Learning to code was never a straight-forward thing for me, but nothing really is. It could be the way I’ve grown up, but I am working on it. However, I think it’s mainly because there are many ways to learn.
That’s why there are many tutorials, books, courses, articles, ect.. When I started learning to code I was completely intimidated by the many languages, libraries, and technologies to learn. Everyday, it seems like a new framework, or language comes out that you feel you need to learn.
This feeling grows incrementally when your looking for your first software dev job and you see a job listing 10 different requirements you’ve barely heard of before clicking on the post.
However, I am realizing that no matter what language you learn in, if you get the fundamental concepts down you will be able to understand what it takes to work and succeed in any language.
It’s also important to note, that no matter how many years of coding you’ve done there is always room for improvement. If you already have a curious mind , and you like figuring things out this is a perfect career for you.
But, let me stop rambling. Today’s topic centers around books. Believe it or not, books are a good way of learning not just how to code, but a better, more right way to code. I’m not just talking about books like Learn Python The Hard Way, or other language or technology centered books.
The books, I would actually encourage one to start with are more theory and conceptualized. Books like, The Art of Computer Programming and 99 Bottles of OOP. These books don’t care what language you’ve selected to code in, they care about how you think and refactor your code the best possible way.
These books are great for me, a career-changer, who often suffers from impostor syndrome, but can be great for anyone who wants to think differently on how they code.
Now, as someone who doesn’t always retain information. I will teach you how to get the best out of reading these books:
- Read once, then read again
When I first started reading books about programming, it was just a way for me to pass time. However, weeks would pass by and I would forget some of that information. The best way to retain it is repetition. First read the summary of the chapter, and/if the questions/problems. Then read the actual chapter, and then read it again but this time write notes about it. That way you don’t have to read the chapter again, but you can refer to your notes.
2. Don’t focus on memorization , but refer to the material
You don’t have to spend most of your day memorizing it, but going over your notes for as little as 10 minutes a day helps you to remember the information you spent reading. The more you refer to the material, and glance at it, the more you will get these new concepts ingrained.
3. Teach it to yourself and others
Many developers will write articles, or film tutorials for various reasons. I think the best reason, is because it helps you to retain the information better. When you can take someone else’s words and format it in the way you and others can understand, it creates this deeper grasp of the knowledge at hand.
So that’s my take on learning to code…for now. Thanks for reading!