How Do You Start Programming?

Why Should You Get Involved In Software Development?

Before I start teaching you how to start programming, it’s helpful first to know why you want to learn how to develop software. There are many good reasons why you should learn to code.

Here Are Some Of Them:

1. Programming is a skill that is in high demand in the technology industry.
2. Coder jobs can allow you to work anywhere, no matter where you want. All you need is a computer and the Internet!
3. Coding is one of the essential skills in the modern professional field. Many of the most attractive jobs in new professional areas today are cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence. Programming is crucial for both systems.
4. Learning to program is a challenge that quickly pays off. You will be amazed at what you can program after a short time.
5. The skills you learn will become more and more relevant in the future. After all, the tech industry is only getting bigger.
6. Jobs that require particular expertise, such as programming skills, are paid very well.
7. You don’t need a college/college degree to learn how to code. Just go ahead

Programming For Beginners – Getting Started

Before we learn how to start programming, we must first address a small caveat. In the beginning, coding will be challenging – you’re essentially learning a new language to share ideas. There is no best way to get started as a beginner. It will all feel strange if you’re entirely new to this. Keep at it. The longer you code, the more likely you will get a significant “aha moment,” and it will all make sense. Programming is all about problem-solving. It’s about remembering only some functions that produce different lines of code (although that’s useful, of course). You can look up the features if you remember how to do something specific! Your skills as a problem solver will develop over time.

How To Start Coding – The Basic Principles

For many, computer science and programming seem like alien skills that are impossible to grasp. That’s why this beginner’s guide starts at the beginning. While you should already understand how networks and computer systems interact, giving yourself a quick refresher from the list below is still a good idea. When learning to code, there are a few things you should understand:

1. Learn the basics of computer science. There are many great resources on the web. Before you start programming, you need a solid foundation of how computers work!
2. Understanding how different computers on different networks can interact with each other is essential. This makes it easier to understand concepts that come up later.
3. Familiarize yourself with the command line (cmd.exe in Windows). Finally, you will feel like a top-level hacker! Typing on the command line can be a bit daunting at first. However, it is tough to make an honest mistake!
4. Next, knowing how to develop a website and connect it to a domain is essential. This topic will not overwhelm you, but it is vital to your path to becoming a developer.

Difference Between Software And Hardware

All computer parts you can touch (and sometimes kick and throw) are hardware. Your computer runs programs that you use. For example, you are currently using a browser or an app. These programs are stored in the computer and are therefore called software. Software because you can’t touch it. Even if sometimes the software tempts us to curse the hardware. If you want to learn to program, that means learning how to develop software.

Learn The Primary Programming Languages

No matter what you want to code, you must master at least one tool. And that is the programming language. Today’s programming languages ​​​​work according to a similar scheme and have the same essential elements. Once you have learned these basic elements and gained enough experience, you can quickly switch to another programming language. It doesn’t matter which programming language you choose first when learning. Every programmer has their favorite first programming language and will suggest it to you. 

The first thing every beginner programmer learns is that they need to learn a programming language. A programming language is only a tool. The problem with this is this: they teach you to use a hammer and then ask you to use the knowledge to build your own house. You wouldn’t make it, would you? This is precisely why many fail at the beginning. There are still a few things missing that you should know before you can build a house. You need to design programs with the tool programming language. You also have to learn what thinking and planning work you have to do.

Or, To Put It Simply

You have to learn how to solve problems and tasks logically. Sounds complicated? Sometimes, it is all the more essential to learn this skill. What would you do if your program throws an error code 42 and doesn’t do what you want? This will happen to you every day in programming. In addition, almost every day, you will solve tasks such as: Creating a function that takes specific data and converts it to the standard format so that your app can display detailed information. You can only do that if you think like a programmer. Now that you’ve got the basic knowledge above, it’s time to start programming for real applications. Below are the three most popular programming languages ​​(HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) that are particularly good for beginners.

HTML

If you have yet to gain prior knowledge of web development, you should start with HTML. HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. In short, HTML is used to create web pages. It is not a pure programming language. However, if you’re new, it’s the cornerstone of the web. Whenever you see images or text on the Internet, they were mainly created using HTML. HTML allows you to publish text, photos, videos, music, and other content on your website using so-called “tags.” HTML isn’t flexible, but it’s ubiquitous on the web. It is, therefore, essential to have a good understanding of HTML before embarking on your career or hobby as a web developer.

