Programming is fun and easy but a number of people who start learning (self-taught) start with full confidence and energy but after two, three weeks, even months, they quit. Some say it is difficult, others say it’s plenty. Some say I don’t understand and a whole lot of other things. Well, I couldn’t agree more. Programming is difficult at times and it can be a bit of a mess, but everyone went through that. We all had difficulties at times, we all got stuck at one point but here we are, at least, we can call ourselves developers.

These are things I wish I knew when I started programming, I didn’t but my few months journey has led me to recognise these things and the least I could do is to share them with you.

Things I wish I knew and you should know.

1. Specialize:
As a beginner, one thing you should know is to specialize in a specific language. Learning to code is really really tempting, as you are learning one technology, then another one surfaces then you leave the other one and focus on the new one. The technologies and languages are many and if you do not stay focus, you will waste months away without any improvement. Jumping from one language to the other. Learning one framework then leaving it in the middle to start a new framework. People like us are curious but you need more focus now. The curiosity comes in later. You need to focus on one language, grab all the basic concepts and you can transition to any language of you want. JavaScript and Python is a good start for a complete beginner as they both have all the major concepts you need. If you feel you need to master a framwork after these languages, fine if you want to transition to another language too you can. You just need to learn the new syntax (grammar) for the language and you are through.

2. No Recipe To Learning:
Most beginners are always, how do I start learning, where do I start learning, how do I learn this or that. There is no special recipe or method. There is not. Everyone has their specific learning path. Just find your way. College, Bootcamps, Self-taught, variables are variables and functions are functions. Variables don’t mean variables at one and functions at the other, they remain the same everywhere. Just find one which will suit you and follow.

3. Use Google:
When you begin programming, google becomes your bestfriend. There is nothing new under the Sun so no error you will face is new. All errors have been encountered before by someone somewhere and the answer is somewhere on the internet. When ever you get stuck with an error, pull one or two hairs. Try to find the solution yourself. If no avail, google is free. Use it, trust me, you are helping yourself. Don’t give up to easily. Some search results are daunting, but trust me,but with time, you’ll find the right answer.

4. Code! Build! Code! Build! :
Bob Ziroll in his React course at Scrimba said something and I’ll use it here. A carpenter cannot learn to build stuffs by watching tutorials and reading woodwork books. They perfect by building and building. You should understand this: There is a difference between coding and learning how to code. You don’t become a programmer by sitting around and watching tutorials, No!. You code on your own, you build stuffs. Improve upon the projects in the tutorials. Just don’t get stuck in tutorial hell. Learn on your own and ask for help if you need one. Make clones of interesting applications and others, whether it is frontend or backend. Rebuild some libraries if you can, the errors you face in these small projects will lead you into learning more and more things. If you can get an internship in your location, take it. Just don’t remain idle and repeating tutorial projects.




That’s all I have to say. Please subscribe to my Youtube Channel if you are a complete beginner for basic HTML and CSS videos. You can subscibe too if you are not a beginner, you will learn something too. Thank You.