What skills in computer programming do you need?

Question

Just need to know

Answer 1

Great analytical skills, to analyze a problem and design a program or system to fit it.

Great communication skills - you will need to explain your design to others.  You will also write documentation when designing the system/code.

Good work ethic - you need to be dependable.

Good memory - you may get a phone call in the middle of the night when one of your programs coughs up a hairball, and you might have to explain how to fix it to someone without any knowledge of this application.  (Not that I've had that happen with MY programs, of course)

Able to work independently - you may be given an assignment and sent to your office to work on it without a lot of guidance or support.

Answer 2

Some math, a lot of logic, problem-solving skills, and the ability to take a basic concept and break it down into details, such as how to build a kite - not just the steps, but the steps in a proper, sequential order; and then to be able to take these steps, write them out with as few and as concise words that you can (this is called "pseudo-code"), or to be able to draw a diagram representing these steps (this is called a "flow chart"), and then, after you have determined the best course of action to resolve a problem (such as "How do I keep track of my employers?"), then you sit down in front of a computer and write some code from the pseudocode and/or flowcharts you designed.

Of course, you WILL need to learn a language, such as Visual Basic (probably VB.NET), or one of the "C" family of languages (probably C# - pronounced C-Sharp), but that only comes after you have made a complete analysis of the problem you desire to create a program for.

(Please understand one thing, learning a computer language does not make you a programmer any more than learning math makes you an accountant.  There truly IS more to it than just knowing a computer language).

Good luck, and happy programming  :-)