What You Should Know Before You Start to Learn Coding In 2023 (part2)

Welcome. This article is a continuation (part Two) of a series I started in other to help guide new or aspiring developers. So if you are new to the world of development or you are contemplating whether or not you should follow this path, then this article is for you.

If you have not read the first article you can do so and still come back to this part, However, the points in this series were not written in any particular order, therefore you can start with anyone you want to and read up the rest later.

Set Clear Goals

It is often said that “failing to plan, is planning to fail”. The importance of goal setting and planning can never be over-emphasized. It is important you defined your reasons(s) for wanting to learn to code. This is necessary because they might be times when you feel discouraged and the only thing that will keep you going is the set of goals you’ve set for yourself. Whatever your goals may be, just have them.

It may be to earn more, live better, get a car, build a house, switch to a new career, or make enough money to give away, your goals might be anything that matters to you. Goals serve as internal motivation, there are times in life when we seem to have been abandoned or ignored by other people, what will keep you going at such moments are the goals you’ve set for yourself.

Take a Break

In any case or at any moment you feel like giving up; what you actually need to do is to “take a break”. When you begin to feel helpless take a break, when you feel overwhelmed, “take a break. Close your computer for a day or two and come back to it. Note that I said a day or two. Your break shouldn’t exceed a maximum of two days. It is better to take a break than to give up entirely.

As a developer, the best way to get better at coding, is to keep coding, the more you code the better you become, and the less you code, well I guess you can complete the rest.

Read Codes

Beyond writing codes, always attempt to read other people’s code, and try to understand their logic and thought processes. The more codes you read, the more you become aware of the existence of certain concepts, and the more your mind is expanded.

It Is Okay To Copy

Yes; everyone does it, especially beginners. Don’t be ashamed to copy, as a matter of fact, your ability to copy an existing solution and rightly implement it in your work is proof that you are becoming better at coding. However, you must be mindful of becoming a copycat, do not depend solely on copying. Task yourself always to write original codes. Original in this case does not mean to write what does not exist, but if you can, please by all means do. Writing original codes means writing codes without having to look at other people’s code or directly lifting people’s code.

Please by all means avoid copying and pasting, even when you copy from people’s code base, ensure to type them out yourself, when you do that, the codes stick to your head and mind, and when next you encounter such a problem in the future, you will not have to copy codes again because you will already know what to do.

I hope you got value and guidance from this article. Thank you for reading. Are some other points you think should be added? Let me know in the comment section. Inputs and suggestions are welcomed.