Learning a new programming language

When you admit yourself for Computer Science or Information Technology degree, one thing you have to learn for sure and that is a programming language. Now I won’t go in the details of the languages history and ancestry. We all know the importance of these not only in college degree but also in our IT jobs. Even though we all are not hardcore coder, we still cross our ways with any one of these languages some time in our tenure.

It’s a tough thing to do at first time but a beginning is always hard while doing something new. We speak our mother tongue from our childhood, we learn other languages like Hindi, English. But programming languages have their own place. It is necessary to learn algorithm, flowchart, syntax and semantics to have your command on programming.

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While writing this article, I remember my college days. After clearing my 12th, I took admission for B.Sc. Comp. Sci. degree in the college of our home town. We had to learn C language for first year. Now the best thing which I did that time was to complete a certificate course in C language in my 12th vacation. I was not aware about or passionate about it but wanted to make my career in IT industry. It was very tough for me to understand the language at first place. But I got some idea of how to learn it and also got some study material to practice it at home. Then we bought our first PC and I started practicing C daily. I started loving it as it seemed interesting.

Why I told my story because many of my classmates got frustrated as they were failing to understand the language. Even my close friend who had rough and tough personality got despaired due to this! There were few students who were from IT background and had learned C in their 12th. So for us, it was little challenging but not surely frustrating. College teachers have their own limitations. They can teach you as per the syllabus within stipulated time. But what you have to do is to learn extra. Do self-study, practicing a language by getting hands-on.

For mastering any language, it’s necessary to read a book and learn theoretical concepts. Then apply or implement those concepts practically. We can take our own exercises or assignments or tasks and complete it.

I learned around 12 languages in my college life! C, C++, Core Java, Advanced Java, Visual C++, Visual Basic, SQL, PL-SQL, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, C#.Net, ASP.Net, Lisp, Shell programming, Assembly language, Linux scripts and Unix commands and so on... Still I haven’t become a master of any of these! You know that proverb: Bachelors of everything and master of nothing!

If I want to learn an automation tool like Selenium then I still have to learn Java. Learning Java for automation job is not same as that was in college. I should be able to write a program, write a logic for any given problem and for all of this, I must make my language strong. I am still in progress…

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One more thing is IT industry keeps evolving. What you learn in your college 5 years back might makes no sense today. Python language has got a huge demand in market today. But still many colleges and universities are not teaching it to students. When these students complete their education and look out for a job, they learn these demanding tools and technologies in some private institute. Then only they become competitive in this IT world.  

We have to bridge this gap by self-learning. Computer programming is not a rocket science.

Logic can vary:

10 people can write a program with 10 different ways. Logical thinking needs to be sharpened. We can play chess for that. One most important thing we have to learn is to find a solution to the given problem. How to implement a logic and write a program is secondary thing. It doesn’t matter much which language to choose.  

My friend once told me his way of improving a logic. He said “Take one task, start writing code for that, and take the help of book whenever you need.” You can create your own ideas like this.

If reading a book is boring for you then you can take the help of YouTube channels. There are variety of channels available for learning. Each has its own advantages of watching. We just need to search for it and improve our knowledge.

What to do as a new programmer?

First of all, write an algorithm on paper, write basic steps in simplest manner. Then draw a flowchart. Then select the language and start coding and keep checking the code simultaneously. Debugging plays important part in coding. It’s a good habit to implement whether you are a developer or tester. Try to write one program in different ways and multiple logics to one problem. Finally write the most efficient code. Use comments whenever necessary.

There are many sites available where we can get codes as well we can upload our codes. Some companies take coding competitions too.

There is no hard and fast rule or way of mastering programming. We just have to keep practicing on regular basis.

Programming is a fun. It keeps our mid fresh. Even if you see programming memes on social media, solving the errors and running a successful code makes coder happy.

All The Best!