If you want to shine, put in 10,000 hours – Malcolm Gladwell

Disclaimer: I am not the best hacker in fact I am way off that. I know a lot of hackers who are multiple times better than me. I probably don’t deserve to be the one writing this series. But from my programming learning experiences and those of others, I have discovered some simple secrets to becoming a better programmer. This is the time to say a few shoutouts to those great hackers I have learnt from out there. Shoutout to Akinola Ireti, Beloved Anetor, Mark Zuckerberg (before he became a billionaire), Oyebisi Samuel, Paul Graham , Pelumi Aboluwarin, Rob Walling, Timi Okoya, Tunde Ishola. NOTE: That list is in alphabetical order not in order of good to best :D.

Just to be clear, the word hacker here refers to the Google’s way of defining a hacker which is a very talented and skilled programmer.

Okay. So you want to be a better hacker, I will advise to drop graphics designing and focus on the code. But please don’t get me wrong here. I know there are two types of people as regards skill; there areMalcolm Gladwell talked about the 10,000-hour rule.  The 10,000-hour rule suggests you can only be better at something if you do it consistently in fact this rules states that before you can become an expert in a field, you need to spend about 10,000 hours studying that field. No wonder going to the university to get a B.Sc degree can’t make you an expert in that field. With more focus on coding rather than sharing attention between graphics and code, you have a better chance of beating the 10,000-hour rule.

Okay I understand that sometimes hackers work on projects alone. In lonely times like this, the hacker is forced to take on the whole responsibilities of developing the app. What I’d suggest that the hacker should keep the design really simple but work extensively on the backend code. This will ensure that the hacker can build the prototype in a quick and effective manner. With the prototype available, he/she could get the attention of really good designers who can increase the aesthetics of the app without much effort.

My final word is this, not everyone is called to be a great hacker i.e. a specialist. So depending on your natural traits which either makes you either a better generalist or a better specialist, you need to decide whether you should really spend all those time focusing on coding alone. The truth is whether you are a generalist or a specialist, your unique ideas and skills are needed in making the world we live in a better place through your contributions.

Programming

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January 27, 2012

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