Why Geeks Should Write

Why should geeks write? It's a good question and one that I don't think comes up often enough. It's something I've never really thought of myself until it came up as the topic for our first SLOG... Before I put a lot of thought into this question, I was under the impression that writing on a consistent basis and having good writing skills isn't or shouldn't be a big priority for geeks (or in this case computer programmers). After I thought about the topic more, I kept thinking of many reasons why my old belief was flawed.

Writing on a consistent basis is an excellent way to practice and improve communication skills which can be vital in the programming world. There are many programmers who can write efficient code, but there are less who can effectively convey what their thought process is when pitching the code to clients or other members of the team they're working with. If one cannot communicate what they are producing, one cannot sell their product and put it into production. With improved communication skills also comes the ability to write comments in your code in a more effective and coherent manner. These comments written into your code give other programmers insight into what you are coding and might actually give them ideas on how you could improve your code in your project if they understand what you are trying to do. Once again, communication skills play a vital role.

Writing on a regular basis can also come in the form of reflecting on your code and where you've made mistakes causing inefficient or buggy code and even what you did well in your code. Keeping a journal in which a programmer reflects on their code not only helps them understand their mistakes and successes in their projects, but it can be a way to create a database of ideas on how to approach certain projects in the future.

I never would have imagined that writing consistently could be so helpful for a geek.