5 Lessons I Learnt Since I Started Coding

My journey as a coder started back in 2019 after I got admission into the University, the tech world is very exciting so many things to look forward to from AI to Cyber Security and Web Development.

But like everyone I have made several mistakes and some I kept on repeating but after I took some time to review myself I was able to draw out 5 important lessons I learnt.

1 — Always Have a Plan

This applies to every activity you involve yourself with, always have a well defined plan for how you want to achieve your goals, speaking of goals when I started learning how to code I didn’t have clear path of what I wanted for myself I was overwhelmed with the numerous career opportunities the tech space presented me with till I found what I had serious interest in. Having a plan keeps you organized and frees you from anything that isn’t towards your progress.

2 — Take Things Step by Step

When I started learning how to code I used a platform called SoloLearn where you can learn how to code right from your phone cool right? The experience was great especially for those who don’t have any prior programming experience and their mobile app comes with interactive quizzes as you cover every section of a chapter you can assert you understanding, but there is a part of the app where you can share codes you’ve written with other learners and whenever I saw what they built I was amazed and it made me hesitant to complete my course on Python without fully understanding certain topics so I can try my hands on projects of my own but little did I know that most of the guys that shared their work are already have experience to back them up.

The take home here is to find what works for you and grow at your own pace, often you’ll hear people argue about one tech or the other just follow the plan you’ve set for yourself and have faith that things will work out.

3 — Connect With People of Similar Interests

This is a very vital part of growth in any endeavor, Programming is really tough and things can get ugly really fast and having someone you can reach out to when you have things you don’t understand or problems you can’t solve is a big plus. Luckily for me I have friend in my first year in school who also codes and we solve problems together and he exposes me to new things I’ve never heard of and till today he still helps me out. Another thing is to have a mentor preferably someone in the career you are pursuing that’s in the industry that can give you professional advice and can connect you when it’s time to work on paid projects, internships e.t.c.

4 — Make Coding a Habit

When starting out in coding it’s very important to make it a habit of your daily life by dedicating time to it. The aim here is to always show up, even if it’s as little as 30 minutes a day it’d go a long way because when starting out it’s always tough but when it becomes a habit it gets easier and feels effortless.

5 — Enjoy the Process

Much like anything in life things will always get tough and painful, there are times you’ll stare at your screen and be lost for ideas, there are times you’ll face problems that are bigger than you, I experienced all of this but it wasn’t easy initially but I realized that it’s all part of the game because one way or the other things will surely go wrong, behind every painful experience there is a reward, so I decided to take my battles one step at a time and enjoy the process as much as the end result.

I hope you were able to gain a thing or two, Please share your thoughts in the comment section. Thanks for reading. This is my first article :)