The Art of Coding for Beginners to Start Learning
When someone tries to find ways to start learning Coding as a Beginner, there are many questions which come in his mind but If you Google “Coding for Beginners”, you’ll only find the collections of resources for learning Coding. In this article, I’m going to explain some of the most important factors you need to consider before start your carrier as a computer programmer or software developer.
This guide is going to be a little longer but after reading this you’ll have a clear idea for driving your car on the road of Coding. Here’s a quick overview of the content of this article.
Table of Contents
- Learn English First
- What is Coding?
- What knowledge is required to start learning Coding?
- What are the problem-solving skills & why It’s necessary?
- Choosing the right Programming Languages
- Try A Bootcamp
- Some useful Websites To Learn Coding
- Find A Mentor
- Build A Strong Portfolio
- Some Takeaway From Me
Learn English First
You must be thinking why the hack I add the first heading to First Learn English. If you’re from an English speaking country or knows the language well then there is no prerequisite. You can happily skip this section. If you’re not you should definitely learn English first. Let me explain:
- 70% of online tutorials and courses are in English.
- Most documentations for libraries/frameworks are in English.
- 60% of youtube videos are in English.
- Half of the internet content is in English.
Wait! Am I writing this post in English?
What is Coding?
In simple words, coding is a way to instruct a Computer about its task or duty.
There are many programming languages to tell a computer to perform a specific task. Obviously every languages have their own specifications but here our focus is on learning Coding as a beginner.
So, learning to code is not magic. It’s a long journey. Never expect to learn everything overnight. It doesn’t happen like that.
What knowledge is required to start learning Coding?
There are several keys that I believe you need to have if you want to start learning to code.
- Confidence Around A Computer: This may seem obvious, but if you are thinking about becoming to start to learn coding you’ll need to be confident with a computer.
- An Investigated Mind: This will help you to go far as a programmer. Find out how something is done and try to find ways to do it better.
- Basic Knowledge Of Propositional Logic: If you’re insecure about your math abilities, I recommend learning propositional logic. The principles covered in propositional logic are the building blocks of programming. You can learn propositional logic from this YouTube tutorial: Basic Concepts in Propositional Logic.
- Skill For Searching Online: You often stuck at coding while learning or when solving a problem. So, you must be good at searching for answers on the internet and it is a vital skill for any programmer.
What are the problem-solving skills & why It’s necessary?
We all have problems. Big and small. It is the most important skills that a programmer should have. Too many programmers out there think their job is to write high-quality code. While writing high-quality code is great, it is just a tool to solve a problem.
Now some say problem-solving skills cannot be taught. I disagree. Sure, they won’t be taught in a lecture with a whiteboard and homework assignment. But this where a good mentor can teach you a lot. If you’re stuck on a problem but have a good mentor, they can nudge your thought process in the right direction at letting you solve the problem.
Think of a manual for repairing a car. They will tell you how to fix the car but they won’t tell you how to get yourself from point A to point B which is ultimately the problem you’re trying to solve for the car.
How To Choose the Right Programming Language
Once you figure out why you want to code, you can more easily choose which programming language you should start first. While there is no single best programming language to learn, some languages are more user-friendly to learn. You may check out the following article to choose the programming language.
If you still didn’t convince which programming you should start first by seeing the above article. You just get started to learn something. Once you become comfortable with one programming language, you’ll be able to pick up the next one that much faster—like learning a new musical instrument or foreign language.
Try A Bootcamp
Lots of students start by reading books. It’s OK to go that route–that’s how I learn to code when I was just getting started but if you really want to get off on the right foot, start out with some Bootcamp.
Bootcamps are great if you need to feel really invested (commonly $10k — $25k), and you need to be accountable to somebody other than yourself. Beware of boot camps that only offer 3-month (12-week) programs. You need at least twice as much study & practice to be job-ready.
Some useful Websites To Learn Coding
If you don’t have the money for a Bootcamp, or you’re a more self-motivated, self-directed type try online training. Here’s the list of ten great websites to learn to code.
In these sites, you’ll find great tutorials for beginners and experienced programmers both and it really forces you to debug your as you learn.
Find A Mentor
Graduating from Bootcamp or taking online courses is just a step in your learning journey. Technologies and industry change rapidly and you’ll never stop learning. You should find some helpful online mentors through GitHub, or meet other veteran developers at a local coding Meetup event or Hackathon.
You don’t have to meet them in person in order to learn from them. Once you gain some experience with programming, you might be able to answer other peoples’ questions, or even teach what you’ve learned to newbies—a great test to see if you really know your stuff.
Build A Strong Portfolio
No matter how you learn, if you want to code for a career, you’ll want to start building a portfolio of the projects you made. Try to answer some question on StackOver Flow, opens up a GitHub account and upload all your projects there so the potential employers can see your work.
Some Takeaway From Me
If you want to really good at coding, there’s only one way to go about it. Commit mistakes, correct mistakes, learn from mistakes, share mistakes–repeat from start.
I like to reiterate this because the biggest mistake can you make as an aspiring programmer is giving up. Yes! it is difficult to learn to program, not because of who you are, but because there is a lot of topics to learn. I find myself in this situation all the time. I often have to reread the same article several times for me to grasp what I’m learning. Don’t get discouraged if you find yourself lost. Stay Strong!
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I have been absent for some time, but now I remember why I used to love this website. Thanks, I will try and check back more often. How frequently you update your site?