So, you want to fast-track learning a programming language or framework of your choice, right?
Wait a minute!
If you are still confused about the programming language or framework to learn, please check out part#1 of this series:How to Pick a Programming Language/Framework to Learn in Your Own Way before reading this article.
Ooookay!
You are sure of the programming language or framework to learn.
It is time to show you some basic things that would help you fast-track your learning pace.
They are listed and explained below:
💥1. Ask stupid questions: there is a sense in nonsense.
Start by asking stupid questions and they would lead you to sensible questions.
You don't want to be the stupid guy in the room. That is why you are scared of asking questions in case they are stupid questions.
He who asks is a fool for 5 minutes; he who asks not is a fool forever
But ask Google before asking humans and make sure you end up with structured questions like.
🔥What is var in JavaScript?🔥
🔥Why do we use it?🔥
🔥When do we use it?🔥
🔥When can't we use it?🔥
🔥How do we use it?🔥
🔥What problem does it have?🔥
🔥What is its advantage over others?🔥
Then make sure you find answers to all the questions you form to have a better understanding.
💥2 Understand, don't memorize code: Google can do that for you.
It is very common for beginner software developers to memorize code.
Instead, learn the concept the code represents and practise whatever you learned and it will be stored in your subconscious mind.
Don't stress yourself to memorize code, just make sure you understand concepts and their use cases and other things by asking questions similar to the ones listed above
It is a general "truth" that you will find yourself googling silly things even when you're a professional.
Don't waste time to memorize code, just try to understand it.
💥3. Be Patient: Slow and steady is fast.
Impatience is one of the factors that slow you down.
You want to know everything at once, so you scanned through an e-book with 100 pages in just a day.
Is that you?
You watched a complete course with 21 hours videos in 2 days.
And you expect yourself not to come back to it all the time?
Hey! Slow down.
It takes time to learn anything.
Rushing will put you in a loop of learning hell.
Take a tiny bit of the language or framework at once and ask a lot of stupid questions about it. Find answers to those questions.
You would develop your confidence in no time.
That confidence would boost your determination, willingness and interests in programming.
💥4. Make things: Even if you know just variables (Silly?)
Code less, solve problems. The only difference between you and the developer you respect is "Power of Creation".
Create things that solve problems for others and you would understand a lot of concepts in the process.
People can easily disqualify your knowledge maybe you don't articulate it as expected but they cannot easily do that to things you created with your skills.
Knowing is not enough. You must make things with all you have learnt to get better.
I am aware beginners may have difficulties to figure out what to make.
Don't panic, I am working to fill the void.
💥5. Avoid Distractions: Don't try to Learn Everything.
Focus is very important to achieve anything.
Make sure you don't jump from one programming language to another without learning what you have to learn.
Doing that would slow you down.
Anyway, if you get a job, you will probably start at an entry-level or junior position.
So, what the heck?
You may also feel like other programmers are not brilliant and that is why they can't learn many things at a time.
Hey! That thought is a trap.
Don't fall for it.
💥6. Be consistent: It is easier said than done.
People can easily tell you to be consistent as I just did but it is not as easy as said.
One of the things that help you to be consistent is joining learner's communities.
Be part of some challenges like 100DaysOfCode and many others and make sure you see them to the end.
Anyway, many people are not consistent because they want to build big applications and they are overwhelmed in the process.
If you want to build something big, divide it to smaller units you can attend to hourly, daily, weekly or monthly.
Don't be in a hurry to build the next React or Facebook.
It takes time.
💥7. Planning is Key: "If you can't solve it by hand, you can't solve it with code either".
Many beginner software developers always rush to code anything.
Instead, take you time to understand the problem and how to solve the problem and how to convert it to code.
Research things you may need to learn, add or remove.
This would save your time.
Whenever you have to change things many times, you probably need to plan.
But don't waste too much time on planning.
