6 Things You Can Do After Passing Coding Tutorials
By: Marcin Krykowski
Tags: Junior Developer, Software Development, Learning, Software Engineering, Learning To Code

Every person no matter if newbie in software development or a decent geek just trying new ways of working has encountered a problem what to do after completing basic coding tutorials. You can continue with other tutorials and then other tutorials and so on, but that’s not the only way to extend your skills as a software developer. In this article, I’ll present you 6 best ways what to do after passing coding introduction and how to dive deeper into the software engineering world. Here we go!

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Help other people

I’m 100% sure that during your adventure you’ve used at least ONCE (but probably more) services like stackoverflow.com or generally speaking, you’ve been looking for a solution to your problem on the Internet. Does not matter if it was a setup issue or code problem or any other. Everyone did it at some point, but most of us (devs) do it until today and it’s totally fine and accepted in the industry. Now you have some knowledge about your language so why not to spread it across others and help them with their problems? Maybe you’ve faced something very specific with your environment or your code was not working, but now it compiles? All these problems are still being met by the new people starting with programming, so why not to help them? You might look at StackOverflow or any other forum to look for developers waiting for your help. You might even edit or extends some other people answers so you’ll gain some ‘reputation points’ which you may present in your CV later, but believe me that you will gain a lot of appreciation which is worth much much more!

2. Implement your idea

You had a great idea for an app, but you were unable to do this? Now you can do this! Try to think about your application as your project. Divide it into small pieces and then user stories and try to implement it step by step. Think about design, features and all the necessary things. Don’t make it either too complex or too silly. You’ll have a lot of motivation for creating a project where you’re your boss. If you don’t have an idea for an app try to look for it here.

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3. Start reading more advanced blog posts or books

Now you can dive deeper into programming world by not only looking for easy articles about “How to start with coding?” or “How to configure something”, but also you can read about newest features in your programming language or how to use i.e. REST API, or maybe something about gems or how Docker works. If you’ll find something beyond your current level try to write all things that you do not understand and explain them by reading other articles or books (I’d recommend starting with blog posts). If you can understand the article that you’ve started with, it simply means that you did it right. After a few months, you’ll see how much you can understand. Remember to not only read about things but also try them out.

4. Contribute to open-source projects

Many projects are open source and need your help! Look for them and try to look for an easy issue, then make your first PR and you’ll love it. Start with https://www.firsttimersonly.com or https://www.codetriage.com. For sure you’ll find a problem with your level of expertise.

5. Go to a local UG meeting or find a conference

Another way to gain knowledge similar to reading intermediate or advanced blog posts or books is by attending a lecture at your local User Group. No matter if you are coding in Java, Scala, Ruby or Python. Try to figure out when and where do they meet. Start here: https://www.meetup.com/. Even if topics might look complicated just try it. Maybe you’ll find them easy or at least you’ll know other software enthusiasts and have a beer and pizza with them.

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6. Try to write by yourself

Try to create your blog post. It might treat about a problem that you’ve overcome or maybe about a new feature that you’ve tried yourself or about your path from the bottom. You might sum up a conference that you’ve attended or created a story about your great app and its features. You have no idea how much you’ll gain by this at all stages. You might read another interesting story, useful for your post, you might solve somebody’s problem, you might explain easily a complex thing and many many more. All you have to invest is your time!

These are only a few ways how to develop your skills. You don’t have to choose all of them. Just try them and let me know how did it go! Have fun and send me a massage which one was the best for you. You can find me on Twitter, Linkedin or via mail. Awaiting your feedback!

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