A Beginner Friendly Programmer Guide

When I was new to the computer science, a lot of time I wasn’t sure that I am doing the things in the right way. I always feel frustrated by the lots and lots of programming languages and frameworks, because I don’t know which one to choose. I have always a feeling that I should learn all the things together this makes me more depressed that how could I learn all the things in short period of time.

But with the time I learned quickly that how the things should be done in the right way and also that are many ways to done the things in right way and one way is better than other.  So I wanted to talk about those ways and some other things that a beginner should keep in mind when starting a career in programming or generally in computer science.

Learn the core skills of computer science first

Learn the core skills first, What I meant by core skills is that things like data structure and Algorithms

Sure you can skip learning data structure or logic building and can directly jump into learning mobile apps or anything other skill you want, but I assure you learning these skills will make you a better programmer, these are the alphabets of computer science, if you don’t have a computer science degree, try to give learning these skills one month, and you will end up being a better programmer.

Pickup one thing and stick with it for some time

Stop trying to learn everything at once, I am serious it’s not how learning a new skill work. Stop trying to compare different languages, always start with one that makes you feel more comfortable. For me C# was the language that I love to code with, it can be different for you, so always start with most comfortable one, if you keep looking up for different languages and compares different frameworks, believe me you will end up in a loop and never gonna learn a single thing. Always have this question in mind that “Why I am Learning to Code” If you want to make mobile apps you should choose from java, swift or C#, if you want to make web application you can go for frameworks like Ruby on Rails, Django, or ASP.NET, Always start with the basics and then move toward the next level. Learn the core skills first for example when you are learning web development start with HTML and CSS, sure the other skills like Angular JS or other framework can be learned later. So you should always pick up one thing and stay with it for some time.

Remember the end goal

Don’t just learn any technology without a specific goal in mind, always have a goal in mind that why you are learning a specific technology, you should have some pet project that can be developed with that technology, it can be a mobile app, web app. Remember that you should pick a pet project that has a sufficient amount of complexity, but not some epic application that takes years to build or else you will feel demotivated. If you don’t have any pet projects, try to make a project for a friend or uncle who owns a small business specific to their needs. End goal will always keep you motivated, and makes learning new things a pleasure. So remember that the end goal is important.

Be a specialist rather than a generalist.

Again don’t try to learn all the things or simply don’t be a jack of all the trades. You should always have some specialization in something. The rule of the specialization is that the deeper you specialize, the fewer opportunities you will have, but the more likely you will get to those opportunities. Specialization will make you more valuable, I am not saying that you should not learn new technologies but be a specialist at least in one field first then try to learn other things.

And the last one be consistent.

Yes, be consistent, this one is the most important step when starting out learning any new thing. You must make progress every week, every day or two is even better.

Yes you are going to get frustrated, angry and even some time you want to quit. Learning to program is sometime hard, but remember winners are always consistent no matter how many hardships they faced, and at the end celebrate your wins, let the people know you build something believe me it will create a lot more motivation, more determination in you. Prove yourself that you can do it.