How To Learn Programming in 2024

It is normal to wonder how one learns to control and access computers and supercomputers in this digital age. It is not only fascinating but very intriguing too. This is where programming comes in, it is a language that the computer understands and enables us to operate it. Hence, it is only natural to wonder how to learn programming for someone who wants to flourish in tech.

Even though it might seem like a huge task at first like any other subject, programming is nothing but knowing a certain set of rules and logic. It enables the computer to think and act, and in turn, enables us to achieve our desired tasks with a click of a button.

Hence, let us quickly understand the importance of learning programming, the science behind a computer's language.

Importance of Learning Programming

Programming is the defined set of tasks and commands that enable the computer to understand us. Without programming, a computer is just an inanimate object with no functions. Programming tells a computer to not only perform a task but also how to navigate through the entire process of understanding a task, implementing necessary steps to complete it, and performing certain actions to maintain a viable ecosystem.

Hence, for someone who wants to thrive in the technology sector computer programming is their way to go about it. Furthermore, learning programming enables someone to have a glorious career budding with opportunities. Let us quickly understand its importance through some of its functions and scope.

With technological advances, a programmer always has an upper hand compared to other IT professionals. Our modern life is completely dependent on technology, and we are always looking for ways to have a life that maintains the dependency, even in complex situations. Hence, knowing programming will help you with career advancement and being a part of this revolution that enables complete technological dominance.
If we look at the perks of being a computer programmer, we know that it pays well and has a lot of career options but we tend to dismiss a programmer's contributions. A computer programmer builds a bridge between humans and machines, hence things like extensive research, healthcare, military operations, data science, and cyber security are becoming accessible to most. We are witnessing constant development in these fields and programming enables us to achieve it.

Overview of the learning process

Programming is a set of decided rules and parameters that a computer follows to understand how to go about a certain task. Hence, programming has four types of languages and or branches that one can opt for and build skills in.

Firstly, it is very important to understand where your interest lies as a programmer. The five sets of logic programming are Procedural Programming Languages, Functional Programming Languages, Object-oriented programming languages (OOP), Scripting Languages, and Logic programming languages.

Once you have decided the line of your interest, it is critical to understand the basics first, even if that means starting with something easier. Like any other language, or in this case, science will only yield productive results if your fundamentals are rock solid.

It is not only about having a clear vision but also having a goal in place that will help you advance your understanding and knowledge. Only a dedicated plan can help you achieve optimal results.

You can only assess your progress once you have tangible results. Hence, it is of critical importance that you build projects and asses the depth of your knowledge. You will only be able to understand your progress once your codes yield results. For example, you can build a mobile app, build a website, etc.

The most important thing of it all is consistency for a programmer. As a programmer, you have to make sure that you code daily and are practicing every day to sharpen your skills. Becoming stagnant in a dynamic world of programming will invite major lag in your growth process.

Setting Your Goals

It is normal to feel overwhelmed sometimes when taking up any new journey, especially something as complex and varied as learning programming. It may sound glamorous, but it is one of the toughest journeys to embark on. But, as the oldest saying in the book goes, when there is a will, there is a way. Hence, it is indispensable to break down the entire process into small learning experiences and achieve them constantly.

Understanding Your Motivation:

The world of programming is very fast-paced and always changing, hence anyone to survive in it needs to know what is their career aspiration. It is only through understanding what motivates you to be a programmer that you will be able to sketch a certain road map and work through it.

If you do not know your reason to learn programming you may not be ever able to achieve your true potential. You could be someone who can build excellent games or applications, but if you are not aligned with the factors that motivate you, you might be forever stuck at a particular level. Hence, the first thing about having zeroed in on a career is to have an answer to the question of why you want to pursue it. Therefore, whenever you are stuck during the learning process or even in the advanced stages of your career, you can always lean on your motivation to help you sail through.

Setting Realistic and Achievable Goals:

If you wish to be a programmer, you have to set some goals for yourself to achieve this dream. It is very important to set unambiguous goals for yourself, depending on the phase of your learning. If you are someone who is just starting, you need to have a precise goal in mind to understand what your objectives are. If you are someone who is midway through their programming journey, you must understand what are your next steps. Hence, a generic goal is not viable for a dynamic environment like programming. You have to set specific goals as per your progress stages to achieve further. It will not only help you with a structured roadmap but also with the motivation to complete the journey.

