start-learn-programming
This is how you can start. Learning to program resources
I want to learn how to program, how do I start?
Note: We’ve created some posts where we want to share our point of view and also some experiences we’ve had along the time, just to give some tips and useful info that you can put into practice.
Do you want to learn how to program?
We’re very glad if so and with this article, we hope to give you a helpful and general point of view.
Knocking down some myths
“I need to have a college degree”
Lucky you! The truth is -No.
What really matters is that you’re passionate about coding and all the important related: Teamwork, extra hours, planning, setting your workflow and coding environments, have a bug that could take days to solve…are some of the things you need to have in mind and that in most videos you don’t see very often.
If you really want to program, and making a living out of it, the most important thing is to show to your potential contractors that you know how to do your job very well. If you’re up to date with technologies and if you know the company’ s needs, you can move forward with a strategic plan.
Maybe you have a degree that is not related to any tech career, maybe you think this is a risky step.
Also, you could feel that if you go for this, you´ll be judged or your credibility as a person will be put into consideration.
If you have a huge interest in learning how to program, don´t let any of this get in the way. Here some quick tips:
- You can start in your free time. Don’t get a new job until you feel prepared enough as a programmer (At least Junior level)
- Take free online courses; this will let you know if you’re good at it or at least if you like it, as your interest grows.
- Find a mentor, you can join any community (Normally these community meetups are free!)
- Make some work on your own, create things, services, simple apps (This will help as a portfolio too)
- Fall in love with what you’re creating and try to find a way to solve other people’s needs (like a friend that needs a blog or simple web page)
- Make volunteer work for a company (just a few months or days!). Try to get known in the industry and also try to work as an intern for some time. By getting real experience in the job (working with teammates, deadlines, etc) you will have an accurate point of view and decide if you want to continue this journey.
Only making little steps you can know if you want to keep going. If after some time you realize that programming is not meant for you, no problem with that! Don’t be hard at yourself, you just tried something and gained some experience, that’s all!
“Learning to program is easy”
It is not. It requires some time, work, effort, and practice. That’s why it is key that this is something you really like to do. After learning the basics, you need to go for more, to the really tricky topics.
If you’re that kind of self-taught person, this is an awesome advantage, because you can find any resource on the internet and learn for yourself even the trickiest topics. This will be a great ability also in the workplace.
If you’re more a kind of mentor person, that learns step by step by someone’s guidance, even if you get a mentor, try to improve your self-taught skills; this is something you’ll need in your job every day when you get assigned a task you don’t know how to solve.
Learning to program is not easy, but not impossible. If you have good resources and time to practice, you can achieve great stuff.
“I’ll make it overnight”
We have an urgency culture. We like to see quick results.
Patience in programming is vital, you get greater results with time and practice.
Not only at learning, you need to be patient; when you work in this, you’ll need it even more, because bugs will come, client adjustments, starting from the beginning…the list goes on…
It is important that you know that the final goal where you imagine yourself in an awesome job earning big ($$$) it is totally related on how much time you spend learning, practicing and getting known in the industry for your results.
Time is relative, it depends on you if you take months or years to achieve it. You can do it!
This is not a post to tell you everything is difficult, we really want to help! So we give you some tips in advance so you can have your strategy set.
Knocking limitations down
Lots of people give up before starting because they may feel they don’t have enough attitude or financial resources.
But if you take a closer look at this, you’ll see that the only limitation is in your head.
The fact that maybe you don’t have the money to pay for a college degree, or an expensive course/certification, it doesn’t mean you can´t be a great programmer.
Don’t give up your dream; learn, give an extra effort and who knows, maybe with your first or second job you can afford those certifications, or maybe you realize that you don’t need them.
If you do it with passion and dedication, the rest will come.
Don’t get any limitations, find the best way to start, little by little.
For free resources, we really recommend this list:
Give us a clap if you liked it! Also let us know in the comments what you think :D cheers!!
Hey! Do you know about us? We’re Monoku and we design and develop digital products! Follow us for more! Monoku/ Instagram: @monoku