Software development is one of the most exciting and omnipresent fields today. Almost every product or service we use was built by a team of software developers. It's exciting that ideas can be turned into a reality with a few lines of code.

While the technical skills of a software developers are of course essential, the non-technical skills is what really differentiates a good software developer. Lets take a look at some of the skills that may not have to do with programming, but are essential to being a good software developer.

Problem Solving Skills

Software is about solving problems.

On a macro level, every piece of software is simply a solution to a problem that people have, regardless if they know they have that problem or not. On the micro level, software is about solving tiny little problems with simple, elegant solutions. Put that all together, and a beautiful piece of software comes out.

Unfortunately, not all people who work in software development understand the importance of this. They misunderstand the problem and end up creating additional ones. They stick to old outdated practices instead of adapting to a new problem. They waste days and weeks with the wrong approach to solving a problem that could've been done in a few hours.

It doesn't have to be this way. Problem-solving is thankfully a skill that can be learned and honed actively, and dedicating your time to improving your problem solving skills can make a big impact on the quality of the software one produces.

Adapting and Learning New Skills

The Software Development field changes at an insanely rapid rate. Technologies and frameworks come and go, new platforms and devices are introduced while old technologies are scrapped.

No software developer can feasibly learn everything there is about their industry and consider it done. All software developers should be dedicating chunks of time to ensuring their skills are up-to-date with the newest technologies. Frameworks are rapidly changing, and one should have the skills to adapt and learn the newest version in the least amoutn of time.

This is where the ability to learn skills is incredibly important.

If it takes you a few months less time to learn a new software stack or framework compared to another developer, you'll be able to remain competitive and adaptable to any new work situation.

Teamwork Skills

Very few software developers work alone on projects. Any software is developed by a team of dedicated developers that can work with each other seamlessly to create a unified product.

The capability of a team to collaborate is the crucial decider in whether software is produced on time, to spec, and within budget. Good team collaboration makes sure that people are working n what they should be working on, everyone is comfortable with their role and to ask for help, issues are noticed, and people don't feel overworked.

However, not everyone is born a team player, and many can struggle to adopt the teamwork mentality that's required in software development. Thankfully, this is another skill that can be learned.

Leadership Skills

Software development is a field where you can advance quickly. It doesn't take decades to become a senior developer, just talent and skill.

Int's common in software teams to mentor people with less experience, so leadership very quickly becomes an important skills. The hectic environment of software development can be channeled and cleared by a strong leader.

However, leadership in software development can be very different then other fields. It's less authoritative and prescriptive in other fields, and is focused on providing support and mentor-ship to other developers. That being said, classical leadership skills are always useful.

Agile Skills

Agile development is one of the leading software development methodologies. Most software projects are done using one of the manhy agile approaches.

Agile software development emphasizes frequent released of code, reduction in documentation, self organization of teams, increased collaboration, increased communication between developers and customers, and other practices aimed at delivering better software.

Agile skills are something that can be learned, and will make a software developer better suited to the modern world of software development. Agile values also help a developer become better at what they do, regardless of what their company uses.

The good news is there are tons of resources for learning Agile software development, from blogs to tools that help one learn these skills.

Empathy

Empathy may not be one of the first skills to come to mind when thinking about software development, but it can be a critical factor between a decent developer and an excellent one.

Software developers have to be able to walk in the shoes of their user to make good software. They have to recognize the market, and what the market wants.

Unfortunately, many software developers are too proud or made ineffective by their subconscious biases and beliefs in what people want, instead of listening to the actual people.

Software developers should also have empathy for the rest of their team. Building good software means thinking about the people who will be maintaining your code, and writing nice code that's well documented, clean, and easy to refactor or change down the line. Thinking about other people will ensure you write better code that's a good fit for your user.

Conclusion

Despite what people think, software development is only about coding fast or knowing the best algorithms. It's about the whole person, and investing time and effort into honing not just the technical skills, but the people skills.

Crossposted from Comet Code