Roadmap to a better programmer [closed]

Answer 1

One small addition to these good answers. When I work on someone else's code, usually I pick up something new. If you have the opportunity to work with someone else that is of equal or greater skill, noticing their programming style can teach you tons.

For example, in C++ & Javascript I no longer use if() statements without braces. The reason is that it's just too easy to mistakenly put:

while (true) {
    if (a > b)
        print a
        print b
}

This is an obvious typo, but very easy to introduce, especially if you're editing existing code. I just call it defensive programming in my mind, but little tricks like this are valuable at making you better.

So, find a peer or mentor, and work on their code.