What has helped me so far as a self-teaching developer
Tags: todayilearned, beginners, career, discuss
Published: 2020-12-29 10:03:06

So to give you some insight, I work in corporate sales and coding is something that I have always dabbled in. It’s not something I decided to just pick up because of the COVID-19 situation, but it is also something I have begun to take more serious due to COVID-19.

It started a couple of years ago for me I have always wanted to build an App, I had so many ideas and I was convinced that one of them would change the world aha (still do!). So I decided that I would take a Udemy course on how to develop applications — the full works. I developed a few practise apps but then stopped as I started a new job in Central London which took up most of my time. I still went back in a few times because it something I love doing. However, the majority of my time was spent on my job and personal time.

So when Covid-19 hit as most of the economy I lost a few jobs here and there which meant I had a lot more time on my hands. I did what most people did and tried to make the most f my free time by trying to take up as many courses as I can. But what you realise after a few weeks is that you're not really interested and just done it to feel productive.

The Research

It took me down a path, where I wanted to explore and spend my time on something I am passionate about. It led me back to coding — the fire was still lit. Then I started looking into how to take it seriously and get myself in an industry which I had no experience working in before.
So I went down a rabbit hole, started watching more youtube videos on how to become a full-time developer, which languages to learn, best practices, how other people have done it, what I should not do, what I should do, what I should eat for breakfast/lunch/dinner — Nah I’m joking about that last bit but you get my drift.

Then I just stopped, I go tired of trying to theorise everything and wanted to take action, I had no choice. So I started to look for specific information that will help me map out my learning journey, instead of focus on the result which is a paying job I started to focus on what the journey should look like for it to be enjoyable and educational.

For those who don’t know what type of software engineer they want to be then I advice researching the different types and what they entail, this will not only help you figure out what you want to focus on but also what the coding landscape looks like.

The Journey

When it comes to being a software developer/engineer there are soooo many careers you can take. It helps to know what field or what type of job you see yourself in. It will provide the stepping stones for your learning journey as it did for me.
I was lucky enough to know my ideal career and that was an IOS developer — I wanted to develop some world-leading class App’s which helped me put together my journey. At first, I thought yeah let me just jump straight into Swift(which is the language used for IOS application from Apple) and I did. But what I realised was I felt like I was missing out on core language fundamentals, which took me on to the next step.

The Network

I started to seek out the right information from people who are doing or have done what I want to do. This meant joining Facebook groups with Likeminded people — I have a great one for you guys which I am apart of. Reaching out to people on different platforms including youtube for advice on what steps I should take, this helped me cut through most of the bullshit online and get a laser focus, which done me wonders.
With learning how to code it can be overwhelming if you don’t have a clear path to stick to, there are a lot of computer programming languages and soo many people advice different things. You need to find out what will work for you!

The Schedule

Next, you need to set your schedule, now I know most people will be like .. blah blah why do I need a schedule, why cant I just learn at my own pace? It’s because learning how to code is not easy, I can guarantee that. It’s like trying to learn a new language without actually committing to it, all your going to learn is a few words, maybe sentences and feel accomplished but your just crap!

Learning something new takes will power, focus, commitment and effort, so to make things easier for ourselves setting a schedule will make sure you have a sense of direction and commitment for when times get hard (and they will).
As an insight, I try to do a minimum of 3 hours of coding a day.

The Work

Now to the hard but rewarding part. No one can do the work for you, it will take all your effort and brainpower at the beginning to understand the basics but I promise you as time goes by and the more you practise things will start to click and you will get so many Aha moments which make you feel like a kid again!

What I love the most about coding is the self-sense of reward you get from it. You get to build things and see them work, and when they don’t you try your hardest to figure it out and if you still can’t figure it out then you reach out to someone who can and it’s a learning opportunity for you.

Lastly, something that I have found helped with doing the actual work is setting the mood. For me it’s about creating an environment which allows me to learn and work which is super important.

Top Tips

Research- below are just some links which helped me define my journey path. But spend your own time researching and learning (not too much time)

Roadmaps - 

Computer programming languages — what each one is used for.
Best languages to learn

Socials — this group is really helpful with a mixture of experienced developers and also new and beginners developers, everyone is friendly and also provide advice or feedback.

Amigoscode Website
Amigoscode Facebook
Amigoscode Discord

Courses- there are a ton of courses which you can find online which will help you get started, develop your skills further etc.

Codecademy — They have a free membership for the basics of most languages, but also premium which help you develop further.

Harvard CS50 course — This is a free course by Harvard Business School on the intro to computer science.

Computer programming for everyone — Leeds University — This helps you understand how computers works and what languages are used etc and its Free!

Do’s

Focus on 1 language — with a huge selection available it’s easy to spread yourself thin because every language is interesting in its own way. However, what I have learnt is once you go deep into one language and learn the fundamentals it becomes easier to learn the others. Try to be a Pro at 1 rather than being average at some, then you can move forward.

Dedicate time, based on how fast you want to achieve your goal — This begins with defining your goals then allocating time accordingly.

Ask for help — I get stuck all the time when it comes to coding but what I love the best is someone will always be able to help. That’s why it’s important to join communities where you’re free to ask for help. Don’t be ashamed even some of the world’s leading developers get stuck — no one is all-knowing.
Try to enjoy it- don’t tire yourself out trying to Wizz through everything. I try to apply what I learn every day to a personal project, this keeps me engaged and helps me enjoy even some of the complicated things.

Hold yourself accountable — and if you can get someone to hold you accountable. A friend or family member who you can check in with weekly to tell them how it’s going, this makes it easier to help yourself stick to it.

Dont’s

Don’t do what I did and spend hours/days/weeks/months either thinking about what to do or how to do it. Once you have a rough idea of where to start — just start! Coding is practical and you learn more from coding then watching videos on coding.

Don’t do it because it’s cool — do you want to code because you genuinely interested or want to create applications, programmes, AI, software. Or are you just doing it because it’s all over Youtube and you can earn a decent wage? Ask yourself that. There is nothing wrong with doing something for the money or stability however if you then realise it sometimes won’t be enjoyable because you have no passion or interest in the subject. You have to set yourself up to win and to do that you have to be realistic.

Don’t think it will be a walk in the park — I’m still near the beginning of my journey and I will tell you it’s not something easy to pick up. It is flipping hard. You have to change the way you process things and deal with problems and how to approach certain things. Plus you learning a different language.

Youtube’s — these are channels which have really helped me with my learning.

AmigosCode
Chris Sean
Jeremiah Peoples
Code Creative
Andy Sterkowitz