CSS

The next step in developing websites is learning CSS. But this still needs to be an actual programming language! CSS, however, brings a greater variety to your web pages. Understanding the code is an important step you should take before starting the more exciting programming languages. CSS gives your HTML code a new look. You can do all sorts of tricks with it, such as adding color, determining position, increasing/decreasing font sizes, or changing fonts. A good understanding of CSS and HTML can create a neat website. However, if you want to work as a developer, you must learn some natural programming languages ​​later!

Learn JavaScript

To learn to program, you need a good knowledge of JavaScript. JavaScript is a must on the web. It is everywhere. It’s almost impossible to find a website that doesn’t use JavaScript code to make it more interactive. As a programming language that is so widely used, job opportunities are ideal if you know your way around JavaScript. In a recent StackOverflow poll, it was found that 62.5% of respondents reported using JavaScript. In return, this means that searching for a job also involves competition. However, becoming a JavaScript web developer is worth it. 

An estimated €50,000-60,000 annual salary can be earned on average. Depending on the programming experience and the company size, there is even more to it. JavaScript expands your repertoire as a web developer with interactive functionalities. This can be complete games or reactions to entered texts. You can start making adjustments to your HTML web pages. This may include welcome messages and image changes. However, with the necessary Javascript experience, you can even program 3D games.

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How To Code As A Beginner: Build Your First Website

Once you’ve followed all the steps in this guide, you should be ready to create a professional-looking website. It took you a total of two months to get to this point. If you need a little more time, don’t worry. It is more important to understand everything you are learning at the beginning. There are many ways to advance further learning at this point. Some of them are:

1. Learn more about debugging programs and websites with Chrome developer tools
2. Attend coding seminars and meetups
3. Learn about synchronous and asynchronous JavaScript.
4. Learn more about event loops – this will open your eyes to various other significant functions you can create with JavaScript.
5. Download node.js & npm. Familiarize yourself with these frameworks. These tools give budding web developers even more flexibility.
6. Familiarize yourself with programming in React.js.
7. Read through many articles and tutorials on the Internet. There is still a lot to learn. But by this point, you should understand most programming jargon and acronyms.
8. Find out more about servers and backend concepts.
9. Buy a Raspberry Pi and tinker with it. You can set up your server at home, for example.

What Content Should You Learn?

The Programming Language

The first issue is language. To program, we need a language. I have described which language is used in a separate article. But I also want to avoid going into it here because the language you start with is unimportant. The topics that you have to learn first of all can be known with any high-level language. But which topics do you need now?

Instructions

First, you need to learn what instructions and instruction lists are. The first lesson of my course is about that. Once you understand the instructions, you will learn to write your instructions, so-called functions.

Comments

Comments are essential to make a program understandable. You write a word to document the following program code.

Operators And Operations

Then comes operators and operations, where you learn basic arithmetic operations such as addition and subtraction in a programming language.

More Programming Basics

After these simple basics, you’ll learn more topics like Entering keyboard shortcuts and outputting to the screen. Another topic is storing data in the main memory, for which variables are available in individual, list, and table forms. The topics are still going on, but stay calm. The problem is that most books teach it as dryly as I’ve put it in the text.

Which Applications And Programs Can You Program?

To learn to program, knowing what you want to program later is good. For this reason, we should go through everything that can be programmed.

Mobile Apps

Apps are computer programs for mobile devices. The term app is just an abbreviation for application. The unique feature of apps is that you can install or buy them via an app store, which is then available on your mobile device.

Websites And Web Apps

Websites and web applications are programs that can be run through a modern browser. Browsers now have so much functionality that the entire agenda can be made available over the Internet.

Computer Games

Video games have been popular since the invention of computers. Where you used to push pixels back and forth, there is now realistic graphic action. But mini-games that beginners can program are still popular today.

Desktop Programs

Desktop applications are programs that are run on a notebook, for example. These are primarily tools with a surface that you need for daily work. But command-line programs and scripts are also part of it, and programmers use them intensively.

Server-Side Programs

Server programs are often referred to as the backend of websites. Whenever your programs need data from the Internet, your program needs to exchange information with a server.

Hardware Programming

Another area is hardware programming, for example, with a Raspberry Pi. With this minicomputer, you can connect and program things like motors, lamps, and switches. Depending on what you want to program with it, you can program everything with one programming language.

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