In a research paper in 2019, a group of researchers from Microsoft and the University of Washington asked 59 experienced engineers what makes engineers and what makes great software engineers.
𝟭. 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀
Personal qualities pertain to your own identity. According to interviewees, these cannot be acquired in the job.
➡️ Improving—Unsatisfied with the status quo, they are constantly looking to improve themselves, their product, and their surroundings.
➡️ Passionate — intrinsically interested in the area they are working in (i.e., not just in it for extrinsic rewards like a paycheck).
➡️ Open-minded — willing to judiciously let new information change how they think.
➡️ Data-driven — taking and evaluating their actions and software measurements, often relative to expectations.
𝟮. 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴
Your decision-making style is based on your ability to integrate context, probability, and an awareness of how your choices will manifest in reality. Knowing things from books is insufficient.
➡️ Knowledgeable about people and the organization – Figuring out who can help you, what they know, and who can provide the necessary context are all essential skills. This is particularly important for larger companies.
➡️ Sees the forest and the trees—Considers circumstances at various abstraction levels, including technical specifics, market trends, the company’s mission, and operational requirements. What effect does each have on the work you do?
➡️ Updates their mental models – Keeping up-to-date their mental models through evaluating changes in their context
➡️ Handles complexity – Able to grasp and reason about complex and intertwining ideas
𝟯. 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀
Software development is a team sport; thus, how you lead and collaborate with your team counts.
➡️ Creates shared context—Modifying your message to fit the other person’s comprehension allows you to operate from the same starting point.
➡️ Creates shared success – Enabling success for everyone involved, possibly involving personal compromises.
➡️ Creates a haven—a safe space where engineers can learn and improve from mistakes and situations without negative consequences.
➡️ Honest – Be truthful and have integrity with your actions and words.
𝟰. 𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁
This part includes software engineering and how we craft code and solve problems.
➡️ Elegant – Simple and intuitive.
➡️ Creative – Original solutions based on knowledge of the situation, existing solutions, and their shortcomings.
➡️ Anticipate needs—Software that operates continuously and changes its configuration with little assistance is regarded as excellent. However, it cannot be made so future-proof that it significantly hinders current speed.
Research paper PDF => https://faculty.washington.edu/ajko/papers/Li2015GreatEngineers.pdf
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