{"id":1882,"date":"2009-04-09T08:58:04","date_gmt":"2009-04-09T12:58:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2009\/04\/09\/communication-and-programming\/"},"modified":"2009-04-12T21:47:19","modified_gmt":"2009-04-13T01:47:19","slug":"communication-and-programming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2009\/04\/09\/communication-and-programming\/","title":{"rendered":"Communication and Programming"},"content":{"rendered":"

Programming is all about communicating.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s face it \u2013 when you really break it down, programming is just a very specialized and highly technical form of communication. It\u2019s communication between the programmer and the computer (or compiler) of course, but it\u2019s also communication with other programmers and with end-users of the software.<\/p>\n

So it naturally follows that to be a good programmer, you need to be a good communicator. You might even argue that a good programmer is by definition<\/em> a good communicator.<\/p>\n

Now, we know that the only way to become a better programmer is to program \u2013 that is, you get better at programming by programming more<\/strong>. Experience, in other words, counts for an awful lot, and is a wonderful teacher \u2013 better than any book or school. <\/p>\n

But how do you become a better communicator?<\/em><\/p>\n

One way to improve your communications skills is to start a blog (which I\u2019ve written about before<\/a>), and that\u2019s all well and good, but blogging can only take you so far \u2013 it is, by its very nature, rather one-sided; you write, other people read (and sometimes comment). <\/p>\n

Another way to improve your communications skills \u2013 which I have found to work very well myself, and which might be very beneficial in these troubled economic times is, ironically, to work from home<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

It sounds crazy \u2013 how can isolating yourself at home improve<\/em> your communications skills? Won\u2019t you be communicating less<\/em>? How can this possibly work?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not entirely sure of the answers myself, but my theory is that it\u2019s a bit like learning to swim by being thrown into a pool \u2013 you are forced<\/em> to learn. And when you work from home (or work remotely), you sort of are forced<\/em> to become a better communicator. <\/p>\n

Think about it: suddenly, you can\u2019t just walk over to someone and ask them a question \u2013 you\u2019ll have to use email, IM, or the phone. And since you don\u2019t have all the wonderful subtleties of facial expressions and hand gestures, you\u2019re going to have to learn how to communicate all of that clearly and concisely \u2013 <\/em><\/strong>probably in written form, although over the phone works too (at least then you get the benefit of being able to use \u201ctone of voice\u201d). And for a programmer, there is no greater skill than that of being clear and concise<\/strong> \u2013 after all, the best code is that which is clear<\/strong> in its intent and concise<\/strong> with regards to its form. (If code isn\u2019t clear and concise, it\u2019s no better than \u201cspaghetti code.\u201d) <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In a way, it\u2019s like being deaf or blind \u2013 you learn to use your other senses even more to compensate. So to make up for the lack of direct, person-to-person communications, you develop your writing (and phone) skills to an even higher level to compensate. You learn to:<\/p>\n