Learning a new skill from the internet is an art.
Internet works as an door to the unlimited knowledge in the outside world. However this unlimited knowledge is a dense forest with lots of articles,videos and courses. Which at times can be overwhelming and confusing. But it also has some of the best resources to learn anything for free. Same goes for any tech field.
Mostly the first stage of stepping in a new tech domain is by learning a new programming language. If you ever tried to learn a programming language from net you might have felt the hardship. It is even more difficult if you are a newbie. From my own learning experience and guiding students, I have curated some steps which will help you to be a advanced programmer from scratch.
Parts of programming language to master:
For learning any programming language we need to learn its syntax, some methods and how to implement solutions in that language. Learning requires a blend of theoretical knowledge and a lot of practice. A lot of people first prefer theory and then practice. However I recommend simultaneous study of both. So get a notebook and start on your journey of learning.
HOW TO LEARN?
Beginners level
- The best way to learn syntax is through practicing questions. I highly recommend HackerRank(my personal opinion), because it has questions even for the most basic concepts i.e. if-else statement. t
- After reading the question, firstly write down your approach(this might seems unnecessary for easy questions but this habit will be useful while solving difficult problem and in interviews) and try to solve the problem.
- After trying, search the concepts associated with the problem on google. Read articles and questions on stackoverflow. It is much better to google concepts rather than sticking to a particular website like gfg or tutorial point or courses, because some random websites have much better explanation on some topics.
- If you are a newbie or learning in the point of view of your college exams, you might need to practice some more questions to know the logic behind them.(If you know a language prior to this, then this step isn’t needed. However it’s optional)
Intermediate level
Now after following the above steps, we know the basics of programmings. To be more comfortable(or intermediate level) in this language we need to do some projects in them. Making projects even small are really important. For your first project I highly recommend you to follow a tutorial. You can even try following below project ideas:
Advance level
After learning the basic concepts and making some projects. Congratulations!! You can now finally add this language in your resume. However everyone wants to become a master Yoda. Right? So how can I be an expert? Well even if you are using this languages for years there still be a lot more things to learn and some days you might feel that you know so little. That’s completely fine! Remember you cannot be an expert in one day, it’s a long process.
To be an advance level programmer you should do the following things:
- Make Projects: We only made few and simple projects. Now is the time to make projects which can solve problems or be useful in real life. You can go through this article for more info.
- Follow people on twitter, LinkedIn,medium and hashnode: A lot of people on these platform share a lot of useful resources,tricks and tech updates. Also these people are super friendly and helpful. You can ping them anytime for queries.
- Go in Meetups and even speak there: Meetups provide you with opportunities to network with like minded people. Also the conferences gives a lot of information, new ideas and even motivation.
I hope you find it useful and all the best for your tech journey.
