Suggestions for New Coders and Programmers

Suggestions for New Coders and Programmers

If you are interested in learning to code, but have limited or no background with it, I have a few suggestions.

  • First, don't worry. Learning to program is not difficult. My biggest suggestions are:
    • It takes practice. Try to code at least a little several times a week. It would be the same with a musical instrument. Just creating a few small programs or scripts each week is very beneficial.
    • Know that coding and programming is detail-oriented. Every character, and even sometimes spaces, can matter and cause a program not work. You just have to learn the rules (syntax). You'll get the hang of it just the same as musician gets better at hitting all the notes correctly.

  • Know that once you learn one language well, it will be much, much easier pick up other languages. They share many, many things in common.

  • Find a few web sites you like using to help you learn to program. There are a ton great programming web sites and YouTube channels out there. For example:
  • Love to learn. Enjoy the process and passion for learning.

  • Enjoy problem-solving. Programs will naturally not work the first time you code them. Syntax and semantic errors are natural. Enjoy becoming the master of finding and resolving them.