Why writing is important for software developers (or anyone, really)
It helps others
The main goal of your writing should be to share your knowledge. Think of all the times you’ve Googled something and it showed you the way to solve your problem in a matter of minutes. Your writing could be the key to solve someone else’s problems.
It improves your digital footprint
Digital footprint represents your online presence and in today’s world of technology, one’s digital footprint serves as an unofficial resume. It would tell the world about your knowledge and your interests, which often plays a major role in recruitment.
You would remember it more
Information will stick in your mind more when you write it in your own words. It has the same effect of teaching someone. Even if you forget what you wrote, you will always know where to look.
Rubber duck programming is quite similar where a programmer would explain his piece of code to a rubber duck (or another programmer) in order to ensure everything makes sense. If you have used Stackoverflow to ask questions, you may have faced instances where you realise the solution on your own when trying to explain the problem using words.
It improves your communication skills
You may have faced situations where you spoke and after sometime, you come up with better ways and vocabulary you could have used. When you’re writing, you first gather your thoughts onto a piece of paper (or mostly on a computer). Unlike spoken communication, you have the luxury of revising your thoughts and improve it. When writing continuously, you would notice that the need for revision decreases, which means you know how to express your thoughts effectively. This is also reflected in your speech which improves your overall communication skills.
