If you're looking to learn how to code and get a job, a quick search on YouTube will show you thousands of results promising to teach you how to code in 6 months or 100 days. But the truth is, becoming a proficient programmer takes time and effort. When I was in middle school, I started learning to code with Python. I spent more than 4 hours every day reading books, taking courses, and watching YouTube videos in order to grasp the concepts. It took me a year to have that "aha" moment and finally understand programming, and another year to land a job. So, what exactly is the problem that we face when learning to code FAST? Well, let’s look at our own lives and we will find the answer.
Think about when we first started school. We spent a year or more learning only the alphabet and forming basic words. As we grow up, we are tasked with reading massive articles and books, and writing essays. It takes 12 years (and another 4 in college, for some) to become eligible for a well-paying job. Why? Because we need to spend enough time learning the fundamentals, which we’d be building on for the rest of your life. That’s why we spend A YEAR to learn only the 26 alphabets and form very basic words with them.
Now, suppose you have never coded before, you never heard of programming before and you have absolutely no clue what it is. Also you sucked at math your entire life. So, how do you expect your brain to learn to code in 6 months and get a job? Your brain needs time to understand the fundamentals and really absorb them and be able to create something based on them.
Now you may say- “But there are people who HAVE learned to code from 0 knowledge in 6 months and landed a job” Well, yes there are. But most of them had the knowledge they needed to learn to code though they didn’t know coding.
Let’s take the example of Clément Mihailescu. The founder of algoexpert.io who learned to code in six months and landed a job in Google. Here’s the cliché - he did his undergrad in mathematics and programming is really close to mathematics. That means he already had the knowledge that he needed to get started with coding. Most of the people who learn to code in very less time and land a job are people who already had some knowledge related to coding.
But people like me and you, who are learning to code in a very young age or who simply don’t know a thing about coding or anything related to it, won’t be able to learn to code in 6 months and land a job in most cases. So what should we do instead of being depressed about it? We should accept it and give enough time to our brain to learn the fundamentals of coding. We need to play around with the fundamentals and experiment with them and really think about them.
Spend a week learning only about variables and input/output. Spend another week learning only about array. Think about them when you’re not in front of your computer, find real life examples of them, experiment with them. Enjoy the process of learning, and don't be afraid to repeat the same topics until they really stick. Only then you will be able to build a really strong fundamental based on which you’re going to be able to build a successful coding career. And here’s a good news- Once you've built a strong foundation, you'll be able to learn even harder languages in just a week or so. It took me a year to learn Python but I was able to learn and build a game in C++ in just a week. So don't give up, and remember to enjoy the process and soon you'll have that "aha" moment too.
Happy coding! 😄
Top comments (1)
Great article. This month completes my first year in programming and I haven't gotten a job yet. But I found it easier to grasp new technologies than when I first started. The difference is the fundamentals you mentioned in the article.