5 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Programming
Tools Don’t Matter
Starting programming is difficult enough but one of the ways to make it easier is by focusing on learning and not get bogged down by all the tools. There are new tools coming out every day in the world of development, especially web development. Don’t get m wrong, learning the right tools will make your life easier but when you are starting out it is important to understand how things work and WHY certain tools should be used vs. others.
Another important thing to think about is what type of development job do you want. Narrow it down and search for jobs descriptions for that particular position. By looking up the job description, you will have a general idea of what they are looking for.
Copy & Paste is OKAY
Next thing you want to keep in mind is that is okay to only have partial knowledge. This means that not knowing everything about a particular topic. Utilize Stackoverflow and Quora for help. Copy and paste when you have too and be okay with that.
For me, I would get hung up on certain things and I copy and pasted a ton until I started to understand more of what I was writing. I know a lot of people say copying and pasting the code it wrong and but in reality, that is a useful way to learn. You copy the code from StackOverflow and it works, you then need to go the extra step and figure out why it works. That is the important part and that is how your partial knowledge will grow it to a more complete understanding.
Build ASAP
Start building as soon as possible. You can read all the books and watch all the tutorials but at the end of the day, you need to actually be hands-on building applications. For me, I jumped right into the building because that is how I learn and I am a firm believer in doing. For Josh, he read book after book but wasn’t applying the knowledge to be learned and he said that was a big mistake. He wished he was building while he was reading to apply the knowledge so it would stick.
Focus on problem-solving skills
Focus on problem-solving skills. Don’t get caught up in the different languages and frameworks there are to learn. This is something I wish I would have told myself. When I started coding in college we would learn a new language or framework every month. At first, it was exciting but once I started to understand the concepts of what coding was for, I realized my main focus should be on problem-solving.
Repeat Step 4
Is the same as number FOUR, which is focused on problem-solving. The reason why it takes up two places is that it is so important. Focus on what is being asked of you
Start building today!
