Qualities Of A Great Developer: Read What Makes A Developer Great

It can be really challenging to find great developers in today’s overly saturated market. But in order to ace the development of your projects, spending a little time digging for the right fit can do wonders for your company. So are you too looking for the top talent to be a part of your thriving team then make sure to know about the top qualities of a great developer.

Because writing code should not be the only evaluation criterion, rather looking for the most essential soft skills and intangible traits to go along with it. In this blog, I will clue you in on the top 5 most significant qualities that make a developer great, so let’s get right into it:

Top 5 Qualities of a Great Developer

A Team Player 

Developers don’t work in isolation - they should be able to assist and collaborate with other developers to get the job done. Therefore, good developers are comfortable lending a hand and working in team settings. A good team player:

• Understands that his or her role is important for achieving the goal within the team. Additionally, they not only offer solutions to help other developers but also know their boundaries. 
• Collaborates with other team members to brainstorm ideas and present their opinions. 
• Takes responsibility for their actions and knows how their actions will impact the performance of the entire team.
• Is flexible about their roles and eager to take on new challenges. 
• Is committed, positive, and highly productive.

A Communicator

A great developer is also a great communicator - meaning they understand the problems at hand, offer solutions, and ask all the right questions. They know how to communicate, explain, persuade, and clarify without leading others to confusion and misunderstanding. Most importantly, they know how to communicate with clients.

We, software development companies, are working with clients from all over - but have local developers to work on projects. Hence, it is of utmost importance that your team is frequent and clear in their communication with the clients. Speaking different languages to cater to a diverse set of clients is a plus. Even if they are not well-versed in different languages, good developers speak English coherently to make sure that everyone is on the same page.

• One of the qualities of a great developer is that - he or she asks questions when they don’t know the answer.
• They don’t need to depend on written specifications— since they can figure things out based on verbal communication alone. 
• They are highly approachable. 
• Good communicators are good listeners.
• They promptly respond to issues, calls, and emails.

Read More: How to Choose the Right Career Path in Software Development?

A Quick Learner

Great developers often can get a hand with concepts, tools, and techniques rather quickly, which makes them great self-learners as well. In addition, they don’t run away from embracing new programming languages or technologies because they are curious.

All they need is a quiet space, some music and youtube tutorials, and other online resources to learn! Therefore they are the masters when it comes to self-learning. Great developers learn through: 

• GitHub and Stack overflow for on the job training. 
• Online boot camps and hackathons for upskilling. 
• Participating in seminars and conferences to stay ahead of the curve.
• Working under coaches and mentors to learn new skills.
• Asking for feedback from colleagues is also one of the ways developers tend to learn from.

An Empath

Being a software engineer or a programmer is not as easy as it sounds - it comes with its own challenges, which are inevitable. Bugs, heated discussions, misunderstandings, confusion, and disagreements are a part of being a developer. But good developers know how to keep up with the drama because they are also empaths in nature!

As Kent Beck rightly points out,

The craft of programming begins with empathy, not formatting or languages or tools or algorithms or data structures.

Good developers not only understand the feelings and emotions of those around them (their team members) but also what their customers want.

Therefore, they take ownership of the work to deliver cutting-edge products. They try to stand where their customers stand and think from their perspective to deliver better. Empathy is useful in the following situations:

• During the initial stage of the development process and i.e. when gathering customer requirements. Here, empathy allows them to connect with the needs of their prospects or immediate users. 
• During the coding phase, when multiple developers are working on the same code - great developers make sure that the code is easy and simple so that other developers can easily pick up where they have left off. 
• Lastly, empathy enables developers in leadership positions to understand the needs of your co-workers- why they succeed or fail - what can you do to create a more enabling environment.

Click this link to read more about empathic developers. 

A Can-Do Attitude 

Now this one is a given! One simply can not thrive if they lack a positive can-do attitude. It's not just for developers, it is the same for everyone, be it a project manager or a content strategist. One of the most important qualities of a great developer is that they are always willing to try on new skills - to bring the best out of them.

Sometimes, we are not familiar with what we can achieve unless we try. But it is crucial not to drain your developers with too much work and unrealistic deadlines because unnecessary work stress can make a team unproductive. But to know whether your developers are positive or not, you can always try asking them these questions to test the waters:

• What do you do when you come face to face with a conflict or a difficult situation? (criticize or give a solution)
• What type of personality do you dislike working with? (do they mention any of their colleagues in the answer for reference or give a generic one instead)
• Tell us about your biggest achievement. (arrogant or humble)

What Can We Do for You?

So whether you are looking for a team to outsource or developers to augment in your already existing team - you should not play with fire by hiring the wrong people. Therefore, it's crucial to make sure of the important traits that developers should have (apart from technical expertise) during the initial interview. At InvoZone we have a thorough hiring process for both mobile and web design and development - to meet client’s expectations. So if there's anything we can do for you - is to provide the best of the best to work on your new development projects, irrespective of the industry. 

Read more about our hiring process in this blog.