Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Learning Programming
Hey there! If you’re thinking about getting into programming, congratulations! It’s a challenging and rewarding field that requires a range of skills. While programming itself is a skill that you’ll need to develop through practice and experience, there are other different skills that are really helpful to have before you start coding. Let’s take a look at some of the most important ones:
1. Touch typing: As a coder, you’ll be spending plenty of time typing, so it’s necessary to be able to do so quickly and accurately. Touch typing, also known as keyboarding, it is the ability to type without looking at the keyboard. This skill will allow you to keep your eyes on the screen and your hands on the keyboard, which will make you a much more productive and efficient programmer. If you’re not a confident touch typist, don’t worry! There are tons of online resources and typing games available to help you improve your speed and accuracy.
2. Knowledge of the command prompt or terminal: The command prompt or terminal is a tool that allows you to interact with your computer’s operating system using commands. As a programmer, you’ll probably need to use the command prompt or terminal to run programs, navigate the file system, and do other things. Familiarizing yourself with the essential commands and how to use the command prompt or terminal will be a huge help as you start learning programming. Many programming languages include a command-line interface (CLI) that lets you run and debug your code, and knowing how to use the terminal will make it easier to work with these tools.
3. The ability to find information online: As a programmer, you’ll often need to find answers to questions or solutions to problems online. Developing strong research skills and the ability to effectively search the internet will be super useful as you learn and work in programming. This might involve using search engines to find articles and tutorials, or using forums and online communities to ask for help and advice. Being able to find and evaluate information from a variety of sources is an important skill for any programmer to have.
4. Be familiar with Linux: Linux is a popular open-source operating system that is widely used in the tech industry. Becoming familiar with Linux can be beneficial for programmers for a number of reasons. It’s often used as a development platform, so being able to work with it can be useful when you’re building and testing software. Additionally, many web servers and cloud infrastructure run on Linux, so understanding how to work with the operating system can be helpful when you’re deploying applications.
There are lots of other skills that are useful to have as a programmer, like attention to detail, the ability to learn quickly, and creativity. But the skills we’ve listed above are particularly important to have before you start learning programming. With these skills and some hard work and dedication, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a successful programmer! Follow my blog to find more useful information about IT.
