Organizational Skills Beat Algorithmic Wizardry (2013)

I agree with the OP but I still think the power of algorithms and datastructures should not be understated, as they power most of the software everyone (including "organizational" coders) use, e.g. databases. For example, I'm writing a pure JS database (https://github.com/louischatriot/nedb), and using indexing I was able to speed it up hundreds fold. That's clearly not something I could have done without knowing about self-balancing binary search trees. I also think that knowing algorithms does make you a better…

The single most important undervalued skill for any programmer, is Domain Modeling. It's an absolute shame it isn't a requirement to get a CS degree. Few things have more of a 3x effect on your code, than poorly chosen data modeling, or incorrect domain relationships. Your domain modeling determines in a large part, the amount of incidental complexity in your codebase. When done incorrectly, it's what causes the painful - "Yeah we can't account for that feature without a lot…

Some places like Google don't care if you have organizational skills. They have organization skills; they are the brain and you are the body.

> When it comes to writing code, the number one most important skill is how to keep a tangle of features from collapsing under the weight of its own complexity. I've worked on large telecommunications systems, console games, blogging software, a bunch of personal tools, and very rarely is there some tricky data structure or algorithm that casts a looming shadow over everything else. Could not agree more. Most programs require appropriate organization. The Venn diagram intersection between puzzle solvers…