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Discussion on: What Are the (Other) Benefits of Learning to Code?

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jmfayard profile image
Jean-Michel (jmfayard.dev)

To become good at programming, you must become good at learning.
For example you must have learnt one huge heavy task into small manageable chuncks,
you must have come to believe in your ability to learn new things.
Now being good at learning is the ultimate transferable skill.
For example I have also learnt 6 (non-programming) languages, 5 music instruments, different cultures, ...
And I know I'm not alone, I have friends who know a lot of stuff in a lot of domain.

We may not recognize it, but we programmers tend to be or become master learners.

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fabriel profile image
fab

Bonjour Jean-Michel, I have a good question, do you think we can become good at programming by following YouTube tutorials even if we don't necessarily understand what's going on on our screen?

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jmfayard profile image
Jean-Michel (jmfayard.dev)

Yes but.

I think learning work best if you try multiple approaches, and select the ones that are most efficient and/or enjoyable.
What I would recommend is to try your ideas, find the coolest youtube livecoding session, and take as much inspiration from it as you can.
At some point though, you will plateau, realize you can't learn everything that way, you want to be more active, ...
That's the moment when you try something else.

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fabriel profile image
fab

Thanks so much for your feedback! I appreciate it.
As a fast learner, I noticed my ability to forget stuff quickly.

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jmfayard profile image
Jean-Michel (jmfayard.dev)

my ability to forget stuff quickly

Write things down and it doesn't matter that you forget

--> obsidian.md/

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mcwhopper63 profile image
mcwhopper63

ive learned everything i know from youtube. granted, i am still a beginner. but i'm confident i can be as good as any programmer in the field.

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haukeschlosser profile image
Hauke Schlosser

This. I think every good programmer will at some point become really good at learning. It makes sense, since you constantly need to learn new technologies and concepts. It forces you to develop a very open-minded approach to things in life.