Choosing a Programming Language

There are mainly five kinds of programming languages which are Procedural Programming Languages, Functional Programming Languages, Object-Oriented programming languages (OOP), Scripting Languages, and Logic Programming languages. Now, it is of utmost importance to understand which one of these is going to work in your favor. Let us understand this in a bit of detail on how to decide on the language that is ideal for you.

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Language

The fact is there is no such best programming language. It depends on factors like requirements or budget. Let us understand some of the important factors that we should keep in mind for us to consider while choosing a programming language.

Need: Only when we are clear about the need of the project in hand we can decide its purpose and then zero in on a programming language. It is not wise to opt for a programming language that excels in arithmetic calculators for a project whose core focus is to build a website.
Cost: It is very important to look at the costs before deciding the shape of a project since a complex project will include the use of various programmers which can be costly. Furthermore, apart from building the project one must also keep in mind it needs to be maintained religiously for optimal results. Hence, figuring out the cost in the first place is going to go a long way.
Performance: It is very important to assess the language’s durability for a certain project before deciding on one. For example, a gaming project will require you to have a programming language that can develop and process high-resolution graphics. If we are unsure about the capability of a language the entire process can be jeopardized.
Time: You should always consider choosing a programming language after considering your deadline. Since different programming languages have different developing timelines.
Support: Like any other tool in the technological universe, it is very important to consider the available community support before picking a language. It ensures comfort, especially for someone who is a beginner, to know that help is only a click away.

Overview of Popular Programming Languages

Let us now look at what are the popular programming languages, that help us build great things and make our lives technologically fulfilling.

Procedural Programming Languages: This programming language works with certain checks and commands. It follows a procedure or function to achieve the given task at hand. It works on certain statements and implements them as per order. Some examples are C, C++, and PASCAL.
Functional Programming Languages: It works on the input that you feed it. FPL is designed to generate results as per the given output only. Its origin can be traced to academia and is mainly used for arithmetic purposes. Ex: SCALA, Elixir, Haskell.
Object-oriented programming languages (OOP): It is a programming language where the object is the data. The actions of the language are taken based on the object after it is identified as data. Some examples are PHP, C++, Java, Python, etc.
Scripting Languages: It is a set of languages that has a detailed recorded set of actions used for repeated tasks, or larger web content. Some examples are Node.js, Perl, Bash, Ruby, and PHP.
Logic programming languages: These programming languages work on formal logic and usually use facts, rules, and other tangible factors to achieve a task. Example: Prolog.

Recommendations Based On Goals

Now that we have understood how important it is to have a set of goals as a programmer and the various types of programming languages, let us look at some recommendations.

Game Development: If you see yourself in game development, you have to make sure that you are well aware of C++, Java, and C#.
Web Developer: If you wish to be a web developer there are certain programming languages that you need to master which include HTML/CSS, JavaScript, Python, etc.
Mobile Developer: To understand the world of iOS app development one must be skillfully versed in Swift, Objective-C, and React Native. However, if you are inclined toward Android app development then you should mostly focus on Java, Python, and Kotlin.
Machine Learning: The world of machine learning is a fascinating place for a programmer, and if you wish to be one, you need to focus on Python, R, Lisp, JavaScript, Julia, and MATLAB.

Learning Resources

The basic and most important thing about learning programming is to have an assessment of all the available learning resources. Luckily, technology has now broadened the prospect of our sources of knowledge, and it is not limited to just any particular textbook. Let us analyze the various learning resources available to us as a budding programmer or a beginner.

Online Courses and Tutorials

The most easy, accessible and cheapest way to learn a new thing is online nowadays. It not only saves time by curating all the required information for a course, but it also has various tutorials to test our knowledge. Some important online programming tutorials and courses are as follows:

Coursesity: A comprehensive platform offering a curated list of the best online courses and tutorials across various subjects, including programming.
Khan Academy: It is apt if you are a beginner and want to understand the basics of programming. The course is in video module format and is free.
Coursera: It has not only an entire compact course in place but it is carefully curated by various reputed organizations and universities.
Udemy: It has various online courses available, including programming, and has niche courses on Python, Machine Learning, etc.
Code Academy: It is a dedicated and specialized website for learning basic and advanced-level coding and programming languages.
edX: It was founded by MIT and has the reputation of being one of the best coding sites and an opportunity to earn certificates from institutions like Harvard University.

Books and Manuals

Undoubtedly, the online courses have brought a revolution in the field of learning. However, books and manuals are always the supreme source of knowledge. A book steps in when our online knowledge fails to answer a query. Let us look at some important books and Manuals that will help you learn programming.

