DEV Community

Cover image for How to get started with programming
Pasca Vlad
Pasca Vlad

Posted on • Originally published at blog.vlddev.live

How to get started with programming

If you found value in this thread you will most likely enjoy my tweets too so make sure you follow me on Twitter for more information about web development and how to improve as a developer. This article was first published on my Blog

1. Do some research

First you need to know what you want to do and go from there

Search some fields like web development, machine learning, game development

Watch some videos/read articles and see which one you would like to work in

2. Choose your first programming language

Now that you know what field you want to get into it's the time to choose your first programming language

If you choose Web Development learn HTML, CSS and JavaScript

If you choose Machine Learning learn Python

3. Choose your resources

You need to take your time with this

Do some research and find the best resources for the programming language you want to learn

Then choose video courses, docs, interactive lessons and see which one works the best for you

4. Join a community

This is one of the most important steps

But why should you join a community of developers?

-You'll stay more motivated
-You'll help and get help from others
-You'll get more job opportunities

5. Use coding platforms like Codewars

After you learned the basics in the programming language you choose it's important to practice that syntax

The best way to do it is by doing coding problems on websites like Codewars

Don't focus on writing "smart" code, just practice

6. Start Building projects

Now that you have more experience you should be able to build some small projects

Start with something simple and improve every day

There is no shame if it's bad, as long as you built it on your own it's great

7. Contribute to open source

This is the step that will prepare you for jobs

Why?

Because at a job you will code on top of existing projects and this is exactly what you do when contributing to an open-source project

Start with an easy project and go from there

8. Keep learning

From here you should already know what path you want to take and what technologies you want to learn next

Keep learning those

Build projects

Contribute to open source

When you feel confident in your skills go to the next step

9. Build a portfolio and apply for jobs

Now it's the time to build a portfolio and showcase all your projects and open source contributions you made

After you built it start applying for jobs

Use LinkedIn, Twitter, or other communities you joined in the past

The end

I hope found this useful and if you did please let me know. If you have any question feel free to DM me on Twitter .

Top comments (0)