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what's the most important skill to have in CS?
I'm currently a high school student who taking AP CS. #computer-science #personal-development #software #college
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Kevin’s Answer
I echo what everyone else is saying: ability to learn on your own, logical problem solving.
I will also say:
1. Ability to ask questions (and not be scared to ask)
2. Ability to not get discouraged and try new paths when the one you are going down stops
3. A growth mindset
While these skills you cannot really go and take a CS course in, CS courses should help you practice and learn them.
And always remember the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset:
1. Fixed Mindset (do not do this) - Those that believe their intelligence, talents and personalities are fixed traits that cannot grow. This prevents people from trying and learning new skills.
2. Growth Mindset (do this) - People believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This leads people to try new things and develop skills.
Have a growth mindset and know you can learn anything with dedication and effort.
When I was younger, I had a fixed mindset that coding was too hard for me to learn - this prevented me from even pursuing it. When I got older, I learned about the growth mindset, started thinking maybe I could learn it, began learning software engineering as an adult (after working in another profession for 5 years) and now have been a software engineer for more than 8 years.
I will also say:
1. Ability to ask questions (and not be scared to ask)
2. Ability to not get discouraged and try new paths when the one you are going down stops
3. A growth mindset
While these skills you cannot really go and take a CS course in, CS courses should help you practice and learn them.
And always remember the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset:
1. Fixed Mindset (do not do this) - Those that believe their intelligence, talents and personalities are fixed traits that cannot grow. This prevents people from trying and learning new skills.
2. Growth Mindset (do this) - People believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This leads people to try new things and develop skills.
Have a growth mindset and know you can learn anything with dedication and effort.
When I was younger, I had a fixed mindset that coding was too hard for me to learn - this prevented me from even pursuing it. When I got older, I learned about the growth mindset, started thinking maybe I could learn it, began learning software engineering as an adult (after working in another profession for 5 years) and now have been a software engineer for more than 8 years.
Updated
Leo’s Answer
The ability to learn anything on your own -- that way, you can continue to pick new skills as needed when you need them.
Also, this is a skill you'll probably be required to exercise often, once you get a job. Many times I had bosses come and ask: "Can you do X please? Also, please do it right away." Where "X" involves something I don't know (an API, a language, a technology, etc) I wasn't given any time to take on-line courses to pick up the missing skills, I was simply asked to do X, by a certain due date. This has happened to me over and over again in a number of companies too. I'm sure something like this happens to every engineer out there. We just have to learn stuff as we go.
After that, I'd say you'll also need:
* People skills/How to be nice to others. You'll most likely be a part of a larger team, so you'll need that.
* Math and Science. Because *obviously*.
Also, this is a skill you'll probably be required to exercise often, once you get a job. Many times I had bosses come and ask: "Can you do X please? Also, please do it right away." Where "X" involves something I don't know (an API, a language, a technology, etc) I wasn't given any time to take on-line courses to pick up the missing skills, I was simply asked to do X, by a certain due date. This has happened to me over and over again in a number of companies too. I'm sure something like this happens to every engineer out there. We just have to learn stuff as we go.
After that, I'd say you'll also need:
* People skills/How to be nice to others. You'll most likely be a part of a larger team, so you'll need that.
* Math and Science. Because *obviously*.
Updated
Ritu’s Answer
Hi Zongyin ,
The most important skill to have is problem solving and logical thinking. You learn that by practicing and continuously working on errors.
You should love what you do, be patient and never give up.
The most important skill to have is problem solving and logical thinking. You learn that by practicing and continuously working on errors.
You should love what you do, be patient and never give up.
Updated
Mohammad Zeeshan’s Answer
Always be a student, eager to learn. Learn from other codes. Remember best practices. Slow but steady learning do make improvements.
Updated
Matt’s Answer
Echoing Ritu's answer, logical problem solving skills is a good place to start. You can refine this a bit further by thinking about what role most interest you. The following might generate more questions, but it should be helpful in giving you a greater view of the professional world.
Do you care more about how things work ? Then maybe backend development or infrastructure might be more of interest to you.
Do you care more about how you're solving a customer/people related problem? Then maybe front end develop (UX,UI) is more for you?
Do you care about data? Maybe analytics is more for you.
Each of these roles has skillsets more relevant to them. So look into a lot of roles and see which ones interest you most and then you can derive the skillsets from there.
Do you care more about how things work ? Then maybe backend development or infrastructure might be more of interest to you.
Do you care more about how you're solving a customer/people related problem? Then maybe front end develop (UX,UI) is more for you?
Do you care about data? Maybe analytics is more for you.
Each of these roles has skillsets more relevant to them. So look into a lot of roles and see which ones interest you most and then you can derive the skillsets from there.
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