Welcome to the Treehouse Community

Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.

Looking to learn something new?

Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.

Start your free trial

General Discussion

What should a good programmer know and be able to do?

As the title explains; What should a good web developer be able to do? This was just a question that came across my mind, nothing serious!

2 Answers

Jennifer Nordell
seal-mask
STAFF
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Jennifer Nordell
Treehouse Teacher

Hi there! I would say that some of the basic requirements would be:

  • Be able to solve problems creatively
  • Be open to constructive criticism
  • Take "detail-oriented" to the next level. In a discipline where a single space, punctuation mark, or misspelling can break everything this is extremely important
  • Be willing to teach others. This reinforces your learning. To quote Richard Feynman "If you can’t explain something in simple terms, you don’t understand it "
  • Be persistent. The solution is there somewhere.
  • Read the documentation. You likely won't start off as friends with the documentation, but you will get there. It's an acquired taste... and then a necessity.
  • The rest is just code :smiley:

Hope this helps! :sparkles:

I can't quite remember were I got this from or the way it was worded. Maybe it was Uncle Bob and it was something along the lines of: your primary objective should be to write code a human can understand rather than (only) the machine. With that being said, code golf is quite funny!