[allochthon]

I'll just add that good, maintainable software is as much about communication with other devs, in the form of code that they can read without being too distracted, as it is about getting the immediate job done. That requires socialization with other software developers on some level. That kind of socialization is going to be harder for a lone developer to obtain. But I imagine working on an open source project where there are other people will do the trick.