Non-programming skills every programmer should have

Re:Non-programming skills every programmer should have by pjscott on Friday October 19, 2012 @08:19PM (#4675902)

> I'm not fond of these "should" articles. I'd like to acknowledge the programming specialists out there and the 9-5 programmers. The "should" means that if you're not doing these things, then you're doing something wrong. (That's not even the connotation of "should", that's the literal meaning.)

I would like a word -- and perhaps it exists already and it just eludes me at the moment -- which is a milder version of should. A word that means "Your life would probably be improved by doing these things, even though what you're doing now may also be good."

If we had such a word, it would make it easier to have "You should" conversations without people becoming offended. Our world may be great, but I think that a world with a word like that would be a little bit better.

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Re:Non-programming skills every programmer should have by skermes on Friday October 19, 2012 @09:15PM (#4676026)

1) There's nothing wrong with using a phrase (like "Your life would probably ...") instead of a word. That's kind of what they're for?

2) What about "can"? It's not a drop-in replacement for "should", but it has a lot of what you're going for. "Non-programming skills every programmer _can_ have" is about aspiration not judgement, possibilities not failures.

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