If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Over on SEOMoz there’s a great writeup about traits (most) good web developers have. I, for one, like the list and think it embodies a great deal when looking at a good developer. It makes me happy to say that I believe I possess each one of these traits.

Here are the 5 traits mentioned and my personal thoughts on each:

1. Are always unsatisfied with their work

I slide in to this one here, because sometimes I am satisfied with the way something turns out. But most of the time I’m left looking back and saying, “Man, I wish I would have done that differently”, or “I wish I knew that before I did this”. What’s good about this is that I’ve consistently gotten better at what I do.

2. Have improved their skill set lately

This has got to be one of my biggest gripes with developers I come across. Trust me, I know things are busy and finding time to learn new skills isn’t the easiest (I’ve got 3 kids… I know time is pressed). But if I want to be a good developer, it’s my responsibilty to keep up with trends and improvements in technology. I’m not saying you’ve got be proficient at everything, noone ever will be. But a good developer should be able to mention a few new things that are happening in the world of web development.

3. Don’t promise everything

I definitley fall in to this one. I’m not one that will put his foot in his mouth (at least not on purpose). I know my limits. I know what I can do and can’t do. If I don’t know how, I admit it. My feeling is that it’s better to be honest and upfront rather than look like an idiot when it takes you forever to accomplish something and have it still not work. These types of situations serve as motivation for point #2 above.

4. Think ahead

Out of all the traits, this is the one I’ve been working on over the past 6 months or so. I’ve been trying to train my brain to think ahead because thinking ahead is key to developing a website that will grow and be easily maintainable.

5. Are as accurate as possible

Anyone who develops in a server site language like PHP knows the terror a missing semi-colon or curly brace can bring on. In web development, accuracy is a huge piece to bringing a website that is valid and cross-browser friendly. Beyond the actual code though, accuracy is extremely important for developing a website that does what it needs to do in the easiest possible way. Make sure that you understand every need and requirement so that you can do your best job.

Of course not every good web developer has all of these traits. Matter of fact, I just slid in to feeling like I possess some of each. What’s important is that you are constantly working to get better. Web development is changing consistently and you have to be ready to change and grow with it.