If you have decided to make a career in software development or other areas of the information technology sector, knowledge of programming is essential.
However, a lot of people take so much time or even leave this idea even before getting any hands-on experience. The reason is — they are unaware of the things they should keep in mind while learning programming in the beginning. Today, I will share some important tips to learn programming faster and better.
Read: Top 5 Highest Paying Programming Languages of 2019
Contents
Tips to Learn Programming Faster
1. Give More Time to Fundamentals
One of the most common mistakes people do — is they try to finish the fundamentals as quickly as possible and start the coding part. In this process, they skip a few chapters at the beginning and spend less time with the fundamentals of the subject.
First, you’ll have to understand that this doesn’t work in learning computer programming. You might finish the tutorial or reach the actual coding section fast but it will create a lot of troubles for you in the future. People who learn this way usually stuck at higher levels, easily lost and ultimately have to go back to learn basics.
So, don’t think you’re wasting time on fundamentals, try to grasp each concept as it will eventually cut the time you’re going to take in learning programming.
2. Dry Run Your Code
If you are unaware, Dry run means iterating through each line of your code on the paper before running it on the machine.
This habit is known to improve logical thinking and makes the next levels of learning easier and faster. Dry running code is the best way to learn how to program. If you are planning to make a career in programming, try to adopt this habit in the early stage of learning.
Also, interviewers often ask the candidate to do the coding by hand in job interviews. So, there won’t be a better reason to start practicing it.
Also Read: How to Improve Your Logic Building Skills in Programming
3. Think Out of the Box
Most of the times when I hear this line, people don’t exactly explain – how to think out of the box? But don’t worry, that’s not gonna happen here.
There are lots of options for learning programming in both online and offline mediums. Just type your query on Google and hit enter. You’ll see hundreds of relevant results explaining you every concept in a detailed manner.
But if you want to progress in your career, just by writing a thousand lines of code every week won’t help. You’ll have to boost your domain knowledge while doing coding work. In real life, you will be working with the client’s requirement, and they are mostly based on real-life situations. You need to understand their business and come up with some ways you can improve it. It will help you a lot in delivering their requirements easily.
4. Practice More
I have seen many people who started learning programming using books and theoretical methods, and even after a month they still focusing on just covering more and more concepts without any hands-on practice.
According to me, it’s one of the biggest mistakes people do at initial stages.
The saying “practice makes perfect” applies everywhere but in case of programming, it becomes even more critical.
If you are spending two hours on learning new concepts every day then you must have to spend at least one hour on coding. It doesn’t matter whatever the concept you’re learning, just search for the related program and start practicing. You can also work on some mini projects. In the beginning, you may feel like you’re getting nowhere, but eventually, the solution will emerge.
5. Never Forget Your Cool
Programming is no doubt an exciting task but it’s also known to be exhaustive. Many times people spend hours on a single bug with no solution. It has the ability to affect your complete schedule of meals and speed, which is definitely not a healthy situation especially if you are young.
You’ll have to remain calm in those days. Our brain also needs some refreshment from time to time. It could be meeting with friends, going on a trip, some sort of exercise or just playing games on your smartphone. Always focus on maintaining a balance between everything and never forget your cool. This will ultimately help you improve focus and learn things fast.
Also Read: 5 Programming Languages You Should NOT Learn in 2019
Wrapping Up
I hope these tips help you learn to program quickly. Though you might be prepared to sacrifice a major portion of your day sitting in front of a computer if you don’t follow the correct path, it will probably take a lot of time. If you have any other tip to speed up the learning, make sure to share that in the comments below.
