A late-Halloween special
Coding can be a Hell-of-a scare if you are starting out for the first time. – (Sorry there’s going to be a lot of Halloween puns in this one).
When I first started my career change in computer science, I studied a Higher National Certificate (HNC) at my local college and that was when I was first introduced to coding. Not quite knowing what to expect, I went into class and was quickly introduced to C# (C sharp) – and to say I was overwhelmed at the very least was a bit of a horror joke. As I tried to understand the logic behind programming, I remember furiously watching videos every night after work as my lecturer recommended that I studied a minimum of one hour a day in order to catch up with the rest of the class. But comparing myself to the rest of the class, I was an absolute-total-complete beginner. I really found that one hour a day was not close enough for an assignment that was due in a few months. No matter how many times I revised and reviewed, I couldn’t get the logic of coding into my skull. Eventually the lecturer was kind enough to create a step-by-step tutorial for our final assignment which I pretty much copied regardless of the time spent in learning…….and I got a basic pass.
So with that I developed a bit of a fear of coding and found it very easy to procrastinate during my coding sessions as a way to completely avoid it if I could. I even thought about changing my program to Networking in order to avoid programming which I didn’t even in end (even though I ended up enjoying Networking). However, now I’m at my second year of Computer Science where I am forced to look at code in Java most of the time (I even have a personal tutor to help me with some concepts) and I am starting to see the logic behind the code and it’s…not….that….bad….
so any advice and tips (I hear you say…)
If you are first starting out in coding, it is one of those things that are best done when you jump into mini projects, not by spending all of your times on tutorials (…and I spent quite a lot of time doing this). However, if you are a total beginner, I would recommend learning the basics and how coding works on a very basic level but then quickly start implementing small projects to solidify your learning. (See some suggestions in the ‘More Info’ section below).
Actually for the first time, I created a personal project that I had been thinking about for a few years. It was a simple program that generates random advice messages ( something like a fortune telling thing). I mulled over the idea for over a year thinking it would be too complicated to make. A few weeks, I grit my teeth and managed to code the whole thing in less than hour….and see the difference: a year of thinking, vs an hour of coding – it wasn’t that hard. So start working on small projects….like NOW.
Coding is quite a bit of googling…
Learning to code is like learning a language! A totally new language with an alphabet you aren’t familiar with. I go back to thinking when I was an English teacher abroad and in the UK. My students used to tell me how English is such a difficult language to learn and that after learning for x times, they hadn’t improved. I always asked if they did anything beyond the two-hour class, and the answer I always got was a ‘no’ – so the same applies to coding, if you don’t practice the language (or coding) regularly, don’t expect to get much further.
A common question I get is how long does it take to code?
Take into mind Parkinson’s Law: ‘Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion’ which means that it’s up to you – and it’s as simple as that. However, if you start building mini projects and are setting some serious SMART goals, then that’s even better.
On a final note, don’t forget to start creating yourself a portfolio once you have conquered a few mini projects and are confident to put your projects online. Employers love actual examples.
More Info
Some excellent resources I would recommend for total beginners:
all images from Unsplash.com
Photo 1 by Max Bender on Unsplash and Photo 2 by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash
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