Core principles, rules, and habits for CS students
- by Asad Butt
No doubt there is a lot to read on blogs, in books, and on Stack Overflow, but can we identify some guidelines for CS students to use while studying?
For me these are:
Finish your course books early and read 4-5 times more material relative to your course work.
Programming is the one of the fastest evolving professions. Follow the blogs on a daily basis for the latest updates, news, and technologies.
Instead of relying on assignments and exams, do at least one extra, non-graded, small to medium-sized project for every programming course.
Fight hard for internships or work placements even if they are unpaid, since
3 months of work 1 year at college.
Practice everything, every possible and impossible way.
Try doing every bit of your assignments project yourself; i.e. fight for every inch. Rely on documentation as the first source for help and samples, Google, and online forums as the last source.
Participate often in online communities and forums to learn the best possible approach for every solution to your problem. (After doing your bit.)
Make testing one of your habits as it is getting more important everyday in programming.
Make writing one of your habits. Write something productive once or twice a week and publish it.
