AS you are already reading this blog, I assume you’re new to coding.
Tell me one thing, did you start coding all at once? I guess not. At first, you may have had no idea where to start. It is intimidating to focus on things you have no idea about.
You would have gone through a series of thoughts and a dilemma of whether-to-start-or-not. You would have asked your friends in the coding field for some advice or suggestion, or have gone online searching for answers you so desperately needed. After giving much thought, you would have made up your mind to go further in coding.
In the long run, the first step we take is the most important one. And the simplest one too. Once we get set to the task, things start getting complex.
For someone belonging to the software field, it is their birthright to choose the programming career, but for others, it takes a great deal of effort to even think about it.
If you’re the latter one, here are a few things you must know before you start coding. I’m quite positive that they will be helpful for you-
1. Coding is Not an Easy Task!
The very first lesson you should learn that coding is not easy. If it were, everyone will be doing it.
It’s not an understatement to discourage or discredit your ability. It’s a fact that’s necessary for everyone to understand before choosing the path of programming.
However, once you get to know the basics of coding, it becomes easier. You start to enjoy coding. But let me tell you one thing that you must not confuse yourself with this presumption that just because you now know the basics of coding, you are done.
It’s way too long until you get to that position.
Installing new languages and frameworks day-by-day is an exhausting and equally annoying task. There are just too many plugins, add-ons, tools and libraries, and is a mountainous work for a newbie coder. Consider the frustration when you’ve got an overwhelmingly enormous number of things to learn, but have no idea where to start and what to do.
The first lesson you need to learn as a developer is patience. Yes, you will need to keep a great deal of patience because sometimes you’ll get stuck on a single piece of code, and it might take weeks till you get anywhere near to understand its logic.
2. Find A Source of Motivation!
Stick to the reasons why you thought to start coding at first.
There will be times you’ll desperately want to get rid of all the coding trouble and seek comfort. At that time, you would need to remind yourself why did you begin at first?
As you will be working on your own, this motivation requires being coming from your inner self. It is the motivation that will keep you driving and will push you to move every time you stumble upon some trouble.
Once you are set to your task, you can’t let anything get in your way. You require discouraging every kind of demotivated thought from your mind and keep your mind completely aligned to the task at hand.
Occasionally take a break, let yourself revere your progress. Think about everything you’ve learned and how very far you have come onto the path of coding.
3. Continuous learning is the only salvation!
Coding is a process, not a destination where you can reach quickly by fastening your pace. It doesn’t happen at once; it is a serious business, and it takes time.
For a programmer, there is always scope for learning. If you don’t keep up, well, you will be left behind and the technology will be stretched too far.
So, you see? A programmer needs to learn new things regularly, for all time. You can’t stop. You have a lot to learn. Consistent learning is a vital part of being a programmer.
There will times when you might become passive and boring, but you need to head start strong, no matter how many difficulties lie in your path, you must go ahead.
If you skip some fundamentals either because they don’t seem very important or because they are complex to understand, it will cost you in the future.
Let me tell you a story of mine- From the moment I set my eyes upon the chapter ‘complex numbers’ for the first time, I realized that I was afraid of it and not going to understand it. It seemed so complex, literally. So, I decided to skip it for all time. In almost every exam, questions from this topic used to poke me, but I didn’t dare pay any heed to them. But while pursuing my engineering degree, I realized that it was a big mistake. I could no longer ignore it. It was now a significant part of every subject.
Similarly, a simple concept of coding cannot be skipped. You must not let yourself skip it. All the basic operations and procedures in coding are far too important to skip.
4. Set Small Goals and Thrive to Get Them!
Personally, I think that sticking to a short-term goal is the best way to ensure the most beneficial outcome. When I restrain myself to a particular task to be done by the end of the day, I put my best efforts to make sure that it is done by the end of the day.
If the road is long and difficult, split it up into smaller roads. It makes the invisible and seemingly-impossible task into a visible and possible one.
Set a goal from day-1, however small it might be. It will set boundaries that you can easily cover in the given time. At the end of the day, you will have a great feeling of accomplishment, it will inspire you to move further with another set of goals.
You need to hone your skills every single day and go deeper and deeper into them. Only then you’ll truly understand the entire scope of coding.
5. Choose a Language to Learn!
You require choosing one of the core languages which will help you understand coding basics and logic. My advice? Stick to the fundamental.
The language, you choose, must help you learn the low-level core concepts like loops, statements, procedures, data encapsulations, function calling, and how to apply logic. And above all, it must be easy enough to understand and grasp. After all, it’s your very first language.
There is no shortage of such languages, meeting all these requirements. For instance, Python will be a very good choice to start with. It’s just a little more than simple English, so would be easy enough for you on your first try.
On the other hand, if you want to take a challenge at the very first step of your journey to coding, well, you can start with C++.
However, the concepts are all the same. Whatever you may choose will serve the same purpose.
Summary
Coding is not just a job, it's a lifetime learning experience. A coder has a completely different perspective about everything. Once you get started to code, your mind revolves around logic and interpretation of code. It gives you a distinct way to analyze things that occupy our lives.
So, get your collars up and ready yourselves to enter into an altogether different world of coding!!
I hope you enjoyed reading this blog. If you did, well, I would be glad. It is the whole purpose of writing, isn’t it?
Now that you’re all set to the path of coding, it will do you good to some writing as well.
Thanks for Reading!!