The Biggest Reasons People Fail To Learn Programming and How to Overcome Them
Learning programming from scratch is a significant endeavor. It takes a lot of will and courage to make this decision. However, many people who want to change their careers and become developers don’t make it to the finish line. In this article, you will learn what the main blockers are, as well as some successful strategies to overcome them.
1. Not allocating enough time to learn
The number one reason people fail to start a new career in software development is that they want to do it as fast as possible. They are looking for a magic program to take them there in 3 months. They assume that if they know how to write a simple application, they are good to go. They learn superficially, hoping to cover much ground in as little time as possible.
Pointless to say that there is a better road to success. Learning all the skills needed to land your first junior developer job takes a lot of time. You must put in 600–900 hours of learning to pull this off. I calculated this number by looking at a couple of programs from IT Universities in Romania and subtracting some content that I felt was irrelevant. It’s not easy, and it’s not always fun. But it is the guaranteed way to acquire all the information, experience, and skills needed to land a job in IT.
I advise staying away from people or programs claiming they can short-circuit this process. You can’t short-circuit how the human brain learns. Instead, focus on your motivation and why you decided to make this change and accept that good things in life are not effortless and usually take time to develop.
2. Motivation
Another reason people fail to learn programming is a lack of motivation. The most challenging aspect of this journey is the high time and effort required to succeed. Motivation is the fuel that will help you stay focused on your learning routine until you succeed. It will be tough to stay on track if you don’t have a clear picture of why you are making this change.
That is why I recommend you take the time to understand why you want to become a software developer. Is it to start a more exciting career? Is it to have a more meaningful life? Or to work on projects that will shape our future? Is it the higher paycheck that will allow you to take that dream vacation you dream of? Or to have a flexible schedule and work remotely? Your reasons don’t matter as long as they feel exciting and life-changing. It is a lot easier to learn something difficult that takes a lot of effort if you feel excited about the outcome.
3. Low-quality learning resources
Suppose you are willing to spend 600–900 hours learning and have the motivation to do so. In that case, the only thing that can stop you is low-quality learning material and inadequate learning strategies. Programming is a vast domain with many tutorials, books, podcasts, and blogs. So, how do you choose the best content from this never-ending sea of resources? Here are a couple of tips:
- Choose curated content first. Platforms like Pluralsight, Coursera, or O’Reilly are guaranteed to offer some of the best computer science learning resources. They are not free, but their content is technically accurate, and instructors follow established processes and teaching practices to make their material easy to grasp.
- Learn from multiple sources. You can start an introduction to a topic by watching a video tutorial, but then complement your learning by reading a book on the same subject or watching a more in-depth video. Having the same idea presented in different shapes and perspectives will help you understand it better. It will also help you become proficient in a subject.
- Spread your learning time across the week. It is far more efficient to learn 2 hours a day for five days than to learn 10 hours a single day of the week. Your brain needs time to consume and manage information. Find a rhythm that works for you and stick with it.
- Don’t forget to practice. Programming is not just about theory. It also involves a lot of actual coding. Make sure you follow the examples you see in your learning resources. After you finish a course or a book, take some time and create a mini-project to apply some of the things you learned.
That is why I recommend you take the time to understand why you want to become a software developer. Is it to start a more exciting career? Is it to have a more meaningful life? Or to work on projects that will shape our future? Is it the higher paycheck that will allow you to take that dream vacation you dream of? Or to have a flexible schedule and work remotely? Your reasons don’t matter as long as they feel exciting and life-changing. It is a lot easier to learn something difficult that takes a lot of effort if you feel excited about the outcome.
