As a person who has been programming for the past 13 years, perhaps my experiences and tips will help others who wish to become good programmers. Since this topic is a general topic and not about any specific programming language, I shall write in general terms.
1) What does it take to become a good programmer?
I’d state the first thing is interest.lots & lots of interest. Students usually think of the benefits of programming first(like going to the USA where I currently am) but do not think about the hard work needed. You firstly ought to have a lot of interest in programming. Interest not just restricted to class and the lab but also self interest. One needs to practice a lot at home and during the weekends. Now the question foremost will be’How can I learn if I do not own a PC?’. Well programming first starts with logic built in the mind. As students, building it quickly in the mind will take time so till then you ought to write the logic on paper. So even without owning a PC one can still practice programming at home. Take questions from a book or even think of some yourselves and start writing the logic.
2) Know the language rules, syntax and most commands by heart.
Gone are the days when languages like Basic used to have just a couple of commands. Today’s languages are immense. But yet the basic rules of all languages are the same. The rule for operator precedence, IF, WHILE, FOR etc commands are almost never different. The syntax may vary but the rules do not. Whichever language you may have decided to become adept in, learn the syntax and the rules by heart. As for the commands, it’ll be impossible to learn the hundreds of commands but atleast the basic, most used command syntaxes like file handling, Conditional statements, Output commands etc should be known by heart.
I did not own a PC when I was a student and I used to spend my free time, mugging up the commands and writing the syntax on a notebook. Believe me, it helped me a lot.
3) Learn the debugger well. Every one makes mistakes. Even programmers like us with years of experience make mistakes. Most important thing to know is how to rectify them. Every language provides some form of a debugger. You ought to know the ways of debugging your programming language and the tools/options of the debugger well.
4) Study basic accounting. To be a good programmer, one ought to know the basics of accounts(Unless you wish to do programming in hardware related matters like drivers or game programming). If you’re an Engineer, arts or science graduate, buy a book which teaches basic accounts. Take the help of any friend who knows commerce. Study the basics of accounting. It does not mean you should know everything right upto balance sheets but atleast you ought to know how accounts are maintained, what does a balance sheet mean(how is it read) etc.
5) Study one business module nicely. Every company is made of divisions like Sales, Purchase, Finance etc. You ought to study the basics of anyone of these divisions(called modules) For e.g if you’ve decided to study the Sales module, take a book and/or help of some friend/relative and learn about the different sales documents like Sales order, credit/debit order etc. In general what does each document contain, what way does the information flow within the documents like e.g A sales order is made from a Purchase order etc. Each module is inter-related and additional information about how they interact will be beneficial. For e.g how does the inventory of an item affect a sales order. When an item in an order is unavailable then what happens when it is backordered. Try to get general information on these things. But more the information, the better.
6) Do fun programming too. Every language provides commands for graphics programming. Think of some fun ideas. Like say writing a game of tic-tac-toe. Though this game of basic knots & crosses seems simple, programming it takes a little effort. You can think of hundreds of such ideas and start writing atleast one fun program a week. These fun programs will sharpen your logic skills, as well as knowledge about graphics, array handling etc.
7) Last but not the least, be very very determined. In my batch of about 40+ students, only myself and one other guy have remained in the computer field. Rest all dropped because it was too tough, the work stress was immense and other reasons. If you really wish to become a programmer, be mentally prepared that you’ll have a tough road ahead. The benefits later definitely are nice but the way to the top isn’t. Work pressure can be intense, you may have to deliver programs and results within a very short time-frame, many times sit late nights or weekends in the company to do the programming. But your basic programming foundation which I’ve told about in the above points should help you a lot.
Some more questions have been unanswered. Like which Institute to learn from or avoid, how to survive work pressure in office, which platform/language to opt for, how to reach the shores of foreign countries. But each will take a lot more space for me to answer. So I leave them unanswered.
I hope my short guide helps you and any queries/feedback is most welcome.
All the best.
Shailesh.