Tips on Improving your Programming Skills

The question that novice programmers often ask is, How to improve programming skills? As a programmer I used different ways to improve my programming skills, like reading/writing code, working with experienced programmers and reading blogs and websites. I have listed few of the points here which in my opinion will be quite useful for novice programmers.
Practice, Practice, Practice – The obvious way to practice is to write programs. Try to make as many programs as you can. To learn, to effectively practice, you need to work on things that aren’t easy for you. Always create a schedule or structure that you follow. After all practice makes a man perfect.
The most important thing is to NEVER STOP LEARNING. I think one should always try to make a conscious effort to improve.
I believe on “learn one programming language every year or semester” system as each programming language changes the way we think about programming.
Looking back at the code you have written in the past and realizing just how bad it was. As Churchill says, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
Pair programming with other programmers might increase the quality of code, broadened your horizons, and help you work in as a team member.
Reading and figuring out code written by different people makes you differently.
Write documentation for code written by other people. This helps in understanding the way other people think and program.
Explaining something really helps you find the gaps in your own knowledge.
Get involved with open source projects. There are many open source projects that have experienced software developers working on them.

Courtesy: http://www.mycplus.com/featured-articles/ten-tips-on-improving-your-programming-skills/

Regards,

Wajahat Karim
Author, Dreamers Are Developers