6 Programming Myths Beginners Should be Aware of
By: Intisar Mahee
Tags: Software Development, Coding, Programming, Web Development, Beginner

Programming is a mystery to most of the people, especially for those who intend to be a programmer in the future. And the misconceptions and myths make the path more confusing to all.

A huge number of learners skid from the path of learning even before starting just because of popular myths. Also, there are many learners whose hearts get broken whenever they find programming is not what they thought or saw in popular TV series or in digital media.

I also had many misconceptions about programmers and programming before starting my journey.

Among a bunch of myths, I sorted out 6 myths that are highly known and popular among us. And I would love to break them you.

Your perspective about programming will be crystal cleared and you can easily understand the percentage of true-false, I’m sure about that. Let’s get started

1. You Need to be A NERD

Whenever we heard the name “Programmer”, we visualize a boy/girl who seems nerd, wearing heavy glass and most importantly has messy hair.

This is not your visualization, it’s the advertising agency and art-directors who portraited these in the media and you’ve adopted it.

The real scenario is pretty different, there are no rules or outfits that can tell people “Hey! I’m a Programmer!” The dressing is just a personal choice and being a nerd is also. There is no need of pretending to be a programmer when you really are a programmer.

Being a NERD doesn’t guarantee you to be a programmer.

2. Math Skill is The KEY

This is the stupid myth I’ve ever heard. The math skill you need to be a programmer is equivalent to the level of math knowledge you need to pass your Kindergarten days.

It doesn’t mean, math is not used in programming. Obviously, math is used but most of the programmers never reach that level of work on that level.

Programming and computer science is a wide and broad field, and whether or not you need to be good at math depends on what discipline you chose to specialize in.

In general, the more advanced and complex the topic, the more likely it is that you need to have a strong mathematical foundation. If your goal is to be able to work on those types of complex problems, then having a good foundation will be invaluable.

However, just as many aspects of computer science and programming do not require a good understanding of math. The only things you really need to know are how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide, and maybe a little basic algebra. Many programmers go through their entire careers with having to do barely any math at all.

To summarize, you do not necessarily need to be good at math if you want a successful career as a Programmer. If you want to be a computer scientist, you will end up learning a fair amount of math. If you want to work on harder problems/within certain domains, math can be a helpful tool, depending on the situation.

3. Takes Longer Time to Understand

It’s a biased topic. Both ways are correct here. It takes a small amount of time if you want to make a website like a single page or portfolio of a person. But it takes a longer span of time if you want to make an e-commerce website or a website where things are more complex.

Programming is easy to learn and takes a reasonable amount of time to learn it. But you need a longer span of time if you’re up to mastering it.

Learning programming for fun or hobby or doing personal tasks takes a small amount of time with the right resources. But to start learning programming for your career, you’ll be needing a much longer time.

You can have a look here if you want to learn programming in the quickest way.

4. Not for A non-CS

Most of the programmers of today’s world are non-CS. Even FAANG don’t require any educational certification or degree for their recruiting process. They only care about what you really know and how good your skills are.

Even if you’re not up to making a career, you can learn programming. Being a CS or non-CS background doesn’t make a difference here. Because most of the learning content is online for free and most programmers are self-taught.

It is possible to get a job without a CS degree, and without a degree in general, though with decreased probability. Quitting school is definitely not recommended. If programming isn’t for you, switch majors. If it is for you, staying in school will give you the best chance at a job once you are finished.

5. Programming is Hacking

I hope you’re familiar with the term “Lock-smith”.

Do you know what they do? -They repair locks and make duplicate keys.

But it doesn’t mean that every “Lock-smith” breaks locks and rob banks or households. This is exactly the same, being a programmer doesn’t guarantee you to be a hacker.

I do programming means “I write commands for ordering the machines”. It’s not necessary that every programmer is a hacker.

It’s more likely a choice for skilled programmers. A choice of ethics.

6. Need to Memorize a lot

Everything you learn requires memorizing. Of course, programming requires memorizing but it’s the least of any other topics.

In programming, you need to learn how to use google to write a program more than memorizing anything. Programming is all about learning how a language works not every section of a language.

w3schools, GitHub, StackOverflow are great resources to find the formats and you can also find many solved problems that can help you to save time.

Conclusion

Gaining a new skill is always crucial, so Programming is. Maybe that’s why only 0.5% of the whole world’s population knows how to code. Programming is just a basic skill that is a lot easier than cooking or washing clothes. If you don’t find programming interesting, you’re learning it from the wrong teacher. Whenever you face this, try the Programming Hero app, that can teach you in a fun and interactive way.