How Writing Can Be Your Secret Weapon in Tech
The Writing Side of Software Engineering
👋 Hi, this is Ankur with a subscriber-only issue of the ByteSizedBets Newsletter.
Each month, I write about software engineering, startups, developer tools, writing, career growth and small bets.
In today’s post, I’ll talk about an underrated skill “writing” which can open up new opportunities and enhance career growth for software engineers in tech.
Today, we cover:
Introduction
A simple rule of writing
GPT and AI Tools?
How to become a standout writer in the AI Era
How writing is the Underrated skill in Tech
How writing helps an Engineer
Why write about what you learn
Writing well is an undervalued skill in life, not just in engineering
I hated writing in my school and college time.
English was not my favourite subject instead I liked math and science and I got passing marks in English despite my father being an English teacher who helped me a lot in my early days and taught me the importance of English and writing.
However, my perspective on writing shifted after I began working full-time as a software engineer in 2010 especially in 2017 when I joined Barclays a big UK bank and was working on a legacy code base where we were revamping the 10+ years old code into modern UI/UX which was written in the mainframe.
When I became a senior engineer, the way I worked there changed. I led a small team of engineers, and to complete my tasks, I found myself writing more and more.
Writing soon became an important part of my work outside of coding.
This became even more apparent when COVID came in 2020, as most conversations were moved to async chats, Slack and confluence docs.
Almost every day we software engineers do many tasks which need writing.
Enhancing your writing abilities directly boosts your effectiveness in software development, a field where collaboration is key.
Clear and concise writing facilitates better communication among team members, streamlines the sharing of complex ideas, and leads to more efficient problem-solving. As a result, projects move forward more smoothly, and the final products are often more robust and user-friendly.
Writing not only documents progress but also solidifies concepts and strategies, making it an indispensable skill for any software engineer aiming for excellence in their craft.