6. Read
The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.
- Dr Seuss
As a student you may well be sick of reading. Textbooks, exam papers, university websites, reports, technical paper, etc. The list goes on. Unfortunately reading is the best way to get ahead of the game where the industry is concerned. The computing sector moves fast, there is no denying this fact and because of this it is vitally important that you keep your skills as up to date and relevant as possible.
A particularly good book to read if you are interested in becoming a better software developer (not just in code, but in organisation, management, and many other aspects of the job) is The Pragmatic Programmer by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas. One piece of advice that it gives is to keep learning even when you finish university, never stop learning more. It goes on to say that you should try to learn a new programming language every year, even if you never use it in your job it is still another skill you can say you have. I (and many others) strongly recommend this book as it will make you think about how you apply your skills and how you can make better use of your time.
I could go on listing book after book but I don’t feel the need for that. The point I want to make here is that there is a wealth of information out there and it probably wont hurt you (too much) to read as much of it as you can both in and out of university. I would advise that while you are studying for your course that you try to keep your coursework relevant and a priority but then being honest there were times when I didn’t do that so who am I to judge?
