5 Healthy Engineering Qualities

I’m 42 and I’ve been writing code for most of my life, starting at 16, so at the time of this writing, that makes it 26 years that I have been doing this.

I still love to code. I write code almost every day, even when I had been in management roles, I always worked on hobby projects. Now, I work in big tech as a full time engineer and love what I do.

Some people I mentor starting out in engineering want to know if they are right for choosing a path as a software engineer. I was thinking about this and have some ideas that may help those folks decide and for those who are already well into their engineering career, leaning into these may help keep up your engineering interest.

You Love the Look of Code

It sounds a bit silly but to this day, I still feel that code is beautiful. Syntax, good readability, formatting, what goes into language design, developer ergonomics are all things I value. If you are getting started in software engineering, code looks cool to you. If you are a more seasoned engineer, you spend extra time making sure that you ensure that code is readable and your colleagues adhere to agreed upon readability best practices. These are all great signs that you are on a solid path. Here are some examples of things you can lean into here:

• Does the IDE I use auto-format my code?
• Am I using a linter?
• Am I adhering to readability best practices established for the language I am using?
• Does my team document and adhere to best practices for cases that cannot be covered by automation?
• Do we have readability experts on the team that mentor and provide code review approval?
• Do I read about readability best practices that others use?

You Are Creative

I find that there are two major situations that require my creativity as an engineer: when I’m presented with a tough technically challenging problem or when I need to design something that is not common. For the latter, this could be a system or just a way of using design patterns in writing code. Creativity is required for all of these situations and the larger the system and team is, the more is required. Some common questions you can ask yourself to leverage your creativity are:

• Am I giving myself enough breathing room to relax and really use my creativity or am I brute forcing something?
• Am I being creative when I am in the right mood and mindset? i.e. late a night, early in the morning, in a brainstorming session, etc vs forcing creativity with rushed, short meetings?
• Do I have a notebook or app handly to write down random ideas?
• How many different ways can I solve a given problem? What are the tradeoffs for each?
• What if I remove constraints to a problem? What if I added constraints?
• Am I talking to enough people to bounce ideas off of?

You Talk to Users

There should be a feedback loop of: ideate -> build -> ship -> talk to users -> improve and this should feel rewarding. You should want to improve how you build something next time or improve what you already have. Writing code and building projects is only half the battle. Talking to actual users and getting feedback, thinking about product and design problems are all important parts of the software engineering journey. You don’t need to be extroverted to do this. Here are some examples:

• Am I publishing code I write from time to time, if it is allowed?
• Is there a way for others to provide feedback to me?
• Do I engage in a back and forth with people that have used the projects I build?
• If I need to work with product managers and designers, am I still seeking out some kind of path to personally engage with users?
• Do I thrive on generating fresh ideas by speaking to users?

You Are Continuously Expanding Your Skillset

This could be either going deep into the technologies that you work with or learning new technologies. If you enjoy doing this then it is another sign that you will have a bright future as an engineer. This is not only needed because new technologies are always being developed but it is needed because the existing technologies you use are probably deep enough for you to always find ways to improve your existing knowledge. Here are some aspects to consider:

• Do I subscribe to newsletters or other sources that keep me up to date on the technologies I use?
• Do I enjoy learning about new features and best practices for the technologies I’m working with?
• Bonus: am I sharing the knowledge I learn (blog post, YT video, creating documentation and demos for my team)?
• Do I feel satisfaction by learning new things?
• Am I generally curious about learning?
• Am I asking questions and seeking out help when I need it? Do I enjoy solving problems?

You Are Not Driven By Money

Being driven by money is fine, but if it is your only goal, then you may not do quite as well as others in your career, at least from my own personal observations. There’s nothing wrong with getting into engineering to have a career that pays but it will be difficult to code, often 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, say at a 9-5 job, if you are only motivated by a paycheck. Here are some important questions to ask yourself:

• If I was never paid to write code, would I still be doing it for fun?
• Am I writing code or at least reading about new technologies in my free time?
• If I had all the free time in the world, what would I be doing as it pertains to software engineering?
• Are there interesting hobbies or side projects that I think of taking on from time to time?

This post was written to just get your ideas flowing. I can easily expand this post to include more points but I think I covered enough to help others ask some important questions and perhaps, if they are well into their career, consider taking on new habits.

I’d love to hear from you. I answer all emails so feel free to reply or reach out at hello@seenickcode.com!

Happy coding,
Nick