Why engineers should focus on writing

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Why engineers should focus on writing - Dmitry Kudryavtsev.

All engineers are good writers… of code. But I believe that in order to a become better engineer–you should improve your writing skills.

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I believe that writing or blogging about programming will show and prove if you really understand the topic your are talking about and is able explain it in simple terms that others would understand too.

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I don’t think I’m good or confident enough to even start a programming blog. I have never been confident writing or talking in public.

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I suggest you try it. It will help you become a better programmer, communicator, team lead.

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I agree with this (but I also have a bias toward writing as a creative outlet :grin:). I don’t think it needs to be a blog or anything public, though. Just working on day-to-day code reviews, emails, and documentation is a great way to level up writing skills.

One suggestion I would make is: Be objective about your own work. Step away for a while after you’ve written something. When you come back, re-read it with fresh eyes; put yourself in the shoes of your readers who don’t have the same mental context or lived experiences as you. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to prompt that kind of empathy:

  • Is your audience just as (non)technical as you?
  • Have you made any assumptions about shared knowledge?
  • Are you using unfamiliar/arcane/esoteric terms or acronyms?
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I agree. Also, mentoring is also a great way to improve one’s self.

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Practice is always best. After I started with Elixir I needed just 3 months to get highest trust level on Elixir forum and … my first Elixir job! :rocket:

It was absolutely brilliant time … no fear for viruses, no fear for wars, even EU was not that bad … :gem:

Anyway, there is no rule which covers all cases. There is no “one right way” to do something. If it would be then we would not need AI to work for us as instead simplest algorithms could do everything. :see_no_evil:

I still wish that some algorithms (ehem … Google/YouTube) would finally use huge amounts of data they collect in a way they declare. Since my IP is from Romania I’m still getting almost always content in Romanian from which I don’t understand much. :sweat_smile:

I definitely do not recommend focusing on just one thing, but being active in community is always a big :+1:

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Even if you don’t publish, simply writing programming articles will help you solidify your knowledge and serve as a reminder in the future.

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You not only need to be a good writer, but also a good diagram builder to be a successful engineer.

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