Many programmers think that what they do is an art form, because not very many people have the skills to create elegant code. However this can also cause problems, because they often lose sight of what their ultimate goal should be. The only reason software developers exist is to make their users happy. If their software does not please the customer, or make their job and/or life easier, then the software is a waste of time.

Learning how to produce software that your customer really wants is one of the hardest things to do for a programmer. However there are a few things that you can do to make your job developing good software much easier. The techniques needed to develop good software are making sure you get solid requirements before writing any code, think about the design before you code, and test your code fully before releasing it.

To me the most important part of developing software is getting solid requirements of what your customer wants. One of the hardest things about this is sometimes your customer does not even know what they want. You have to try to work with them and get them to tell you exactly what they are looking for your software to do. If you can get them to explain what they want the software to do, then you will spend less times making changes during development, which will lead to a much better performing piece of software.

Another technique that is needed for developing good software is the design of the code. You need to plan and make decisions about how you are going to accomplish the tasks needed for your software to work the way your customer wants it to. If you think about the software a piece at a time, and then look at the overall design, the software you develop will be much better.

The final technique required for developing good software is to test your code fully before releasing it. One of the most frustrating things for your users is software that does not work correctly. If you test your code fully before it is released, then you will build your user's confidence which will lead to more business. Nothing turns customers off like buggy software. Be sure that you test your software on a variety of systems, too.

If you remember these three techniques, then you will have a much better chance to develop good software.