Top 5 Attributes of Highly Effective Programmers

I’ve always found it interesting to read others thoughts on what makes us effective. If you haven’t read it already, I’d recommend it.

Ben’s List

• Humility
• Love of Learning
• Detail-orientedness
• Adaptability
• Passion

Personally, I think it’s a pretty good list. High level and applicable to most situations in life, not just programming.

If I could add a 6th, it would certainly be communication. As was mentioned in one of the comments, nothing can mess a team up faster than poor communication. We’ve all seen it and should be trying to avoid seeing it again.

It’s also important to note that balance is very important. I’ve known plenty of effective people that have been able to achieve separation between their personal lives and the demands of the job.