Avoid making these 5 Mistakes while learning to code and be on the path of mastery!
Learning to code is a challenging but valuable skill. Many attempt to learn to code but it can be a tough hill to climb.
There are so many different languages, frameworks, and tools to learn that it can be tough to know where to start and how to proceed. So many beginners make common coding learning mistakes that hinder their progress. Many get frustrated, confused and eventually give up. In this article, we’ll explore some of the most common coding learning mistakes and how you can avoid them.
Mistake #1: Trying to Learn Everything at Once
One of the most common coding learning mistakes that beginners make is trying to learn everything at once. With so many different languages, frameworks, and tools to choose from, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and try to learn everything at once. Unfortunately, this approach can be counterproductive, leading to confusion and frustration.
What you can do instead is focus on one language.
Most popular beginner-friendly and vastly used languages are Python and Javascript. Pick one and stick to it.
Don’t get distracted!
Learn the basics: Loops, functions, classes, etc and build a solid foundation before moving on to more advanced topics. Once you feel comfortable with this one language, then you can expand and try learning various topics depending on your interest.
Mistake #2: Thinking you need to know and memorize everything
Coding is not about memorization. Also, no one can know everything there is to know about coding. The world of programming is vast. There are constant updates and numerous things that are added and updated everyday. If you spend time trying to learn everything, you would never do what actually matters:
WRITE CODE!
So what can you do? You should learn the foundation and fundamentals of programming. Once you know how things work and have these basics down, you should straight away start writing code or building projects.
You would get stuck .There would be this one error that you just won’t know what to do about. And this would happen thousands of times. This happens to the best of the programmers. The most important part of learning to code is learning “ how to unstick yourself” from these sticky solutions. As they say, google and stackoverflow are a programmer’s best friends.
Mistake #3: Not Actively Learning
This is popularly called “being stuck in tutorial hell”. There are a lot of tutorials and how-tos online in the form of books, videos, blogs(ahem, ahem). So many beginners make the mistake of following them without actually applying their newfound knowledge.
You can’t learn to code by just watching coding tutorials or reading programming books. You actually need to code.
But then the issue becomes, how does one learn? The answer is : Do both.
Figure out a project you want to try your hands on. Say you want to make a Quiz Web App. Break it down into things you would need to know in order to complete your project.
For example, for a quiz web app you would need to know how to pull data from an api and display it. Depending on how ambitious you want to be you can decide if you want to make your own framework from scratch or use an existing one (for eg : https://opentdb.com/). So you might need to look up topics like : JavaScript or React, Axios or Fetch, Django or FastApi.
Once you have jotted what all you need to know, watch tutorials or read about those topics.
Make sure to practice coding every day. Set aside time each day to work on your decided coding project, even if it’s just for a few minutes. The more you practice, the more comfortable you’ll become with coding, and the faster you’ll progress.
Mistake #4: Expecting to master coding in days
This might sound ridiculous to most intermediate and advanced learners but “How to learn to code in 30 days” is the one of the topmost google searches.
Learning to code takes time, and it’s essential to keep your expectations leveled. If you make the mistake of expecting to master coding overnight, you would end up disappointed and may eventually give up.
Remember that learning to code is a journey. It takes months, if not years to even become a half-decent coder. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t understand a concept or if your code isn’t working as expected. Take a break, come back to it later, and keep practicing.
Mistake #5: Not doing small projects
As you have seen till now, learning to code is a tough and long journey. Many people start the journey full of motivation and gusto only to see it slowly fizzle out. One way to prevent this is to set small achievable goals for yourself. This can be implemented in how you pick up your coding projects.
My advice is: pick two different kinds of projects.
One large project which would take a lot of effort and time to build.This can be a project you have always wanted to build or one you are building for your resume. An example of these can be the Quiz app we talked about. Or maybe you have always wanted to build a game. Basically, you can choose any lofty and ambitious project that would require a lot of learning.
At the same time, you should think of 3-4 small projects which would take maybe a day or two. This can be building a web scraper, a basic website or a tic tac toe game. Anything that won’t take too much time but would still be fun to make.
These small projects would help you understand the basics and also provide you with the much needed motivation and sense of achievement.
In conclusion, learning to code can be challenging, albiet extremely rewarding. By avoiding these common coding learning mistakes, you can set yourself up for success and reach your coding goals faster.
Happy Coding!