How to push further as a programmer?

Question

For the last, hmm, 6 months I\'ve been reading into Programming in C, I got myself K&Rv2, BEEJ\'s socket guide, Expert C programming, Linux Systems Programming, the ISO/IEC

Answer 1

First, you need to write software in a group of at least two, so you can get feedback. If you are working alone, then find a way, either by using SO or another form, like Programmers to get feedback.

Next, find something that interests you, and the project ideas will follow. I work in a municipal environment, but what intrigues me most is the instrumentation for water. I like my other work, but a lot of interesting programming ideas come from working on the water metering and billing systems. Working on water programming problems keeps my mind sharp when other problems, like comparing health insurance enrollees, come around.

Whether you focus more on web or server back-end projects, keep your language knowledge current and small enough to know the language well. From my experience, if you know an Algol-based language well, like C, you can probably learn another similar language like C++, Java, or Perl. C is a wonderful language, but unless you plan on writing Linux kernel, specialized embedded, or Python extension code, I would suggest learning Scala or Clojure, and perhaps Ruby in addition to Javascript and PHP.

However, what would trump what language you learn is someone with an interesting project willing to hire you and your learning their implementation language well. That is if you like Language A, but someone is willing to hire you to work on their project implemented in Language B, then embrace the project, because your growth as a programmer will come from good contribution to the project rather than what language you know.

Finally, become a good problem solver, and those skills will extend beyond writing software. These days, if I am valuable at all, it is because I can work on a bunch of problems, not just programming.