Tips and Tricks on how to be a better coder.

#codenewbie

I decided to write this is order to give some perspective and hopefully some advice new coders. Learning at a bootcamp is no cakewalk, that's why they call them bootcamps. And I have to say it was nothing like any educational experience I have had in my life. The amount of material you need to pick up and practically master, in a matter of months, is vast and can be daunting at times. It took me awhile to adjust and, in turn be a better coder. Here's a few tips I've learned along the way:

GET GOOD SLEEP - sounds obvious, right? But the truth is, when you are in the trenches you want to capitalize on your time as much as possible. A lot of students, and coders in general, will code into the night and try to squeeze out their last bit of motivation. Here's the deal though, for every hour you stay up trying to get something done-- the higher chance you are going to fall into an error pit(especially for newbies). What's an error pit? An error pit is when something goes wrong, you can't figure out what it is and instead of doing the work you wanted to get done, you are stuck trying to solve the error FOR HOURS. Most of the time, it's a relatively easy fix, but your brain is tired and it makes it that much harder to solve. Your adrenaline is pumping because you think you've 'broke' your project, which causes more stress than is needed. This has been an experience of me and other's in my cohort. The thing is, after a night of sleep, they solve the problem in a matter of minutes. Another, aspect of this is when you don't get good sleep your problem solving skills greatly suffer. I have had a few times where I didn't sleep as well as I liked and I could tell my productivity when down significantly.

Tip: A great way to solve this that has worked for me, is to give yourself a schedule. Only allow yourself to work 9 hours per day. I have a set time that I do not continue coding after 7pm. After 7pm, my brain starts to get tired and I never get what I want done. Instead, I relax, get a good night's sleep and start out again at 9am.

2)Exercise, exercise, exercise. It seriously amazes me how much more productive I am when I do between 15-30min of exercise per day. Something about getting your blood pumping and your brain and body alert sets your pace for the day. Additionally, the endorphin rush is especially helpful when running into problems(which I will explain more in my next point).

Tip: I do want to say, if you are not the exercise type- try walking! It's a great way to get out, get some vitamin D and still refreshes you to code!

3) Mindset is everything when it comes to coding(queue good sleep and exercise). I've gotten to the point in coding where error messages, excite me. It sounds masochistic, but the truth is, it's a learning experience! Having a positive mindset will take you miles in coding. You need to have grit, enjoy working through obstacles, and solving problems because these are the personality building blocks of a proficient coder. If you can take a problem head-on and enjoy it for what it is, you are in the right field!

Tip: Being positive will always set you on the right foot. For me, it enables me to actually solve the problem faster. Being able to get excited and learn how to fix something enables better problem solving and better results. When someone get's stressed about an issue, hormones that can affect you negatively set in, you can actually hurt your ability to solve the problem and you have a bad experience overall.

I understand, yes these tips seem obvious--right? The reason why I wanted to write this is because despite it being obvious, we all fall into these pitfalls from time to time and it's especially helpful for new coders to take these tips to heart. Hope these help!