Programming is an art form. This short sentence may seem unreliable to a programming novice who sees coding as a spark of light standing beside a highly flammable substance, which may explode at any moment. In this illustration the spark (is coding) and the flammable substance (is the human brain).
Article Objectives and Key Results
In this writing, we set out to accomplish the following objectives, all of which you will release systemically as you read through:
- Understand what programming is at its core
- Know the right attitude to successful programming
- Understanding the processes and tricks to a successful programming career
- Career Path for successful programmers
Programming the grandfather of computing which has been in existence for decays now, continually experiences rapid fast growth years in and years out breeding and building successful career paths and fame for everyone who embraces it wholeheartedly (the likes of Elon Musk, Dennis Ritchie, Jeff Bezos, etc.). These personalities achieve great wealth and fame by embracing programming while reasoning beyond their programming counterparts who failed to see the unending possibilities of programming in human day-to-day activities. They see possibilities and embrace them through unending research while placing a strong plan to tackle the odds of success which past programmers failed to see. They then command wealth through dignified labour and approaches.
The above successful programmers are not God-sent or divine-human animals made special for programming, they only went the extra mile in their learning to programming success and embrace change. This shows you (my current reader) can also experience such humungous success through apt sacrifices and a smart view of programming as an easy-to-learn career but not a demon who held one peace. Remember a quote that says “Nothing good comes easy.”
Programming is the art of instructing a computer what to do, and when to carry out such tasks giving one edge above the average computer users. It is a life-saving approach to get jobs done easily without stress or acute redundancy usually experienced by man.
During my days as a Tech Instructor, I always told my students that they can only make their life easy by embracing core technology while studying the forces behind its existence. The only notable force of technology is programming because it only exists on the platform of core coding.
Knowing the right attitude to successful programming
Today world of success is only meant for the strong who are ready to wage a nice fair war. T.J. Holowaychuk (a man who developed 540 NPM Modules), and Dennis Ritchie (the man who developed C Language) are successful programmers who bought fame and goodwill through little more dedication than their contemporaries. These all-time great programmers are self-learners who trained themselves without formal education or a CS degree. They rose to fame through sound self-discipline and control while not giving up on their programming career.
Reading this article as a programming newbie who aims to become an employable programmer (not for mastery programmer). You need to know the following before embarking on your programming career path to desire if the career is right for you:
You’ll be a continuous learner: “Learning never ends.” This quote is unknowingly developed for programmers. To become an employable programmer you need to learn continuously year in and year out because programming is an evolving field that changes every day. For instance, a full-stack developer who knows a language or trick developed in 2020 can no longer work in standard with the one who knows the trick of 2023. You need to evolve as the field grows to stay relevant and employable.
You must be purpose-driven: Purpose is the core determinant for the successful pursuance of any career path. Without purpose, it is easy to lose focus and goals projected while beginning. The purpose will keep you going despite confusion and obstacles. Separate your purpose from your goal because they are two different.
You must develop your Cognitive Bandwidth: Cognitive bandwidth is a clear mind or one average intelligence - that is the brain's capacity to comfortably learn and grasp complex concepts such as those taught in Intro to Programming. To succeed in your chosen programming niche you need to train your mind to easily digest complicated stuff without getting bored.
Also, you need to prepare ahead for scarcity (will discuss more in the next article) because many face a great decrement in their cognitive bandwidth due to ravaging poverty and scarcity. You must prepare ahead while learning to avoid distraction. You can prepare by saving ahead of your training, financial sponsor while learning, having one partner working more, family and friend support, etc. This will save you a lot of comprehension stress while learning.
Learn, unlearn, and relearn: To succeed in any chosen programming niche you must learn continuously, dropping what’s confusing and non-relevant along the way, then relearn what you’ve already learned to make you an expert in the field. As mentioned earlier, you must be a continuous learner.
Source Problems and create solutions: We live in a world filled with problems of many sorts, most problems were bred before man's existence and no solution has been found, while some emerge from the neglecting attitude of man. Most programming successful of today are great problem solvers who looked around them and see problems as an opportunity for great growth, they embrace it and brainstormed on what to do and how to make a lasting solution through automation, which they got rewarded for their great service through fame and wealth.
Understanding the processes and tricks to a successful programming career
“Nothing is new on Earth.” Because the majority of the solutions existing in the world today, have existed in the past but it was crude and unrefined back then. The world which produces successful programmers still evolves around its orbit and it’s yet to be filled up. Reading this article up to this point shows you’re more interested in programming and you’re convinced that this career path is for you.
The following programming career helpful tips and tricks were well-researched and refined for individuals who may find himself/herself fit for the course. To embark on this rewarding career you must know the following tricks:
Avoid Learning All. As usually said “Jack of all trades, is a master of none.” Learning programming requires your concentration on one particular thing at a time. Avoid being a master of everything, focus your energy on one particular thing at a time. You don’t even need all the languages knowing one language such as Python is sufficient enough to get you going, and then you can learn a new one when you’re proficient enough in both understanding and application of the language to make real projects.
Apply what you learn in real life. Remember learning is a process that involves real applications for mastery. Use what you learn at every moment to make a project, this will help in boosting your understanding of what you’re learning and it will also improve your portfolio.
Have Purpose. Don’t go into programming if you have no purpose for doing it. Remember, a traveler without a map or knowledge of his route will definitely lost along the way or get bored of the journey and head back home. Don’t be like that uncultured traveler, you must always set a purpose for your programming career to see success. Your purpose may be the following:
Building an App that the whole world will run on
Becoming the CEO of a successful tech startup
Building your own Silicon Valley in your Country
And a lot more.
Solve coding challenges. Coding challenges will do you more good because they will develop your problem-solving ability, and open your mind to genuine independence while facing a challenge. It will also help in preparing you ahead of interview questions. Some websites you can visit for challenges are hackerranks, leetcode, etc.
Spend 30 hours at least a week. Learning to become an employable programmer requires a magnificent time dedication. You need at least 30 hours a week to learn - that is 4 hours per day for rigorous learning and practice.
Read what you need. Stop reading all it will do you no good. Cultivate the habit of reading what you need at the current moment to solve the problem at hand, never waste your time reading everything about the language or courses. Just pick what you need and understand, then move on to the next phase.
Read Documentations. Documentations are well-technical writing material which guides you on the current library or framework you’re trying to use. It gives you an in-depth overview of the project as documented by the developer for proper efficiency while using.
Develop your seamless solutions. Apply what you learn to build your own featured music streaming app, video streaming app, etc., and add them to your portfolio. This will help you to be presentable during your job search.
Contribute to open-source projects. Most successful programmers today are open-source contributors.
Conclusion
The compass to navigate your success is in your hand. Because learning to become an employable programmer is hard if the tricks are unknown, but relatively easy if well understood. You can program your way to success if you apply what you learn here diligently during your training.
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