10 Tips to become a STAR programmer

Okay,
This one comes with a disclaimer.
Disclaimer – I don’t have much experience in coding ( Just 5 + years in Java) . These are combinations of tips I read in java forums + the ones I try to practice. Please follow them at your own risk . This is basically for a developer... may not be applicable for a designer.

#1 Be a programmer first.
To become a star programmer first become one. Whether you are put in testing or anywhere, the key word is “innovate”. Try new things. Try to automate. I started my career as a tester in MNC and moved into development after the tool I developed ( LocationTester) became a project by itself.

#2 Learn… Read books ,blog, articles….
You might be good at what you do, but knowing only that, whatever it may be, is seldom enough to really shine. Read books, articles. Interact with others . Talk to your teckie collegues on whats latest. Blog. Blogworld is one place where you get a lot of similar minded persons to indulge in very productive discussions.
I learn from each and everyone I interact. Blogs gave me a better chance. I know my blogs might not be perfectly written. But yes I will make my best try and try to make it perfect. I believe being proactive will help a lot. Yes, you may be wrong sometimes. But every good developer know they were once in your shoes.

#3 Think Big
Always have a big picture about your application. Try to understand appreciate the usage of the application. Think from the user’s perspective. Think like the designer, think like the tester. i.e Try and understand the business requirements well even before you code.

#4 Do development on a fast computer with a bigger screen
The important rule. You should be able to compile and run applications quickly. The lesser time you take to get your results, the better you will try out new things. So get more RAM. I wish I had 1 GB RAM :( for my Eclipse.
Bigger screen will get you more than the characters. The screen should be able to able fit in your big methods. Also this will allow you to inspect multiple consoles simultaneously.

#5 Learn your IDE
Try to use keyboard shortcuts. Learn new features. Note Eclipse Callisto allows you to format jsp and html pages. It has got spell checking also. Be lazy :) you will create shortcuts for everything. Ensure that you are able find the code in minimal time. I will not suggest IDE for beginners

#6 Refer API documentation
You need not by-heart all the APIs. But you should be knowing where to refer for what. IDE will help you for this. If you are keen have the source attached with API. Keep Java doc for your own code and apis that you are using. It might really not possible to have all docs in your desktop. Esp if you have ie 7 and internet, it is preferable to use Google and search with Java version.

#7 Write handy code snippets. Keep reusable code fragments.
Write Multithread socket servers, File Readers, SOAP Clients, Property File Readers. Do not try to invent. Reuse as much as possible. Less , cleaner and well documented code means easy to maintain.

#8 Enhance your own code
Check out your old code and see how you can improve the same. See whether you can optimize the same. See whether the JDK is giving options or new apis to optimize the code. If you can't find bad things in your old code consider yourself a star :). Do benchmarks. It will increase your knowledge about performance, standards and best practices. Don't do premature code optimization but learn how to write fast code from the start, without sacrificing readability.

#9 Don't ask people for advice
Learn how to get that answer yourself instead, it is way more useful. Finding out how to get information about something is a value in itself and may pay you back more than the solution to the problem in the first place. Ask only if you must or if the question in itself is more a discussion and you are actually spreading information. Of course you shouldn't take this too literally, but I see lots of people asking pointless questions they could have found out faster by ten seconds of googling.

#10 Never Give Up
Always have the fighting spirit. Challenge the bugs. Let it not challenge us. Think in all possible scenarios. Think what will happen to code after 5 years. ( Like US daylight changes). I still remember one of my colleague telling me that I always think about impossible scenarios and combinations and I count that one of best feedback I received as a developer.
So Good Luck…

Please let me know your comments.

The final tip. The above tips may not be applicable for everyone. Personally I have my own approaches to tackle an issue. You need to do what you feel right. Yes, never give up. Sometimes you might get disappointed by minimal things. But never give up. World is so big, but small.... :)