Programming

Most under-rated Skill to become a Good Programmer

Narendra Vardi

22 Jun 2022 • 2 min read

Recently, a first year undergrad student reached out to me asking if there is any advice I can give, that would help them to become a good programmer.

Giving advice to first year undergrad student is difficult. They need to explore the college, identify their passions, understand what they like and what they dislike. Besides, they need to enjoy their college life! :) So, I didn't want to give them any advice that could be a bad influence. I slept over the weekend on that question and I'm back with some advice.

Before I talk about that advice, let's take a look at the "Hello World!" programs in five different programming languages.

💡

In this article, understanding the code is not required.

HelloWorld.java

// Langugage: Java
// File: HelloWorld.java

import java.io.*;

class HelloWorld
{
    public static void main(String args[])
    {
        System.out.println("Hello World!");
    }
}

hello.rs

// Langugage: Rust
// File: hello.rs

fn main() {
    println!("Hello World!");
}

hello_world.py


# Langugage: Python
# File: hello_world.py

def main():
    print("Hello World!")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

hello_world.rkt

#| Langugage: Racket
 File: hello_world.rkt |#

#lang racket/base
(print "Hello, World!)

hello_world.html

<!-- Langugage: HTML -->
<!-- File: hello_world.html -->

<html>
    <header>
        <title></title>
    </header>
    <body>Hello World</body>
</html>

Did you notice that every example mentioned above requires the need to understand and most importantly, type special characters ?

Unlike other professions, programming requires you to type special characters as if they are Alphabets and Numbers. Take any programming language, this holds true.

Hence, my advice to anyone who is interested in becoming a programmer is to learn the most under-rated skill of a programmer which is the ability to type faster.

You don't have to type like Ali Abdaal, who types 156 words per minute. You can type 50 words per minute comfortably and that is good enough, in my opinion.

If you can type without looking at the keyboard almost 90% percent of the time and still reach 40+ words in a minute, with subtle mistakes every now and then, then you can consider that you are good at typing. As you code more and more, you will eventually get great at it.

For people who do not know how to type, my advice might feel discouraging. Don't be. You can become a programmer too, but it takes lot more time and practice. What I would rather suggest is to invest far less time in visiting a Typing Institute and master how to type. If that doesn't excite you, at least get your basics correct.

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