Being a Good Developer

The following sections list some topics from popular GitHub repositories and StackOverflow that deal with being a good developer. The selection is tailored to MPS developers.

Every Programmer Should Know/Professional Programming

BasicsAdvanced

• 40 Key Computer Science Concepts Explained In Layman’s Terms ⧉
• Big-O Cheat Sheet ⧉
  • average and worst-case time/space complexity of common data structures/algorithms
• Learn regex the easy way + regex101 ⧉ for testing regular expressions
• Command Line for Beginners ⧉
• Learn how to use Git and GitHub ⧉

• Programming Principles ⧉
• hacker-laws ⧉: Laws, Theories, Principles, and Patterns that developers will find useful.
• Lessons Learned in Software Development ⧉
• Things I Learnt The Hard Way ⧉
• 50 ideas that changed my life ⧉
• 20 Things I’ve Learned in My 20 Years as a Software Engineer ⧉

Falsehoods Programmers Believe in

Falsehood is an idea you initially believed was true, but in reality, it is proven false.

You might have to deal with one of the following topics when you develop a new feature or language:

• dates and time ⧉ (applicable to date- and time-related languages)
• internationalization ⧉ (applicable to languages that should support English and a second language)
• system of measurement ⧉ (applicable to units-related languages)
• software engineering ⧉ (versioning, paths, usernames, identifiers)
• uppercase and lowercase text ⧉
• URLs ⧉

Questions

Self-Improvement

GeneralCognitive topicsWorkflow

• What is the single most effective thing you did to improve your programming skills? ⧉
• How Can I Know Whether I Am a Good Programmer? ⧉
• What are non-programming mistakes that a programmer should avoid? ⧉
• How important is self-teaching in the programming field? ⧉
• Which algorithms/data structures should I "recognize" and know by name? ⧉
• When would someone be considered a bad programmer? ⧉

• How do I improve my memory and recall? ⧉
• How do you keep from running into the same problems over and over? ⧉
• What is the most productive way to handle development-related failures? ⧉
• Is there such a thing as Programmer's block? ⧉
• Stuck due to "knowing too much." ⧉

• What is the most effective work rhythm for a programmer? ⧉
• What are your initial three steps when you are first presented with a software problem? ⧉
• Programmer / Developer Personal Organization ⧉
• How can I improve my problem-solving ability? ⧉
• How to write efficient code despite heavy deadlines ⧉
• Writing robust code vs. overengineering ⧉

Interpersonal Skills

CommunicationCustomersCoworkersProgrammers

• How should I explain technical things to non-technical people? ⧉
• How do I become better on the phone? ⧉
• Anxious during conference calls ⧉
• When is it okay to ask "stupid" questions in the workplace? ⧉
• Knowing when you should send a message instead of asking in person ⧉
• How to make sure I understand a work assignment correctly? ⧉
• How to respond when you are asked for an estimate? ⧉

• How do I deal with a client who doesn't respect me? ⧉
• How do I tell certain customers they're not my number one priority? ⧉

• How can I avoid coming across as condescending when telling a coworker I can't work on an issue right now? ⧉
• How can I tactfully suggest improvements to others' badly designed code during a review? ⧉
• Dealing with a person who continuously needs help ⧉
• What is the best way to tell colleagues that chat is not a channel for a direct response? ⧉
• How to stop someone from helping you? ⧉

• How to ask a programmer a question without getting "Why" as the answer ⧉
• How to apologize when you have broken the nightly build ⧉
• I'm a manager. How can I improve work relationships and communication with programmers? ⧉

---

Last update: September 3, 2023

Comments