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As software developers, I think we can agree that our coding skills are universally applicable. In my experience, there have been more than a few instances where my work has evoked comments from others expressing disbelief. It's funny because you hear the same things over and over again. "Woah, how did you do that?", and "Where did you learn to do that?", and of course the "You suck" comments.
Knowing how to code is certainly a very valuable life skill to have. But, what about other skills? In
what other areas do you have knowledge or experience with? What are they, and how do you use them?
How are they of benefit to you? Is it worthwhile for others to learn these skills? Why, or why not?
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- Thinking
- Contemplating
- Organizing/Reorganizing
- Understanding
Probably in that order.
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Putting code aside at end of the day and became a dad...
"If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization." ― Gerald Weinberg
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- Nomenclature
- Categorization
- Logical reasoning
- Compartmentalization
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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Learning how to read people. I spent years studying how to. Unfortunately, this also put my stubborn butt in a lot of arguments (I'm not perfect) because not everyone wants to know or can handle the truth or will know the truth but never admit it, etc. But, it's learning how to read people.
Even doctors will lie to you. Learn to read people.
Jeremy Falcon
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Does breathing count?
I’ve given up trying to be calm. However, I am open to feeling slightly less agitated.
I’m begging you for the benefit of everyone, don’t be STUPID.
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I had the same thought.
1. Allowing heart to beat
2. Breathing
3. …
Breathing is key to stress release! I use it multiple times an hour at work.
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Those aren't skills but rather reflexes/body processes 
Bond
Keep all things as simple as possible, but no simpler. -said someone, somewhere
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I'm not really a software guy, I'm an electronics guy who HAS to program.
I would say based on this morning 'self control' I had written so embedded code for positioning a servo motor to allow a screw to be fitted and then rotate 90' for a home position. The great Programmers decided that this was wrong (read harder for them, you know having to add 90') So a jig that had been approved wired in need the board updating (like a mug I had blown Read/Write fuses) so had to replace the controller... Xmas is coming must not blot copy book this close to Santa's arrival.
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glennPattonWork3 wrote: Xmas is coming must not blot copy book this close to Santa's arrival
I'm sure he would understand. The local police, however, probably wouldn't. 
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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Well, the skills I've acquired over time as a software developer don't always translate into a positive in real life.
I'll leave it to XKCD to provide an example.
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Translating what the customer says they want ("customer" includes "manager" for those that may remember when TQM / ISO-9000 was all the rage) into what they actually need. This can be generalized to any relationship. 
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I was also going to say "translating." I was thinking more of between groups of my "internal customers" in the company. Translating desires between laser physics folk, marketing, mechanical engineers, firmware/software engineers, electronics engineers, R&D management. And then there's translating field failure reports into something useful.
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"I already told you! I talk to the engineers...."
lol
Yes though. I've worked with a bunch of the world at least so far as people who spoke languages I do not.
When people translate from their native to English they can say things in English which are exactly the same words as someone who has a different native language doing the same thing. But these people mean different things.
You only know that if you know them or if you know the common ways the individual/individual's culture tend to phrase things in English.
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I was reading others for inspiration, but I don't even need inspiration. This is the one.
Which really, if we're simplifying a bit, it comes down to empathy.
Put yourself in customer shoes with customer problems but with your own technical chops to figure out what to do about them.
But I also think if you develop this skill then you can be really useful outside yourself. You can also be a contributor who sort of mediates, catches, and corrects misunderstandings that can pit the deck a month before launch.
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I usually have less lumber left over after building a fence.
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
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My training and experience as an engineer is broadly applicable to problem-solving. I'm the Mr. Fix-It and the Mr. Put-It-Together in my family, although my daughter seems to have acquired the knack (despite a B.S. in Biology).
The best skill I've developed though is my writing ability. Being able to appreciate your audience, organize your thoughts, and then express them is profoundly useful. It's unbelievable at times when I deal with a smart, well-spoken engineer, and then their email reads like a prepubescent kid with dyslexia on Adderall.
Software Zen: delete this;
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I was told in college to never let an employer know how well I write, because they would assign me to tech writing, and I'd never get to design anything. I know that no one hires tech writers anymore, since Microsoft first introduced the concept of never shipping a manual with any product, but back then there was a real danger of being assigned a technical writing role if one had any ability to compose a readable sentence.
Will Rogers never met me.
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Roger Wright wrote: never let an employer know how well I write
That one hit me a few years ago, when they didn't replace the tech writer for the help to go with my application. She was amazingly good at it, too.Roger Wright wrote: no one hires tech writers anymore
We still have a couple technical writers (they sit right behind me). Our products are complex with maintenance and service procedures that can be dozens of steps long.
Software Zen: delete this;
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I think my most valuable skill is spotting patterns, and when they're broken. I've always been able to look at a problem, see how it is meant to work, and identify what needs to be changed to make it work, even as a child. It has been curse many times, and I didn't have a lot of friends growing up, as this is considered to be a bit spooky to some, and being a smartass to others.
Will Rogers never met me.
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Roger Wright wrote: a bit spooky to some, and being a smartass
A bit 'tetched, eh? 
Software Zen: delete this;
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Yep, so it would seem.
Will Rogers never met me.
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I was lucky enough to be raised as bilingual English/French.
I have not used the French much as an adult and street French itself has changed a bit since the 70s - however I still have the accent, can speak a bit and enjoy watching French documentaries/films.
It's been really useful because it's also made it easier for me to pick up and speak other languages as some French phonemes are very different to English phonemes.
Once you get a feel for different phonemes it makes speaking other languages easier - I still cringe a lot at how most English speakers pronounce the word "croissant" 
It's opened up a whole other world to me and I am grateful for having this facility.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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On lighter side...
my first for pay job in US was maintaining "industrial size " sawing machines...
their product was variety of plastic and "natural fiber " 50 pounds or smaller bags..
their byproduct was unbelievable oily fiber mess clogging everything...
I did learn skills and respect of operators for not being too concerned getting
" down to get dirty "...
and since I used screwdriver , instead of hammer , as my "teacher " Ernie ...
I guess my learned life skill is being able to "look things over "
and use the right tool to get the job done.
but sometime Mikey mouse wins...
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