give your customers something that's not what they really want. You have to think about your own problems in the context of your customer's needs. You are you, your customer is your customer. Each to its own.
- dwc 16y agoDespite the other comments, I think you make a very valuable point. Take out the "customer" angle and I think they'd also agree. It's really thinking about the problem, working the problem and solving the problem. Thinking about and working on your toolset is not solving the problem. Whether the problem is yours or your customer's makes little difference.