A test for those who want to work in IT. How to know if you'll be a good developer.

Contents:

• Is it true that everything comes from childhood?
• Test yourself. Do you have the skills of a software developer?
• Problem solving
• Critical thinking
• Adaptability
• Teamwork
• Now I just need to brush up on my hard skills
• Useful materials from the editors of Skillbox.by

Is it true that everything starts in childhood?

Let's go back to school years. Remember that absurd problem with the asterisk.

But someone thought this problem was quite logical and simple. And if that someone is you, congratulations! You are perfect for the role of a developer.

Test yourself. Do you have the soft developer skills?

At the start, you need to understand whether the profession is right for you. Find out how much the work matches your qualities and interests.

✅ Problem solving.Imagine that you have to solve logic problems every day. You already did this at school. Only instead of "balls", "sticks" and "cars" from children's problems, now there are gigabytes of data and processor operations.

✅ Critical thinking.This skill helps in writing code, understanding user needs and optimizing processes. A good programmer finds even their own quick and simple solution suspicious. Such a developer finds the root cause of the problem and works on it to prevent the mistake from happening again.

✅ Ability to quickly adapt.Technology is developing rapidly. New platforms and development tools appear. To stay in demand in IT, you need to learn new things. For example, a programmer who works with neural networks completes work faster. The developer delegates boring routine tasks to neural networks and frees up time for important tasks.

✅ Ability to work in a team.Software development is often a team effort. The simplest example is creating a website. Someone is responsible for the visual part and logic, the other works on the database. If specialists do not perform tasks together, the site will not work as it should.

Ability to solve problems

An important trait of a developer is an analytical approach to problems. A real-life example is installing Windows on a computer. Imagine that the system suddenly stopped working. Instead of paying a specialist, you can solve the problem yourself using a YouTube video. This approach demonstrates the ability to analyze a situation, search for information, and apply it in practice. This is what a programmer needs.

How to develop this skill

• Solve problems and puzzles. Interviews often involve logic problems. They put the candidate in non-standard situations. For example, they ask a question like "What will happen if I use the wrong algorithms?" It seems like the simple answer to this question is an error. This is correct, but you need to describe what exactly will happen and why.
• Learn new things. For example, a front-end developer may need knowledge of UX/UI design. After all, a front-end developer works with the product interface. The same is true for other areas. Everything is interconnected, so it wouldn't hurt to study a new industry.
• Create challenging problems for yourself. Try creating a small application or website using a free video. Even if you rewrite the code exactly, you will still make mistakes. You will need to fix them to finish the project. This way, you will learn the commands and will be able to write small websites without experience.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to analyze information from different angles and draw informed conclusions. At work, a person questions any information, including his own thoughts.

How to develop a skill

• Analyze your actions.Think about each task. Ask yourself questions: "Could I have done it differently in this case?", "Why is this problem always solved this way?"
• Check the information for accuracy.At the beginning, you can study a lot of incorrect information. And then make mistakes. Be sure to check the sources.
• Draw conclusions. After each task, a programmer should draw a conclusion. If you didn't cope with the task, it means you need to work on your mistakes. If you coped with it, it means you need to look for other solutions, find a faster and better way.

Ability to Adapt Quickly

A developer is constantly learning because technology does not stand still. What was relevant a year ago may be outdated today. For example, a framework that has facilitated development for many years will lose its relevance. Then the developer will have to learn a new technology.

How to develop a skill

Follow the news in public groups, share new knowledge in professional forums and chats. Developers who actively participate in the life of the community stand out from others. They are more often noticed by employers and HR managers.

Teamworking

Let's go back to school. Imagine that you were given an assignment that you needed to work on in a group. Some people had a hard time with this as children, while others found common ground with their classmates and completed the task together. Now you need to remember which group of people you belonged to.

How to develop the skill

• Communicate more.With family, friends and colleagues. The more communication, the better. Finding an approach to everyone is also not an easy task.
• Give up competition.Remember that in a team everyone is working towards a common goal. The developer writes the code, and the marketer promotes the product on the market. The result depends on the overall effort.
• Listen to advice and criticism. Colleagues will help check and test the code. The final product should work properly. One developer can miss errors in the project, and this is normal.

Now it remains to improve your hard skills.

To become a successful developer, you need to master technical skills.

• Programming.Knowledge of one programming language is a must. For example, Python or JavaScript. You can start with them. The languages ​​are considered simple for beginners and are widely used in development.
• Working with databases.With an understanding of how databases are structured and work, you will be a flexible specialist. You will be able to be responsible not only for the visual side, but also for the server side. Manage small projects alone.
• Fundamentals of layout.Even if you plan to become a back-end developer, basic knowledge of HTML and CSS will be useful.
• Version control systems. Git is a tool that helps developers manage changes to code.

How to get this knowledge

• Online courses and books. Books provide a theoretical basis, and courses complement it with practice and feedback.
• Practice. Try your hand at creating small projects. This will consolidate your knowledge and build a portfolio for employers.
• Communities.Forums and communities of developers, such as StackOverflow or GitHub, are a great source of knowledge. Communities include IT professionals with different levels of expertise. They can help you with a task or an interview.

Useful materials from the editors of Skillbox.by

Don't worry if none of the points match yet. All skills have the potential for development. If you have more than two matches, you have every chance of becoming a programmer.

The editors of Skillbox.by have compiled a list of useful materials and resources that will help you develop your skills and get started.

Literature:

• "Grocking Algorithms" by Aditya Bhargava;
• "Clean Code: Writing, Analyzing, and Refactoring" by Robert Martin;
• "The Art of Computer Programming" by Donald Knuth.

Blogs: 

• Clean Code — authors publish tips on writing clean code;
• Entry point to programming — fundamental knowledge of the basics of programming for beginners, tips on algorithms.