A professional is defined as “A person who practices an occupation involving high standards of intellectual knowledge after successfully completing the required education and training.” Not just education and training but a strong foundation and mastery comes from little skills learnt over a period of time. For every gain there is an equal and opposite loss. The additional effort you put in might mean that you might have to sacrifice some of your personal time but the return on investment is always on the longer run. Here are some of the points I think a developer should follow to really become a software professional.

1. Work the hardest way initially. For example use basic tools to write programs than using IDE (Integrated Development Environment) in the initial stages.
2. Question yourself why things have to work the way it works.
3. Never be afraid to try and explore. The system is not going to explode if you make a mistake.
4. Learn from mistakes. Note down the mistakes as well as how it can be avoided in the future.
5. Hone troubleshooting skills. Track your troubleshooting skills and maintain a document.
6. Understand the concepts and not work mechanically just by referring a site, book or the API.
7. Regularly read technical articles, blogs.
8. Use help from others. You don’t need to tie up with your machine all time and crack your head why something is not working. The person sitting next to you might have the solution. Don’t just get the solution but ask why that solution works.
9. Keep in mind of the customer/users when you code. The user would not want to wear a shirt that doesn’t fit him/her.
10. Remember attitude is all matters whether you are in technology or in any area for that matter.
11. Everything comes under give and take policy; knowledge is not an exception to it. Share your knowledge, only then you will know if you learnt correct and what you are missing.
12. Being paranoid is ok, but not taking even a step will not lead you anywhere.
13. That’s OK to use copy and paste but make sure you understand what you are copying and where you are pasting.
14. Be flexible to work on any technology. No technology is bad, but do question why a technology was selected for that problem.
15. Document what you have learnt. It could come handy to you and others down the line.
16. Short term success is needed to keep motivated in running but aim and work for long term success.
17. Set goals and benchmark for yourself. Beat your own record in everything you do.
18. Plan and attack the problems. Don’t blindly jump into the problem. Think and act.
19. Set a deadline for yourself that is ahead of the actual deadline and work against it.
20. Don’t take one size fits all approach. Look at various options and choose the best.