{"id":586,"date":"2019-06-27T14:38:21","date_gmt":"2019-06-27T14:38:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/?p=586"},"modified":"2019-07-24T07:34:46","modified_gmt":"2019-07-24T07:34:46","slug":"why-every-software-engineer-should-write-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/why-every-software-engineer-should-write-more","title":{"rendered":"Why Every Software Engineer Should Write More"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;Every developer should write.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>We&#8217;re at the beginning of the &#8216;everyone should learn to code&#8217; area. With the ever-emerging developers&#8217; forums, tech websites and personal blogs, we have much easier access to advanced coding knowledge than ever before.<\/p>\n<p>For a software engineer, it becomes all the more important for you to keep up with the tech trend from the mentioned sources, otherwise, your competitiveness would be under great challenge.<\/p>\n<p>But having access to such knowledge and information only gets you <strong>halfway<\/strong>. How so?<\/p>\n<p>Because being at the receiving end doesn&#8217;t necessarily mean that you truly master what you &#8216;learn&#8217; as a software engineer. You could start blank at a technical document for 30 minutes without understanding a bit of it (one of my embarrassing true stories).<\/p>\n<p>What can be done differently?<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;While we teach, we learn<\/strong>.<strong>&#8220;<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Learning_by_teaching\">learning-by-teaching<\/a> effect has been proved by <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/abs\/10.3102\/00028312019002237\">many studies<\/a>. Just as the name entails, by teaching someone else, we learn better ourselves. In other words, teaching what we learn is the other half of our learning journey.<\/p>\n<p>That said, from my standpoint,<em><strong> writing is the best way of learning<\/strong><\/em>. Why would I say that? Read on and you&#8217;ll see.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_589\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-589\" style=\"width: 4076px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-589 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/glenn-carstens-peters-npxXWgQ33ZQ-unsplash.jpg\" alt=\"Why do I say writing is the best way of learning, especially for software engineers?  \" width=\"4076\" height=\"2712\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/glenn-carstens-peters-npxXWgQ33ZQ-unsplash.jpg 4076w, https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/glenn-carstens-peters-npxXWgQ33ZQ-unsplash-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/glenn-carstens-peters-npxXWgQ33ZQ-unsplash-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 4076px) 100vw, 4076px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-589\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Why do I say writing is the best way of learning?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Writing helps you code better, and vice versa<\/h2>\n<p>Coding and writing actually require very similar skill sets: you need to be capable of<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong> thinking clearly<\/strong>,<\/li>\n<li><strong>planning<\/strong>,<\/li>\n<li><strong>organizing<\/strong>,<\/li>\n<li><strong>explaining<\/strong> clearly and concisely what you have in your head,<\/li>\n<li><strong>revising<\/strong> and <strong>editing<\/strong> your work till it&#8217;s almost close to perfection,<\/li>\n<li><strong>learning<\/strong> and <strong>practicing<\/strong> new industrial knowledge&#8230;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The list goes on and on&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>By <strong>sharpening your writing skills<\/strong>, <strong>your coding skills grow<\/strong>\u00a0as well.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, if you are to write a good copy, possibly a big project, you need to break down the topic, find and select evidence you need, and order your points in a compelling way, and then start the writing process. This is almost what you&#8217;d do if you are to write codes for excellent software.<\/p>\n<h2>Writing helps you know more about your codes and yourself<\/h2>\n<p>Just like writers, software engineers need to <strong>learn non-stop<\/strong>. With the knowledge and information updating so rapidly, it&#8217;s a big challenge for these two groups to keep up with the trend, let alone being on top of it all.<\/p>\n<p>But as we mentioned, teaching helps you learn better. By writing down what you learn, to you or to others, you have a chance to <strong>see clearly how far you&#8217;ve gone in the learning path<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s think of it: you need to know what you learn <strong>by heart<\/strong> so as to write something about it, which requires you to learn more than what&#8217;s given in just one or two documents. During the process, you&#8217;ll see your weaknesses and strengths, and therefore, be able to fix what needs to be fixed.<\/p>\n<p>By writing what&#8217;s in your head down clearly, you learn how to <strong>communicate effectively<\/strong> with different groups, especially when you have an audience of various backgrounds.<\/p>\n<h2>Different points of view<\/h2>\n<p>As software engineers, we usually have a very confined working scope, where we only need to talk to designers and other developers about work. The downside about this is, you&#8217;ll find your mind confined as well if you don&#8217;t seek a way out.<\/p>\n<p>Writing is the way out.<\/p>\n<p>By writing for different audiences, for different purposes, you&#8217;ll have to<strong> see things from different perspectives<\/strong>, and thus you&#8217;ll be able to <strong>think in other people&#8217;s shoes<\/strong>. Such a rare trait will help you understand your clients better, and therefore write better codes and programs.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, by sharing your viewpoints, the others are more or less likely to be influenced, taught, and inspired by you. How fascinating is that!