The high demand for coding specialists, high payments, and social benefits have attracted thousands of people to join this new career path. To learn more about how to become a developer, and what you can do to encourage yourself to learn new programming languages, read the following seven tricks to get engaged in your beginner programming journey, which was suggested to me by my friend, one of advanced software engineers. And frankly speaking, these tricks are relevant to any discipline you are trying to accomplish.
Ask for Feedback
A beginner path is a solo path for many people. On the one hand, we don’t feel like we need help taking the first steps because we want to make everything independently. On the other hand, we can be slightly embarrassed to ask for feedback on the simplest tasks. But you know what? The code written by a senior programmer can be imperfect as well. Ask anyone you know in the industry to take a look at your code, and once you get positive feedback, you’ll get encouraged to write even more code! The feedback will make you feel that the code you write is reality and not just an exercise.
Find a Tutor
As you might have guessed, this is another level of getting feedback. But feedback is not the single reason to find your first coding tutor. Your tutor can become the first person to give a hint when you are stuck. The fundamental reason for boredom in programming lies in the inevitable need to fix misfunctioning code. You may feel frustrated to see endless errors and look them up online. The tutor can help you with these minor issues much faster, providing you with a smoother coding experience.
Finish Coding Basics
Coding basics refer to the syntax, data types, and most common programming tools, such as loops, functions, conditional statements. The coding basics course does not take much time on average. Once you obtain the basics of one programming language, you will feel more confident in onboarding the more challenging tasks. Find some inspiration about coding in this blog.
Play Games
Do you know how many coding games are out there in the market? With the gamified experience, you will interact with coding tasks daily. Gaming on its own will unlikely make you a senior programmer. However, it will provide you with the tones of practical experience, which you won’t find in the textbooks. Try CodeMonkey or CodinGame to taste it!
Give Yourself a Break
When you’re overwhelmed with constant drilling, you stop noticing your daily progress. Make it a habit to take a short break from coding anytime you feel too routine about it. After this break, you will come back with a fresh mind and realize how flawlessly you can write the code now.
Playing again!
When you have accomplished most of the programming basics, it’s a good idea to turn your learning into playing. Unlike Trick 4, here you need to make up your own games, or projects. One of the most effective ways to start thinking as a pro programmer is to invent new ways to solve the same problem. Try to come up with at least three algorithms for a familiar problem, and you’ll notice your brain gather some speed.
Get ready for a challenge
If you have received all the positive feedback from your tutors and peers, it’s time to test your skills on a real-life challenge. The world deals with plenty of competition, and the programming world is not an exception. Try joining online competitions to train yourself to write the best code. The choice of the challenge may depend on the particular field you want to exceed in, such as you can go on Kaggle to boost your data analysis skills. But there are other platforms such as TopCoder, or HackerRank.
Apply these tricks to your coding routine, and you’ll feel some fresh air while learning. Again, the seven tricks are universal enough to try them out in any undertaking, that is why coding can get just as boring as any other discipline. The true meaning behind them lies in taking full control over your learning path and ensuring progress on every stage. Go for it!
