Your First Steps To Learn Prgramming

Many people who want to learn programming have some fears and questions when they start out, and I think that’s normal to thought about what do you investing time in, they may have some questions like is it worth it? What amount of time do I need to start working? What field is better? What programming language should I start with? Can I start learning with a phone or tablet?

If you have these questions about learning to code, You are in the right place. I will answer your questions and needs, also I will remove some misunderstandings that some people have about learning to code.

Some Common Questions

When we start doing a new experience, we have some questions about this specific experience. The same as learning to code, sometimes we ask the wrong questions and we have misunderstood what are we dealing with. So I prefer to start removing these misunderstands so we can have a clear vision about what should we do.

Remove Misunderstanding

Learn Programming Is a Long-Term Process

Some people may think they can learn programming in a short time, and get their first job fast. I can tell you that you got the wrong side of the stick because programming takes time to learn and to get your first job.

Learning to code is a long-term process that you should learn hard to get the benefits from it after a long time, So If you want to learn to program because maybe you need money in a short time, It’s definitely not the case here.

Common Questions

Is Programming worth investing time in?

The most important thing that we should be careful about is our time, knowing the value of your time and what to invest time in is vital.

So, look programming has a high demand in the market, and by working on it, you can take your life to the next level, and that is not only about money but also about thinking and how to solve problems, however those benefits you will get after a long-term of learning and practicing.

What field of programming is better?

Short answer, there’s no field better than the other, every field has its market and needs.

Can I start learning on a mobile or tablet?

The answer is Yes, I have learned to code on my school’s tablet, I think that was a 2GB of ram. I started learning on it HTML and CSS then I got a very low-end PC then I started working on it and it gave me more flexibility than the tablet but you can start on any device until you get a pc or laptop.

What amount of time do I need to start working?

This question depends on many things like your time of learning every day, your understanding, and your effort. But on average it takes 6-12 months to learn programming on your own and maybe it takes more that's based on your effort.

Have Systems Not Targets

We all have some targets want to achieve, we want a fancy car, a good house, or even to learn a new skill, By knowing our targets we can have a vision that we can work to achieve, but without a system, we cannot achieve any target.

What’s a system?

A system is a group of steps or actions that are needed to achieve a specific goal or target, it’s the path from point A to point B

The difference between systems and targets

The relation between targets and systems is an interdependent relation because without a specific target, we cannot have a system and without a system, we can not arrive at our target.

How to build a system

The first step to building your system is to define your targets, get a pen and paper then start to write down your targets, divide them into categories, important and can wait, get your first important target and think about, what that target needs to achieve it, do research on google, find out the path that you have to go throw to achieve your target.

Once you have a clear path start setting a realistic deadline to achieve that goal, you can define that by knowing how many hours you will put into your day to work on that goal.

Now you have a system that can help you to achieve your target, the second step is to start working on that system and to keep going.

How to keep going

Motivation is what gets you started.
Habit is what keeps you going. — Jim Ryun

Once we have a system, we will need to work on it we should be consistent with doing it, but how to be consistent in doing something? Well, basically by converting it to a habit, put that act or habit in your daily routine, and make it a part of your day.

By repeating an act or a habit, we make it stick into our brain, we can even do this habit without thinking like we are doing this automatically. At first, repeating that habit can be a little bit hard, but the more you repeat the more it becomes easy to do.

The Path To Start Learning

Now, Let’s find out the best way to learn to code. First of all, we will need to learn the fundamentals of programming which will help us to understand the main concepts in computer science for any programming language we want.

Learn Fundamentals

There are a lot of courses on the internet that can help you to learn the fundamentals of programming like cs50 course from "Harvard university", and I have written a post about this course in detail you can check it out here “How to be a better programmer”

Start taking Your Path

After learning the fundamentals we now have a clear base that we can start from. Now It’s time to select your path. In this step, I suggest you do some research and find what’s the most needed field in the market that you want to work in.

See what field is the most needed and search for a roadmap for this field, see what are the latest technologies in this field, and start to learn one after another, set for yourself a specific deadline for each technology and once you have learned your necessary roadmap technologies, start marking some projects that make your skills appear in it.

That will help you to improve your skills more and also will develop your searching skills specifically.

My Experience Of Learn Programming

In the end, I wanted to tell you about my experience of learning to code, maybe it can inspire you or help you at some point.

I started know programming when I was 12, I liked to learn HTML, and I think this is the first time that I have knowing what’s programming.

I wasn’t consistent in learning it, but when I got 15 I started to take programming seriously, I learned HTML and CSS and I didn’t have a laptop or a pc, So I started to learn on my school’s tablet.

I downloaded an app called ACode and started to apply what I have learned about HTML and CSS luckily I got a low-end pc when I started to learn javascript which gave me more flexibility in learning.

The first project for me was a pharmacy system that can manage patients and that was by a framework called Laravel, and bootstrap for front-end stuff, I was very happy with the first money that I got, It wasn’t so much but It was happy to me because finally after a long time of learning, I started to reap the fruits.

And now I'm working with clients over the world as a freelancer, and help businesses to create their web applications, and helping people to learn too.

If you arrived here, thank you for your reading and I hope you got to benefit from this post also if you want to learn more about programming and freelancing you can subscribe to my weekly newsletter, it's free :)

Thank you and I hope you have a good day.