For those of you who don't know me I tend to think of my future a lot. Maybe its just a characteristic that comes with being a chess player but I always try and see how the future might play out.

A few days ago I began to ponder, like one does, about what to put on my resume that would truly make me stand out. If what I have watched, heard, and read about the tech industry is true then it is quite difficult to land that first job/internship/work experience and that tech companies have high standards. I would like to work for one of these companies at some point in my career. With this in mind combined with the idea of becoming the best programmer to boost my chances of success, I asked myself the question "What is the ultimate trait of a programmer?".

What are the makings of a great programmer? 🔍

There is a load of traits can be valuable when it comes to being a great programmer such as being creative, having a a great work ethic, and the usual soft skills needed when working with people on projects. There is a variety of valuable skills that would prove useful to every programmer, but which one, or ones, separate the average programmer from the 10x programmer.

The downside to having a good work ethic is that as much as you can work hard you also need to know when to rest. Sometimes overworking reduces your efficiency. You can might end up trying to complete A huge task in one large sprint or you take breaks in between smalls checkpoints that way you keep your mind fresh and might even make you finish in less time than if you kept working.

The downside with being creative and being a great problem solver is that when you code you run into a plethora of problems and because you are great at problem solving you do it only to realize that you could have solved it a different way so you refactor your code. Or worse start from scratch. Then you think to yourself how amazing it would be to implement this feature. At this point you are on borrowed time and you cannot do it all.

The downside with being having good soft skills is that soft skills don't write code or solve problems.

The downside to all these traits have been overly exaggerated only to prove a point. That is without time management these traits aren't really special. These traits are valuable in one way or another but if I had to choose for myself which trait to develop to take my coding master to the next level it has to be Time Management.

Note 📌

I did not consider "talent" as a skill because I think it is too vague and the line between work ethic and talent is blurry. People can observe your skills and call it "talent" but little do they know of the blood sweat and migraines endured for you to reach that level of mastery. The word talent usually implies a God Given Gift of sorts. In other words some people were fortunate to be blessed with a skill and others not so fortunate. I do believe in being talented it but I don't believe programming is a talent since anyone and everyone has the capacity and ability to do it.

At another phase in my life I might have chosen a different ultimate developer trait but when you have been coding for 4+ years - academically and as a hobby - you start to take notice of the subtle differences between the average and the 10x programmer. And when you are me, you know that we don't settle for mediocre. So our only alternative is to become...

If you know you know.

Conclusion

You can be theee most gifted person in the world with a million opportunities. But if you don't know how to balance everything, manage your time wisely and effectively, you run the risk of wasting your potential. Balance is key. Consistency is everything. I know this is big talk from someone with a drivers license. Soooo as of a few days ago I will be attempting to follow a routine for the next month or so. That is just to let you know I am at least trying to match my words with my actions. You seeing this post is just a little proof that action😉. If you are reading this I implore you to pick a trait or anything for that matter and work on it.

If you agree with my ultimate developer trait👍, great . If not let me know what the ultimate developer trait is and why? If you read this far, thank you. Take Care and Happy Coding! 🔥