Becoming a self-taught programmer and learning to programme for absolute beginners is never easy. And there is no shortcut leading to success as a computer programmer. Learning to program and being great at it is a necessity if you really want to be successful in the industry in my opinion.
Who am I? Check out here.
Anyway, back to the subject…
Assuming that you’re a starter who hasn’t yet started coding or still on the idea of learning the said course, here is a list to consider for an efficient way of learning prior heading towards your goal.
You can check out what I’m up to about a program, Be A Programmer Challenge here. It’s a program of commitment I made for my own to simply challenge myself in regards running towards my passion.
So, first thing’s first…
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1. Know Your Interest As A Programmer
What is your main interest profession as a Programmer? You must decide what kind of job you are willing to do as a programmer. Two most common possible jobs leading a computer programmer is either Web Development or Software Development. There are others such as Game and Mobile Development as well but I am not that a fan of both but sure you can just look it up on google yourself. Really, you can choose one of them too.
Now, pick up what you’re interested in – all at once! You will learn the reason further in the following context.
2. Commit To Your Goal
Always open your mind about the future possibilities. As a starter in the programming industry, you may find it hard to commit throughout the learning process because of the hardships you will get through but as what I’ve mentioned, “YOU WILL GET THROUGH IT” and believe me, you will. Just TRUST THE PROCESS as what “John Sonmez” says all the time.
Now stop your doubts, confusions and just learn by starting doing it.
Your persistence and commitment to your goal is the key to achieving it, but taking an action is the most valuable thing you can do at the moment before anything else.
Start researching and make a plan. A definite one. Take time to research what is the best choice for you, as mentioned earlier, either of those professions. After you come across picking up your goal, commit to it. To be efficient in learning and successfully become a programmer, you must develop a burning desire of getting involved with the career you’re planning to pursue with. Consider mainly the demand of the job itself, most especially about the programming languages specialty. See Toibe’s Chart as a reference. You may also get a better resource for you.
Become aware of the updates and don’t stop learning. Learning about the industry’s highs and lows shall be part of yourself starting right now because you may always want to be updated to know the status of the series aging technologies in our society and as well as with your career.
3. Avoid “All Of The Above” kind of Attitude
The most common mistake what beginners do (including myself) is when we fall down on wanting to know everything at the same time or all in one package. When you’re still starting out, NEVER commit to doing everything at the same time. The majority said that programming is never an easy task to do. What more when you’re still on your way up learning? No successful programmer will disagree with the mentioned thought. Try to ask someone you know. If they tell you it’s easy, then they were never been a successful one. Somebody who is a real programmer and a successful one will not Bull**** you.
Time will tell when it’s time to know everything. Focus first on being productive by making something done. PRODUCTIVITY is everything, so keep it in mind. It’s just how it works!
Book reading tip for productivity guidance is available, The Superhuman Habit by Tynan.
4. Research And Be Resourceful
As mentioned earlier, do some research. Researching allows you to realize the best options for learning as productive as possible. It is okay to be confused. Analyze it or even survey every resource you found on the internet or in books, etc. There are tons of resources and opportunity to learn especially on the internet. I also recommend joining a community where you can share your thoughts and as well enables you to connect with people who have the ability to teach you. Do not disregard your mistakes. Ask and be corrected. Be conscious of doing everything right. But it’s okay to be wrong as long as you’re willing to be corrected. Mistakes or failures are fortunes in disguise as long as you keep your eyes and mind open.
Anyway, do visit forums such as Brackeys as for your first community to start with. This guy, Brackey, is one of the great guys who teach programming online. You can also see his channel on YouTube, Brackeys YouTube Channel. Furthermore, if you need pure guidance on your career as a programmer, the best guy to turn to is the famous, John Sonmez from Simple Programmer. Check out his blog here. This guy is the best. As well as a great influence for you to keep track of your career as a programmer and be on the right path. He has written the phenomenal book – Soft Skill: The Software Developer’s Life Manual (Book) and his newly released The Complete Software Developer’s Career Guide (Book) which is what I’m reading apparently today. Visit his channel on YouTube, Bulldog Mindset, for series you may not want to miss out for your career growth in general.
Important Tip: Check out my Free Resources Kit to Start Your Journey Effectively
5. Never Be In A Hurry
Learn one at a time. You must be organized on learning to be able to fast pace the process because you will be focusing on one goal. That is why you need to fulfill the first on the list (First list above) because knowing your interest will make it easier for you to identify what specific languages (coding applications) you must learn and avoid investing your time for unnecessary tasks. Learning everything at once will lower your productivity as a student and I promise you, it is impossible to absorb everything once you get started with it. I learned it by experience so don’t just nod out there and take note for that.
Finally…
6. Just Do It
I know everything is kind of a blurry starting off. I’ve been there and even still on the road but remember that whatever happens along the way, however rocky is the road to your dream is, JUST DO IT! And I assure you, when you just keep your feet going, it’s promisingly rewarding eventually. Never take for granted a programming skill because it’s one of the most powerful skills in this generation and will always be until time tells.
Well then, there’s a lot of pre-learning habits more to develop with but meanwhile – for now – as a basis on my own experience as a starter, you would want to consider this (boring list) when you’re planning out to learning computer programming. The least thing that I can offer to return back the favors that I got throughout my experience in the process of learning to program up until today. I will share everything else soon when I happen to encounter other valuable stuff, whatever in my opinion is best.
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Check out my blog post of Making It Happen and the Present Moment.
Read about what I do here.
Learning programming for absolute beginners is not really that easy but DEFINITELY fun at the same time.
Learning tip: Enroll now for The Web Developer Bootcamp online course on Udemy (On-Going Sale up to 60–90%)
If ever you have anything to add up to the list, feel free to leave a reply on this post. I will be happy to apply it on my own, right forward. 🙂
Next Reading: Learning Effectively to Be A Programmer, Read Now >>
P.S. The photo was taken at Hotel Tropika Davao when I got my new HP Laptop Unit to use for home-based training as a self-taught programmer.
