New to programming? Here are top things you need to pay attention to:
- Prioritize your Users’ Needs & Requirements
No, not only marketing guys need to profile the intended user. You should too. Build for your users
- Be Patient
As a newbie, programming could be torturous. E go frustrate you. Keep at it. Find your reason to keep going. Once you overcome an obstacle, more will come.
- Don’t be a Loner
Network with other developers. Let them show you ropes. Don’t worry. They might seem like pros today. All of us were once novices.
You can consider joining some of these communities:
– Forloop Africa
– Google Developers Group
– Google Developer Student Club
– ConsonanceClub
– Codennovation
– DevOps Nigeria
– Devcenter Square
- Break your problem into smaller pieces
Eg, you want to pick a hat:
- Stand from the bed
- Move a limp
- Move another limit
- Stretch an arm
- Touch the tip of the cap
- Move the hand in
- Hold the cap
Each step can be broken down into even far smaller steps.
- Specialise
Okay, you can be a jack of all trade. But the way to rise faster is to be a master of one. Here are some aspects you can consider:
– Front-end development
– Back-end development
– Full stack development
– Application development
– API development
– Data science
– Mobile development
– Desktop development
– Software tools development
– Security software development
– Cloud computing development
– Video game development
– Embedded systems development
- Enroll for a bootcamp, independent learning platforms or a degree program.
Now that you’ve decided on your aspect of specialisation, it is good that you learn the necessary programming language(s) for your chosen field.
– If you have about 4-5 years to put in, you might want to consider getting a computer science degree.
– If you don’t have that luxury of time, you might want to opt for bootcamps.
– If you choose to learn independently, there are websites that offer online courses and resources for programming languages.
- Get creative.
Test your skills by creating personal projects from scratch or recreating existing projects with some twists and share with the online community you belong to for constructive feedback.
- Build your portfolio
How else will your potential recruiters know you’re a capable hand if you don’t have a record of projects you’ve worked on?
Here are some portfolio website builders you might want to consider:
– https://getbootstrap.com/
– https://github.com/
– https://www.squarespace.com/
– https://webflow.com/
– https://www.godaddy.com/
– https://www.duda.co/
– https://www.jimdo.com/
- Apply for positions you fit into.
Don’t let uncertainty hold you back because all you want is on the other side of fear.
If this piece has been able to help you, please share.