Some people may see the fact that I have a degree in Communication instead of Computer Science as a weakness for my career as a Software Engineer, but I see it as a strength. My approach to making software is driven by good communication. Good software is about communication with users; the purpose of software is often to communicate diverse types of information with users or to serve as a communication medium between two or more users.
Even software that isn't explicitly a medium of communication has a user interface that communicates something about who it comes from, what it is for, and how users can interact with it. This is one of the key ideas that I learned from studying communication;
"The medium is the message" — Marshall McLuhan
At a lower level, I believe that writing good code is essentially about communication.
"Programs must be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute." — Harold Abelson, Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
I am passionate about writing code that communicates it's purpose and intention by using good variable names, writing code that is self explanatory and easy to read, using inline documentation when it helps to explain what's going on, and thouroughly documenting my code with READMEs and more detailed documentation. I'm not one of those developers who sees documenting my code as a chore. For me, it's an essential part of what I love to do. I even wrote a command line tool to help people communicate more effectively with their documentation.
Lastly, I believe abundant and positive communication with coworkers and clients is essential for good work. I always err on the side of over-communication, to make sure that everyone is kept in the loop, has the information they need to succeed, and knows that they are appreciated.
"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." — George Bernard Shaw