Definition of a programmer

HotShoe

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So what skills do you need to be a programmer? Below are a few requirements based upon 30+ years of experience. Enjoy!

First and foremost you have to have the ability to establish a psychic link with the client. Otherwise you will never know what they actually want.

Understand that the app or program will never truly be finished, and that the rules change drastically the closer you get to the finished goal. It is at this point that the client starts mentioning requirements that were not in the original design, or the development contract.

You must learn to be the clients' mother, father, priest, best friend, and their worst enemy. All of those must be done while resisting the urge to violently dismember the client(s) while laughing at the top of your lungs.

You must have the ability to stand you ground when a new client says "We need a simple app built", without throwing said client out or suffering a nervous breakdown.

These are a few things that will be required of you as a freelance or hired programmer. Feel free to add your own "requirements".

--- Jem
 

MikeH

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"Like" is simply not enough. Bravo!
 

RandomCoder

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Resourcefulness, patience, determination and a willingness to learn are all typical qualities of a programmer. And I think most of us will agree that we can sometimes be a little stubborn :D
 

Troberg

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A good programmer is one that, when given a task that takes 100 hours to do, spends 99 hours making a program that does the task in 1 hour.
 
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