What does it take to be a good developer these days?

You know, as the times change the requirements change for pretty much all things in life, being a superstar developer is no exception. No matter what development field you are in!

I remember the days when being a superstar was simply knowing how to do one thing, and knowing how to do it well. Well times are always changing, this much I know.

I view my career as I view a business, the saying "You're only as good as your last success" is something that my parent's instilled in me at a young age. Knowing that today you are a superstar, doesn't necessarily mean you always will be; is generally a good thing to always keep in the back of your mind.

So what does it take to be the superstar year after year after year? To me it's dedication and hard work. I've known all kinds of people in my life. The ones that stand out the most are the ones that face challenges head on, figure out a solution (or at least provide valuable ideas towards a solution) and more importantly apply themselves to always be better. This means going above and beyond and to never stop learning.

If you look back to the early 2000's technology and the approach to development was different. In those days, standing out was simple and easy to do. Learning a new method or technique enabled you to provide real value to the company and its clients. Sure, the idea is the same these days, but a lot has changed. A lot.

For starters the days of just doing ColdFusion on your website are pretty much gone. As I mentioned on my previous post "What does it mean to be a ColdFusion developer these days?"; these days you need to know more than just the basics. You have to have a whole bunch of knowledge in design, servers & hardware, in methodology, in frameworks, in database architecture and then even more importantly in business. Now I don't want people to get the idea that if you don't do all these things (or know them) that you cannot succeed; because there is luck in it too; but without them you will find yourself to be an average developer time after time after time.

If you look at the shift of technology these days, with API's all over the place doing all kinds of things and integrating the web more then ever before, you have to learn more and more systems to stay above the rest. Knowing more things means more time; which means less personal time... I have a saying that I say all the time... (I didn't invent it; but over the years it kind of stuck with me)... "I'll sleep when I'm dead... While I am still around I'm gonna go full speed and learn everything I can..." And it's the only way to truly stay ahead.

I look around at my peers in the ColdFusion community and I laugh, because I know how hectic their lives are and yet they still push forward, day after day after day. Look at Ray Camden, the guy works literally 4 full time jobs.... One pays his bills, the other pays his knowledge and curiosity and the other two pay for his passion! Have you ever thought about it? How he writes, teaches and attends conferences, blogs like 50 times a day and on top of that he writes out cool apps for people for free.. Why? Simply because he wants to.

Next, let's look at Sean Corfield... The guy is a beast. The same level of dedication as Ray and always has a smile on his face I've message Sean at 4 am before and got a response...!

But you know what, the list goes on and on... Ben Forta, Hal Helms, etc, etc, etc (if I left you out of this mention, not my intention.. if I had to write everyone's name.. I'd be here until I was 50)... yeah it's that long!

So back to my point, to be a superstar, it takes dedication. Though there is nothing wrong with working 40 hour weeks and then going home and relaxing; if you want to compete with people that are standing out.. it's completely on you to push yourself, to dedicate your free time to learning and testing new ideas and to continue to challenge yourself daily. Don't ever get comfortable!. Never stop testing yourself and putting difficult challenges before you... the moment you do start thinking about a career change... because catching up will be very hard.

In all my years doing what I do, I can honestly tell you that not only do I love what I do, I cherish every moment. Having built some pretty intense solutions online, having the honor to work with all the best people in the field, an more importantly the ability to reach so many people world-wide with my work I think that in the end I will look back and smile... And still wish I would have done more... (Hey, it's just me...)

So to summarize my thoughts... here's what I think it takes to be a superstar:

1. First and foremost, it takes heart. You have to really love what you do and truthfully want to do it... otherwise it's just a job and a paycheck so who cares anyways.

2. Next, once you put all your heart into it, it takes dedication. And I dont mean a little, I mean you're all in like 200%.

3. Time, Time, Time.... You can't learn new ways to do things if you don't spend time working out the kinks. You have to have a lot of failures before you can have success.

4. Next, you have to be able to take criticism... As I like to call it.. "Impactful" Feedback. I believe it was Bill Gates that said; "you learn the most from your maddest clients." So true... :)

5. Next, you have to help the person next to you. No one ever makes it to the top alone. We all need help and we all need to work together.. otherwise what's the point... If you get to the top alone... who do you have to enjoy it with?

6. Last of all, I think you really really really need to leap before you look. Most of the projects that I look back on that I consider big successes at the time I was like, this is never going to work... but what the heck.. Let's do it, we'll figure it out! Not only do those end up working out well in he end, they become the ones that you really remember.(Its like they are the superstar projects!)

I am currently taking some additional classes at University and the courses are on Graphic Design and Interactive Media. (Let's just say I'm a better programmer then I am a graphic artists.. but I'll get it...ehe) At School I have a classmate that is just starting out in our field and he asked me the other day;

"You've done this forever... what does it take? I mean 10, 15 years ago.. there were so few people doing this that it was easier to stand out... Now there are web designers, graphic designers and web developers everywhere... how do you stand out?"

That got me thinking... how do we stand out? Well, I thought about it for a few moments and then my answer to him was simple...

"Dedication and lots of hard work! It's that plain and simple! Though the number of developers increase daily, the rarity of complete dedication does not. And in the end, only the ones that give it all stand out.... Do your best, then do more and always help the person next to you... chances are in the end both of you will stand up together because you challenged each other to do more!"

Anyway, I just wanted to put my thoughts to paper (even if it's digital paper) because at the end of the day, if we're all going to be superstars we have to learn from one another....

Pablo