There are plenty of ways to start programming and getting into the software development world.
In my opinion, It's important first to understand if that's something you want to do.
In this post, I'll try to help you answer 2 questions -
- Is software development for me?
- How do you learn how to code?
It's for people who think about getting into the High-Tech world, about Computer Science Degree, about what is even software development, and if it's for them.
It can be for anyone:
- kids who first hear about code
- college students
- even an industrial engineer trying to pivot.
In the last two-three years, I've answered these questions to many different people. These people made their first steps with computers and software.
At the start, I answered each one of them separately.
But when the number of them grew I made one text which includes all the tips I gave.
Some of them are working at various companies now, some continue to code as a hobby, and some got bored after an hour.
And That's the point - You should get a sense of what is like to do software as quickly as possibleץ I'm familiar mostly with Web Development and Mobile Apps, but the software world is so diverse.
There is an infinite number of topics you can study:
Complex Servers, Apps, Neural Networks, Cyber Security, Elevator Algorithmes, And even Mainframes and COBOL.
In my opinion, with the right time investment for you and a basic level of English, Anyone can study how to program - But it's not for everyone.
Not everyone will enjoy and have good time code - And that's absolutely fine.
So when people asking me these questions, I first recommend them to check if coding is something they find fun.
The process is built in 4 stages.
The first 2 one will help you understand if you're a good fit, and The other will help you learn better and even land a job:
- Reading
- Experiencing
- Video Course
- Personal Project
Each of these steps takes a different time, and each one takes a bit more than the previous one.
The time you'll invest in the first steps will lead you faster to understand if you find it interesting or not.
Reading
The first step is reading. why starting from reading? Because you can instantly get if the language speaks to you or not.
If what you read bores you, I recommend you stop.
And it's a blessing - You just saved tons of time of learning something you know is not for you.
Maybe in a different setting or a point in your life, you'll experience it differently, and that's also fine.
So take half an hour, maybe an hour - an go over this shortlist of reading:
- The Wikipedia "Computer Programming" Page
- A Gentler Introduction to Programming
- What Is Programming?
- A Day In The Life Of Software Engineer
This should give you a glimpse of the software world.
Experiencing
In the second step you to dirt your hands.
When you finish, You should have feeling weather you interested in code and software, Or if it's not your thing for now.
From my own experience, The completely free freecodecamp.org platform is the most recommended.
Freecodecamp advantage is that it gives you feedback as soon as you start writing code.
The website features exercises that include reading, writing code and running it, and seeing the results only with a web browser.
Another one I can recommend codeacademy. The most efficient timeframe you need to invest in my opinion in order to understand if you like it or not is around 3–4 weekly hours.
Video Course
If you are still at this point and feel like you want to make more progress and deepen the knowledge, A video course will benefit you the most.
That's how you start getting serious about acquiring the skills you can search for jobs with.
The course I recommend is a Udemy one, called The Complete Web Developer in 2020: Zero to Mastery..
It teaches you the required tools for an actual job, with an easy learning curve.
The course tutor also helps you build projects you can display in job interviews.
From my point of view, You can even add it to your CV when finish.
Personal Project
At the end of the video course you already have enough tools to build full web applications, and with this skill - you can pursue a job.
Take a topic that you interested in, Or an app idea you always thought about, Or even a small personal problem you have and you can solve with your new skill.
Here are some examples:
- Chess Game
- Website for a show you love
- Food Tracking App
- Soccer stats website
Remember that it doesn't need to be perfect, and doesn't need to be a billion-dollar app.
It's for getting experience.
It's for showing a potential employer what you study, and that you really know what you are talking about.
Searching for the job is a different subject, which I'll talk about in a different post.
If you need any advice or want feedback on your project, or anything regards everything - You are more than welcome to DM me at @coheneyal4!
Good Luck!