<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_590\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-590\" style=\"width: 1920px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-590 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/technology-785742_1920.jpg\" alt=\"Writing allows you to see things from different perspectives. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/technology-785742_1920.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/technology-785742_1920-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/technology-785742_1920-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-590\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Writing allows you to see things from different perspectives.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>But, but, but<\/h2>\n<p>By now, I guess the voice in your head is more of &#8220;But I don&#8217;t know how to write.&#8221; than &#8220;I need to write NOW!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>No one is born a writer, just like no one is born a software engineer. <strong>It takes tremendous training, learning and practice, <\/strong>just like anything else.<\/p>\n<p>And to eliminate the learning curve, you should always start from something you&#8217;re familiar with. Pick something you find most comfortable to talk about, and choose the writing app that won&#8217;t stress you out, then start from there. Our brains just love what looks and sounds familiar to us.<\/p>\n<h3>Markdown writing<\/h3>\n<p>For a software engineer, you&#8217;d find <em><strong>markdown writing<\/strong><\/em> most familiar and easiest to accept as one of the first steps that you start your writing as a learning path.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/kb\/why-markdown\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Why markdown,<\/a> you ask? Because:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>years of experience in the industry may have trained you to <strong>focus on the more important things<\/strong>, like how you can better think and type in a distraction-free environment;<\/li>\n<li><strong>your time is too valuable<\/strong> to be wasted on setting up the writing environment, getting familiar with all the bells and whistles in most of the WYSIWYG editors;<\/li>\n<li>instead, you might want to <strong>add all of your formatting styles right into the text<\/strong> as simple inline syntax rather than using all the features.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This is basically what a markdown writing app does.<\/p>\n<p>Among all the apps, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/inspire-app\/inspire_windows_setup.exe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Inspire Writer<\/a> stands out. With its simplicity and core features, this markdown editor helps to build the distraction-free environment for you to write in, and you&#8217;ll find the writing process so smooth and entertaining: just you and your thoughts, and nothing more.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_659\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-659\" style=\"width: 1363px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-659 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/48359067_1467783820021404_7786180910512078848_o.png\" alt=\"Inspire Markdown editor in Dark Mode\" width=\"1363\" height=\"722\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/48359067_1467783820021404_7786180910512078848_o.png 1363w, https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/48359067_1467783820021404_7786180910512078848_o-768x407.png 768w, https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/48359067_1467783820021404_7786180910512078848_o-300x159.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1363px) 100vw, 1363px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-659\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inspire Markdown editor in Dark Mode<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/inspire-app\/inspire_windows_setup.exe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Download Inspire<\/strong><\/a> now to enjoy the most comfortable writing environment that it creates for you. It now offers a 7-day free trial, with all pro features waiting to drive your writing workflow.<\/p>\n<p>Or you can <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/buy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">purchase Inspire Writer<\/a> <\/strong>if you find it of great help to your writing goal from here:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_724\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-724\" style=\"width: 825px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-724 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Snipaste_2019-07-24_15-29-58.png\" alt=\"Buy Inspire Writer\" width=\"825\" height=\"495\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Snipaste_2019-07-24_15-29-58.png 825w, https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Snipaste_2019-07-24_15-29-58-768x461.png 768w, https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Snipaste_2019-07-24_15-29-58-300x180.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 825px) 100vw, 825px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-724\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Buy Inspire Writer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Over to you&#8230;<\/h2>\n<p>Do you think that software engineers should write more than codes? What are your suggestions for software engineers who&#8217;d love to write more? Feel free to share with us what you think in the comment section.<\/p>\n<p>Happy writing! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Every developer should write.&#8221; We&#8217;re at the beginning of the &#8216;everyone should learn to code&#8217; area. With the ever-emerging developers&#8217; forums, tech websites and personal blogs, we have much easier access to advanced coding knowledge than ever before. For a software engineer, it becomes all the more important for you to keep up with the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":713,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[8,9],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inspire-writer.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}