Mistakes to Avoid as a Beginner, Self-Taught Developer
By: Kylee Fields
Tags: Self Taught, Students, Software Development, Computer Science, Programming

In 2019, I started my self-taught journey into computer programming. My first few months as a beginner were TOUGH. I understand first-hand how

paralyzing information-overload can be. Now that I have triumphed over these struggles, I feel obligated to share what I’ve learned in order to help others. Specifically, things that I wish I would’ve learned sooner! Hope this helps. :)

0. Not being resilient after a series of failures.

Coding is HARD WORK so you must embrace being bad at first! You will have entire days, weeks, even months, where you might not succeed at any of the results you want. Just keep going!

1. Overthinking what you should learn first.

All of the "trendy" new languages, frameworks, and "buzzwords" may make a beginner feel overwhelmed. But don't get stuck on these or force yourself to learn above your skill level. The most important thing is that you START, so start with the basics!

2. Not focusing on RESULTS above all else!

Don't get stuck just watching tutorials, writing practice code, and reading theory. Produce results by creating projects, no matter what your skill level! Think of these projects as the products of your practice, which help validate your skills to not only others, but yourself!

3. Not considering a specialty.

While it's important to obtain a basic understanding of all areas of programming, make sure you narrow in on a specialty (such as frontend development, data engineering, data analysis, ux design, specific languages, frameworks, etc.) Your specialty can always change over time, so don't worry if you change your mind!

4. Not having a coping strategy for imposters syndrome.

Every tech professional experiences imposter syndrome. So it's important to understand what it means and how it feels within yourself, (which is out of scope for this post.) But just make sure you have a plan to cope with it, and most importantly, try your hardest to not to let it sabotage your work!

5. Assuming you must reach mastery to join the online coder community.

There are MANY beginners like you who can benefit from hearing about YOUR perspective and experiences from a beginners point-of-view. There are also many first-timer friendly repos on Github for contributing to open-source projects. So start blogging and contributing right away, you are VALID. Just keep your content in the scope of what you know!

6. Listening to elitists, bad resources, and not diversifying your learning materials.

Be wary of the MANY bad resources online! Keep in mind that there are ALWAYS cheaper, even FREE resources for EVERY topic. Ignore scammy “gurus” because NO ONE PERSON is the gatekeeper to knowledge! Diversify your resources, and let go of ones that no longer serve you.

7. Typing in bad posture and sacrificing wellness for the “grind.”

We all only have a limited amount of keystrokes in our hands. Repetitive strain injuries are a coders nightmare, so take care of your delicate hands! Also remember, physical health is directly intertwined with mental performance. So get sleep, eat well, take breaks, exercise. Work smart, not hard.

8. Neglecting technical soft skills.

Being able to communicate with a team is everything. Of course, while working on a computer doesn’t necessarily attract the social types, it is important to at least know how to articulate your work. There is a difference between doing it and explaining it, and explaining it can often be the hardest part for developers due to the abstract nature of our work. So join meet ups, attend hackathons & lectures, mingle with other developers, make blog posts/videos, or even practice explaining your work to yourself in the mirror!