The art of mastering

Everyone wants experts, no one like mediocre. So what makes one an expert? Simple – deliberate practice. Malcolm gladwell, in ‘Outliers’ says that it takes 10000 hours to master any subject. How about programming? A person doing a 40hr week does around 2000 hours of programming, so that is 5 years. Hence the reason, most job positions ask for 5-9 yrs of experience. As simple as it sounds, it is disheartening to know that it is not true. I have seen programmers with 2-3yrs experience out perform their seniors. How is it possible then?

The answer lies in the fact that programming is a thought process; it is not a tangible entity. Once you know and believe that you can program, you need to apply it. The application is the process of mastery. Good programmers are good because, they spent time solving problems by pondering. The process of programming is not a straight forward verb. It is thought process that involves coming up with solutions or looking out for alternatives; and understanding them so that one can apply them in their truest form (not by pasting the code found elsewhere).

Good programmers try to minimize their technical debt (described by martin fowler). They try to be hands on. Most good programmers have the following traits.
1. Understand problems, and categorize them into known and unknown (or solvable on their own or need help)
2. Try to devise more than one solution, how so ever bad the stupid solution be
3. Discuss the hard case solutions with others to seek more inputs. (like a riddle/puzzle)
4. Read books (and gain insights from others who had been through the same) a smart cut approach.
5. Learn different programming paradigms (not languages aka syntax)

Ever wondered what is the difference between a programmer and a designer/architect? A good programmer is like a artist. Given a tough job, the goal of a good programmer is to realize it in its spirit. Good programmers circumvent problems and take solutions that burden them the least. A designer is a mature programmer, One can call oneself a designer when one devises a goal and achieves it.

Designers’ genuinely discover themselves to be so. They set forth goals and achieve them in a way that acts as an example to others. One can never be a good designer by virtue of a title or experience. Design is a discovery process, unlike programming. The true benchmark in my opinion is when a designer devises a solution all by himself and finds out that it is in fact a standard/recommended practice. Designers are above the implementation details and should realize that by achieving things the way they want , and not by the way the obvious solutions allow.
If a designer sets goals and cannot achieve them, then it is inadequate. Good designers preach and practice, not to substantiate their gospel but to discover new means.