Community Forums and Study Groups

Apart from having access to resources, it is also very significant to have a symbiotic relationship with online community forums and study groups. A support system like this is the quickest and best way to solve your problems and queries in real time.

Let us quickly check a few such forums and groups:

Stack Overflow: It is a site dedicated to programmers and their queries.
Dev.to: Anyone can post on Dev.to, but its USP is that it promotes well-researched articles and ranks them accordingly.
Women Who Code: A platform dedicated to women coders from all levels of the industry.
GitHub: Dedicated space for coders, where millions of users have hosted their projects. Plus, it is designed to help with automated reviews for you.
Reddit: It hosts an entire clan of programmers all over the world answering your queries and posting various helpful threads.
Codecademy Forums: It not only enables you to ask questions or share knowledge but also helps you to form communities as per your project.

Hands-on Practice

After you have acquired the knowledge, you must implement it to have a hands-on grasp of your understanding. There are fewer or no grounds for error if you are involved in complex programming operations, where one mistake or error can hamper the data for millions. Hence, hands-on practice will always ensure your credibility.

Importance of practical experience

Understanding: Implementing your code on a real-time basis will help you understand your knowledge base. It will give you an insight into your learning and will also highlight the areas of improvement.
Efficiency: A hands-on practice will increase your efficiency since you will be making sure that there is no gap in your knowledge.
Best Practices: Only after a live demo, will you be able to jot down the best practices for your project and implement them accordingly.
Troubleshooting/Debugging: It is only sustainable when a programmer has fixed or troubleshot their code after they have encountered it in real time. It can only happen when a programmer encourages a practical approach.
Career: Since it is a line of career that is in high demand right now, it is going to elevate your candidature if you have hands-on experience too.

Projects To Start With

Now that we have acknowledged the need for a hands-on. Let us quickly focus on a few projects you can start your programming journey with.

Building a simple website with multiple functions and responsive page design can help you understand the depth of your knowledge.
Creating a simple calculator application will help you assess your coding skills as a beginner.
Designing a simple game will help you understand the various functionalities of the different programming languages.
Building an e-commerce store will help you work and understand your code on multiple items.
You can also elevate your practice a little by creating a social media platform for yourself.

Participating In Coding Challenges and Hackathons

We as humans are always motivated when there is a reward. Hence, if you are a programmer who is just starting, you participate in various coding challenges and hackathons. Not only can you motivate yourself with rewards but also gain exposure by meeting talented programmers all over the world. But in a broader sense, it will help you understand how well you can fare if your environment has certain constraints as a programmer. It will encourage you to take up any challenge in your career in the future.

Advanced Learning

Once you have mastered the basic syntax and structure of programming, you can progress towards advanced learning. It is the science of understanding complex data and structures to generate results for complex tasks. It goes beyond the concept of creating an art or website but focuses more on the learning capacity of any machine.

Understanding Data Structures and Algorithms

DSA is an essential subject for every programmer since it is the base of computer science. It is the process by which the computer stores information in its files or memory. It is through DSA that a computer can execute tasks or communicate with us. Examples of common data structures include arrays, linked lists, etc. Algorithms are also divided into various types like sorting, searching, graphing, etc. All these sets of functions try to break down a task horizontally or vertically to execute the command. Understanding data structures and algorithms is important to write durable codes and in turn, helps in implementing solutions across various domains.

Continuous Learning and Keeping Up with Industry Trends

As a programmer, you are expected to be as dynamic as the app that you create. As in, it is expected of you to always update yourself as per the industry trends or else you will lose out on opportunities. The downfall of working in a profession that is in high demand is that you are easily replaceable. Hence, it is of utmost importance for you to keep yourself updated and learn constantly.

Learning a new programming language or being updated with industry trends will give you a competitive advantage over others. Furthermore, it will open avenues for you to improve your existing skills and make sure you excel at what you do. Besides, once you appear to be someone who is constantly learning and growing, you will always have security for your job since you will be an asset rather than a liability.

Conclusion

We understand that all this might feel overwhelming or unattainable initially. But, you will slowly realize that it is one of the most dynamic professions you can be a part of. A programmer is always doing the unthinkable and making sure that it adds a certain value to our lives.

Imagine being part of an app or website that caters to the needs of millions, or programming a device that helps in complex surgeries and saves lives. Needless to say, it will be a privilege for anyone to add to any of these scenarios.

Hence, we wish you all the best in your journey and hope you achieve great things that will make our lives and understanding of machines easier.

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