Learn-> code-> debug -> make things-> repeat
💥8. Finally, don't give up when everything is too difficult.
And when everything is difficult, remember:
Software developers are not people who find programming/coding easy, they are the ones who enjoy how hard it is.
What's next, stay connected here or follow me: Shakespeare of Code
One more thing
Are you having difficulties to learn and understand JavaScript and build projects with it? JavaScript for a Total Novice teaches JavaScript and Project Making Fundamentals with simple illustrations and examples that make everything so easy. You can now handle any difficult projects without fear.
Don't trust me, get a free previous to judge by yourself: https://bit.ly/3o3TMyg
Top comments (14)
Ayo,
This was a very good article and one I have saved for future reference. It is important that we slow down and remain consistent in learning/perfecting our craft. I have often made the mistake of trying to cram things instead of actually understanding it. Also, consistency is extremely important. We have to remain consistent in effort to improve our skills.
Wow! I am glad you were able to learn some lessons from the write-up.
I'm still on my journey learning how to code. So I love to absorb tips and knowledge from the more seasoned. How long did it take you to learn how to code?
An honest answer is, "I am still learning to code". Learning to code has no end or one will be outdated.
Do you have any correction, opinion or contradiction? Please express yourself through comment and I really appreciate it.
Well I agree with almost everything you said but I do not completely agree when you said that is not a good ideea to read a book in a day or to watch video courses in few days. I see here a big risk to procrastinate too much till you are going to finish to read or to watch a tutorial. I'm thinging that the best way is to read as fast as possible and to go through a lot of video tutorials in order to achieve a lot of information in a less time.This will help you to get an overview about what you read. For the subjects that are hard for you to understand from the first try,you can find other online resources that can help you to figure out what is all about. The faster you read, the more you you are going to understand especially when you try to understand the same topic from different lectures (ebooks or tutorials).
Scanning through a book or a video course is not a bad thing to do for an experienced developer because of his/her exposure to related concepts.
However, scanning is just to have an idea of what is available; it can't get the job done.
Since there is no need to know everything in a language or framework, it is better to identify what is needed and focus on using it to address the problem at hand.
Also, most beginners are always confused after scanning through a book or video course. Sometimes, they lose confidence!
Scanning through a book or video course quicky keeps learners in a loop so they always rely on the tutorial to build things and are always stuck on how to use the concepts learned because they didn't pay attention to detail.
The time wasted on going back and forth to a book or video covers up for the danger of slowing down and slowing down ensures better understanding.
This is not to say that scanning through a book or video doesn't have its place. It can be useful to have an overview as you said but if understanding is necessary, one has to slow down.
Thanks for the comment,I really appreciate it.
You have right, for a beginner there is some time needed to digest the content. But for someone who already has a beginner++ level into a specific topic, it is recommanded to go faster through the material. This is usefull to motivate yourself to asimilate new content all the time and to improve your understanding gained from your previous lectures ;)
Anyway you wrote a good article!
And whenever you feel discouraged realize we are making fu*!&ng magic! how awesome is that!, granted a cumputer is a bit bulkier than a wand but we can write spells that will do anything we want, giving that you know how, just like magic. You can even interact with the physical realm with arduino and a few bucks on ebay. All your programming books on your shelf are basically spellbooks and we are lucky that we don't need latin for it (although a PL in latin would be awesome!)
Sadly I have to report that my efforts to convince any owl that I'm a special kind of sorcerer haven't been successful yet, but is on my TODO list.
Yeah! You're right. Making magic happen can be dead simple. Thanks for the comments.
It took me 6months to u understand the Java concept. I read over 6 textbook before i understood that a problem can be solved in many ways. These authors have different pattern of programming. For instance, some programmers prefer using anonymous inner class to trigger action. For some, there is a separate class that handles action.
I agree with Alex on the fast reading. But you are on point with your other suggestions.
It is good to hear you have mastered some Java concepts.
Nice
Thanks...