A lot of people ask me how to start out with programming and it got so repetitive that I stopped responding to such questions. How difficult can it be to start? Just do it. But one question stuck out to me…
If you were to forget everything and start from scratch, what would you do to get to where you are?
I had never thought about that. So I did just that, I thought and it made me realise how different my approach would be from when I started out.
A Little Backstory…
My very first introduction to programming was back in 5th grade with this little software called Logo. There was this “weird glitch” (math) where if you made it draw a circle with funky parameters it would draw some crazy lines on screen. And that became a competitive among my friends, we would see whoever could draw the craziest stuff on screen.
My “formal” introduction to programming would be in 7th grade with Scratch, a block coding platform. I had always been competitive and jealous so I always wanted to be the best. And that drive lead to me exploring scratch more than my peers. Where people would be writing (or dragging and dropping) simple mouse following scripts, I would be making full blown games.
Then come 9th grade I start out with my first actual programming language Python. It felt wonderful having the freedom to create whatever I wanted with the limiting factor being myself. It was then that I knew I wanted to pursue a career in software development.
What I Did Wrong
No consistency
I would code one day and drop it for a week or two, only to come back and make something new and leave the thing I was working on earlier.
Whenever I would face a problem or bug that was just a bit too difficult I would not push through and try to solve it rather I would just drop it and work on something easier, only to forget the project I started.
No direction
I would code just for fun, but I didn’t know what fun was. I didn’t know about the different domains of software engineering, what I did know was that programming languages existed so I language hopped.
I wouldn’t stick long enough to learn a language fully. I would pick a language I found cool, build something simple in it and ditch. I was doing this under the guise of “finding my main programming language”.
No collaboration
Programming is all about collaboration. You find someone cool and work with them leveraging both your skills to build something cooler. That’s how open source development and contribution works and it’s my biggest regret of not getting into.
I was always shy about the code I wrote. I just didn’t think it was industry standard and I didn’t want to jeopardize someone else’s project. Well now that I have looked at industry standard, it doesn’t look that much different from what I used to write.
To Answer The Question
I strongly believe the computer science is dominated by 5 major pillars (keep in mind this is just my opinion so don’t take it as gospel, do your own research)
- 1 Native development using Java, Kotlin, C#, Swift
- 2 Web development using Javascript/Typescript, eventually using libraries like NextJS, VueJS, Svelte etc
- 3 Data science, Artificial intelligence, automation using python
- 4 Microservices and infrastructure development using Golang and rust
- 5 Embedded systems and low level development using c and c++
A lot of programming concepts are language agnostic so you don’t have to learn a new language per concept, keeping that in mind Python would still be my most preferred beginning language. It’s simple with its syntax and spoon feeds a lot of things for you. It’s beautiful for experimenting stuff out to atleast get a rough grasp of what’s happening.
What my biggest flaw is that I stick with stuff for too long. Be it python when I first started out or web development right now. I do the same thing over and over again, and it eventually just loses its joy. Doing something new is really important so you don’t get burnt out.
But If I really had to restart programming I don’t think I would have done anything differently. A lot of what I have learnt has come with experience, failing and succeeding. And I personally believe there is no shortcut to gaining this experience. Everyone starts of different and ends up in different places, the journey is what’s beautiful about programming.
But because I took this topic up it would feel incorrect to atleast not answer the question properly
Learn by doing
The biggest issue I see with new developers is that they get stuck in tutorial hell, a place where all you do is watch/read random tutorials online but never really learn something.
The feeling of studying a concept for so long but not being able to implement it is awful. So that’s why learning by doing is so important.
Pick anything that catches your fancy and try to build it, if you feel you’re burning out then pick something new. You’ll learn something even if you can’t stay committed to one thing.
Learn to problem solve
Every problem that you face, regardless if it’s in programming or in life, it can be broken down in smaller and easier to tackle problems.
All of programming can come down to a few simple things like
- . loops (for, while)
- . simple data structures (arrays, hashmaps)
- . control statements (if, else, else if)
Almost all problems you face can be broken down into such simple states that it can be solved using the above language agnostic concepts. The simplest practice is to take everyday problems and try and solve it programmatically by breaking it down into simple steps.
Learn how to ask for help
Please don’t go to ChatGPT the first moment you get a problem. Yes, it will save time and solve the problem accurately but you won’t learn anything from it.
I learnt majority of what I did by implementing random answers I found online for my issues. Learning why somthing won’t work is equally as important as knowing why something will work.
It’s just a personal opinion but ChatGPT just takes the essence of programming away. It just makes it a bit too easy. And because of that people become more prone to not enjoy what they are doing.
Talk to people
You will learn a lot by just talking with people. There is a lot of stuff in the industry that isn’t taught by books or documentation. You’ll gain experience and learn faster by knowing what they did wrong.
Join public forums like discord, reddit, telegram etc. Make small talk, make friends and find collaborators.
To Conclude
Just do it. Get off your chair, open your laptop and do it. Stop relying on other people’s software and make your own. Programming is beautiful, you just need to find your own beauty in it.