A programmer's job is one of the most coveted and highest paying jobs today. Programmers are hired by a variety of sectors that thrive on technology as their backbone.

People often think programmers are a special breed of humanity, born with scientific calculators for brains. On the contrary, Programmers are ordinary people who simply have a passion for programming. And like in any profession, talent only gets people so far, as work ethic and discipline truly determine success or failure.

If you're curious to learn programming, don’t worry; it's not as difficult as it may seem. At its core, programming is simply a form of communication between two entities - in this case, a developer and a computer. At a fundamental level, your task as a developer is to give instructions to a computer on how to build something, such as a website.

But of course you don't simply say, "Computer, build me a website." It's more complex than that. In a nutshell, programming is like writing meticulous instruction manuals in a special language, which only computers and other programmers can interpret.

The Job Role and Responsibilities

A programmer's job primarily revolves around creating and modifying computer programs to address project requirements.

The key responsibilities of a programmer include:

• Understanding the project requirement by defining the objective and defining the solution in computer language.
• Arranging the project nitty gritty in programming sequence
• Writing efficient and correct codes, adapting or editing existing codes.
• Detailed documentation of the project's operating procedure for future reference.

Competencies and Skills Required

On the basis of the programmer's expertise and experience, s/he is required to work in a particular programming language. Strong coding skills form the backbone for this profile. Apart from that logical ability, critical reasoning and good quantitative skills are also important parameters. Some skills and competencies that recruiters look for in a candidate are:

• Excellent coding skills
• Analytical and problem solving skills
• Strong knowledge of software algorithm design
• Strong quantitative skills
• Communication skills

Assessment for the ‘Right’ Programmer

The following table illustrates how various skills and personality traits map to assessments required for the Software Developer role:

Helpful Trivia

Good programmers are always in demand not only in the IT industry but all industries that rely on high end technology. Ecommerce companies are today fighting hard to grab the best programmers. The industry looks for programmers who can not only think of the right algorithm for a problem, but also figure out efficient solutions for a problem and write code that is scalable and maintainable. Most current solutions simply find the percent of test cases a program gets right, and not grade based on the thought process of the candidate or quality parameters of a code, as an expert interviewer would have. Automata is a path breaking solution to find the most appropriate programmer for a position. Here the candidate is provided with a couple of programming problems, for which s/he writes the solution in a simulated compiler integrated environment. The candidate can compile and execute his/her code to find how it is performing on test cases.

The road to becoming a programmer is not an easy one, and a career in computer programming is not for everyone. However, as you consider your next steps, know that many people - none of them more “destined” to be a programmer than you — have found success and happiness through computer programming.