How To Code your mind into Coding
This morning I read a article on Programming, Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I Was Learning How to Code, and started thinking about my own experience in the last couple of decades. (Weird that I can’t find a link that works right for that article) As I was starting to place a comment on the article I realised that I have more to say than what I could write, so here is the somewhat longer response to Cecily Carver article.
I started out back in the late 80’s, yes I am that old, to take a liking to Programming. I found it absolutely amazing that I could tell a machine some logic and get it to do tasks to help me achieve my goals. What I didn't realise back then was that I would end up doing just that, for most of my life. Solving problems.
If I think back I guess this has always been my main quest, solving problems. As a kid I loved everything that had a button. I could pretty much operate anything with a button without having had any previous experience. This analytical thinking is what helped me to learn Code. Trying to figure out how it works is what gave me the satisfaction. Like any young aspiring “scientist” I would take great joy in disassembling things, just to see how it works. The sad part of it however was, I could hardly ever put it back together again, resulting in many broken devices over the years.
Later in life I realised that one does not always have to take something apart, and that reading up on it almost had the same value as taking it apart. This did save me allot of money, as I now did not need to buy a new device, every time I wondered “How does that thing work”. I must say the urge has however stayed till this day. My table still has taken apart thing on it…
So for me the road to becoming a Coder has been pretty much trial and error, which is according to me the right way to do it. Keeping the faith as Cecily Carver mentioned in her article, is probably the most important part of Coding. Regardless of the way you learn to Code, if you don’t have the patients, it’s going to be a very challenging skill to learn.
In my honest opinion learning Code is not really a skill that requires some level of genius, you are not born with the gift, and I think that anybody can learn to Code. It’s a matter of interest, a bit of dedication and some faith that will make you succeed.
My way of learning Code was to take it step by step, ensure I understand the basics, and as I progressed make sure that I teach others. I am a firm believer that one can only really say that you understand a topic, once you have the ability to explain it to someone like he is a kid. Teaching someone forces you to simplify the matter, and this tests your real knowledge of the subject.
Over the years I have bought many books on Coding, and have always found the most value in the O’Reilly Books. I have had the most value from the books that just explained the basic. Every book I bought that tried to teach me X in 24 hours, or the quick way to learn Y was worthless. I would end up having more questions in the end than what I started with.
“So what are you trying to get at?”, you may ask. Well simply put, this:
- Learn the basic concepts to achieve complexity
- Don’t stop asking why
- Sharing your knowledge increases your own understanding
- Keep the faith “Rome wasn't built in a day”
- Learn more than what you need to complete the task
Coding is not really a skill one can encapsulate into a given definition, it’s much rather a way of thinking, so get your mind set to solve problems and never stop being curious. In a way, all you have to do is to set your mind into meticulous curiosity, the rest will just happen.
