Not only is writing important for working with non-technical people, but it's a big part of interacting with your fellow engineers too. Think stuff like providi

Not only is writing important for working with non-technical people, but it's a big part of interacting with your fellow engineers too. Think stuff like providing clear pull request feedback without offending the person you're reviewing. And, if you work in an office that avoids interruptions by using email/IRC, it obviously helps to be comfortable writing out your thoughts. I'll also make the (admittedly unprovable) assertion that good code is good writing. Code and sentences can say the same things in different ways - what's the one that minimizes misinterpretation while remaining concise and interesting to read? Just as you want the key points of an essay to live within the most engaging sentences, important code should look important. Style in programming is as crucial as it is subjective, and it requires you to empathize with your readers much as you would when writing anything else. So yeah, dust off that Tumblr account and use it for something other than reblogging.