How to get better at coding

#webdev #javascript #beginners #programming

Introduction

If you are reading this then you know the benefit of this profession. Software engineering is one of the most paid jobs in the world. The number of opportunities in the field is increasing as more roles are coming up.

All the roles start with writing code. It is easy to write code but writing effective code is where most lacked. But everyone starts by writing code and then improved to writing better code.

So, today I am going to list down some of the tips that you use to write better code.

Let's get started.

Practice

Practice will make you better. This goes no saying that to learn anything you do need to practice the skill. In coding, it is also well implemented. Practicing programming language will make you more familiar with the code syntax and structure of the code.

Initially, you will require to make a lot of google searches but with practice, you will require less to search.

For coding practice, you look for websites suchs as:

Leetcode
HackerRank
CodeChef
CodinGame

Write Code Regularly

Making a habit of coding regularly will make a lot of impacts. Rather than coding 3 hours once a week, coding 1/2 hours daily will be more beneficial. This will create a habit so that you won't need the motivation to code. Also, it will help you to retain more knowledge through regular practice.

You can work on a side project for coding regularly. Also, use websites where you can practice code.

Read Documentation

The coding courses on YouTube are great but nothing matches the documentation. It is the original source of information that is further streamed into articles and video courses. Documentation provides the latest information available regarding the tool. To solve any error, you might need to read the documentation. This all contributes to a reason for reading documentation.

In my early days, I used to learn through video courses but now I shifted to documentation. As it offers more information regarding the tools. This also helps in writing code along with learning through documentation. It is kind of hard to do the same while watching the video.

Work on Project

Building projects will get your hands dirty with some real-world challenges. The challenges can be more than just related to coding. In my experience, I learned less through video courses but a lot while developing a project.

You can make searches online for project ideas to build as per your domain. You can build some awesome side projects to showcase on your portfolio.

Don't go with the trends

You shouldn't learn everything that is launched every week. You should focus on specific languages/stacks/tools to build applications. Once you fill like there is really a need to upgrade your tech stack then you should learn something new. Otherwise, you should stick to your stack and keep improving on that.

As bruce lee said that "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times". This reflects the power of focusing on specific tools and mastering them.

Participate in Hackathons

Hackathons will give you a lot of exposure to you the community. It will also help you in gaining experience by building real-world applications. You can build projects in a group to gain experience in building projects in a team. You can also win amazing prizes.

Your project will be reviewed by some experts from the field. They will provide their feedback on the application and codebase. You can improve a lot through their feedback.

Keep Learning

Coding and building project is going to be part of your life. To edge yourself over others, you should keep learning. Keep yourself updated about new things and trends happening in the tech world. Make your decision on what to add to your stack.

Don't learn everything, master your existing stack. Add the necessary changes to your stack to make yourself better.

Conclusion

The tips that I mentioned above won't help you in writing better code unless and until you implement those in your coding journey. You should try to implement one tip one by one. Don't rush and try to implement all the above at once. This will create more hecticness and complexity. This will eventually lead to not writing code at all.

I hope this article has helped you with tips that can help you in writing better code. Also, you don't need to completely dedicate yourself in coding because coding is skill which will eventually comes to you with regular practice. If you have any other tips then mention them in the discussion section.

Thanks for reading the article.