One of the common and basic questions among students or someone who wants to learn to code, code, program is “How can I learn programming quickly and make a career as a programmer?”.

Whether you are a student, a younger or more experienced person who already works as a Freelance Web Developer, trying to change your position, role or job in the programming area, you will definitely try to find tips and tricks to learn how to program quickly and effectively.

Programmers’ work is one of the highest paid jobs on the market.

Learning to code and master this art can take years for a beginner.

Most people give up before they actually start.

At first, we were very excited about the concept of learning to code, but later on, in most cases, students or beginners give up quickly, because they find it difficult to continue, become paralyzed and face difficulties in finding the solution to a problem in the code.

Learning to program is not an evening journey, but it is also not as difficult as people think, just dedication, passion, interest and definitely patience is enough.

There are so many online and offline resources available to learn to code easily, quickly and effectively. We will discuss some tips to learn how to program efficiently and quickly.

Programming Tips and Tricks

1 – Make your grounds clear:

A common mistake that a student or beginner makes while learning programming is to skip the basics or chapter 1 and skip directly to the next chapter.

To understand advanced programming concepts, you need to be very clear about the fundamentals of programming. If you make that mistake, at some point, you will end up confused and need to get back to basics again. These fundamentals are data structures, variables, control structures, syntax, tools or text editors. When you start programming, choose a programming language, stick to it and learn all the basics of programming before moving on to the next level.

Your total time to learn to code will definitely be better if you follow this path.

 

2 – Learn by doing, practicing and not just reading and watching:

A common mistake that beginners make while learning programming is just watching a video, reading a book, or looking at the sample code on their desktop without practicing it. It is easy to read about loops, variables and put everything in your mind, but the actual programming does not work that way. You really need to get your hands dirty in coding and keep practicing regularly. When you start programming, you face many problems, you will be stuck, you will be asked to implement the code in practice and find the solution to a specific problem. When you write the code, play with it, change your code to see different results, optimize the code and try different solutions, your logical reasoning ability improves every day and you end up learning many things that make you a better programmer. When starting coding, practice the same code or sample again and again until or at least you do not need to refer to the same book or resource from which you learned.

Also create your own project, take part in coding challenges, play games related to coding, practice every day.

 

3 – Code by hand (paper and pen):

When you start programming as a beginner, you’ll be wondering why I should code by hand.

It is a time consuming process, I cannot execute and verify my code on paper and also if I really need to implement something in my system, why should I use pen and paper? One of the biggest reasons is the interviews. When you apply for programming jobs, most of the time the technical evaluation process includes the code manually. You will be asked to write the code using paper and pen, or you may need to use a whiteboard. Hand coding is an old school technique, but it actually involves a programmer’s proficiency test. Manual coding can provide a clear understanding of syntax and algorithms; you create a deeper connection in your brain.

Learning to program this way will make your job easier and faster later.

 

4 – Share, Teach, Discuss and Ask for Help:

One of the best ways to understand programming quickly and easily is to teach. Teaching someone, sharing your knowledge, discussing with other programmers will make you a better programmer quickly. Teaching someone is also teaching yourself; therefore, if you are able to teach someone, it means that you really understand the concepts. It is the best habit to learn something in depth and you will find that you do not need to return to the same topic. You can also participate in open source projects, discuss your code with your co-programmers or contribute to Github, you can also get help from the forum or discussion site. When you learn to program, don’t hesitate to ask for help. Beginners make this mistake and feel ashamed when they need to ask for help.

It doesn’t matter if you ask silly questions and look stupid, it will help you in the long run, and if you don’t, you’ll be struggling to code later. Therefore, it is good to find a mentor or ask for help from fellow programmers to understand the concepts easily and quickly.

Your mentor or professional can guide you better, because they were in your place before.

 

5 – Use Online Resources:

There are many online resources available, paid and free. You can get help from these resources online and start your programming journey. You can subscribe to youtube channels or try to code in training camps to learn how to program quickly and effectively. GeeksforGeeks, Udemy, Coursera and many resources available for programming guidance and learning.

Also make it a habit to read programming-related blogs and get help from Stackoverflow, subreddit “learn programming” on Reddit.

 

6 – Take breaks:

If you want to learn to program, it is not a good idea to sit in front of a computer for hours and hours and try to understand everything at once. You will be exhausted doing this, so it is best to learn to code in stages.

Take a few breaks to cool off.

You should also keep this in mind when debugging your code. Sometimes you spend hours and hours finding the bug, but you don’t get the solution to your code, so it’s a good idea to take a short break, clear your mind and do something else. This will restore your focus and you can find the solution to your code where it was stuck. Also, try to eliminate all types of distractions. Turn off phone notification, email notifications and try to isolate yourself to focus.

Doing so will save you a lot of time and stay away from headaches or frustration.

 

7 – Learn to use the debugger:

Making mistakes in coding is very common and is completely acceptable in programming. You will find many errors in your code at the beginning, so it is good to use debuggers to discover errors, impact the result and see where you made the error. You will save a lot of time using a debugger or tool to correct errors in your code. If you’re good at debugging, programming will be easier to learn. So learn to use a good debugging technique or use tools to check your piece of code.

Bonus tip

In the end, the last tip is to not give up when you start your journey on programming.

You may be thinking that you are not smart enough to code, but remember that it takes some time and patience to think like a coder or programmer, but to learn it quickly, just follow the right path and be consistent.

Follow each step by step, clarify your fundamentals first, keep practicing and, once you finish the basics, accept the challenges and participate in a competitive program on different sites to improve your knowledge, develop your logical ability and think like a coder.

Later, you will discover how you have become a good coder by practicing it every day.

Author Details : I’m Srinivasan. L, Founder of Knowledge Vibes Academy passionate towards educating teachers for their UGC NET Coaching in Coimbatore and I’m an avid photographer as well.

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July 10, 2020