How i learnt Programming?

It has been 3 years i started learning programming. Technically i started learning Programming 7 years ago by learning how to create a button in HTML but between those 4 years i did not have a computer or laptop to learn new things. In December 2019 i had my first laptop and i first learnt HTML (not a programming language) then CSS, JavaScript, PHP, Python, NodeJs and so on… My Method of learning is little different. My friends always ask me how to learn programming, the simple answer is Just Do It.

Initial Method to learn Programming Language

When i started learning Programming i had no idea how to start, for 2 months i watched YouTube Videos. then i realized that i was in Tutorial Hell. This happens with most of beginner programmers as they just sit and watch tutorials and do Nothing. However when i watched videos side by side i also did the coding shown in that tutorial. This is also Bad. People completes the course on youtube and they think they have mastered the language, but if you tell them to write a simple application using that language, they will suffer. That has happened with me while learning CSS, I had no idea how to style a page using CSS without any tutorial until i started making projects. The best way to learn any programming language is to make a project that includes some amount of language syntax.

Let’s say you want to learn Python. Now first ask what is Python used for in general. The answer is Python is usually used for automation and Analytics. Now think of an project that includes automation. Let’s make a program to automatically print 1000 numbers. Till this time you don’t even know how to write a program in Python but this gives a pretty good dopamine hit that encourage us to learn. Now go search on google how to print a number in Python. You might got an answer:

print(1)

Now search on google how to loop thousand numbers in Python. You might got and answer:

for i in range(1, 1000):
    print(i)

Now some people might think that this is bad way and you don’t learn anything. But By doing this over and over again and making different projects and programs you just understand how this works. For example while learning JavaScript i had no idea how JavaScript works under the hood. But after spending 2500+ Hours with JavaScript. Now i can make my own Programming Language. The Flow just works! When you are done learning a language and you want to learn another language, The simple method is to re-create old projects in the language you want learn. For example i have made a link shortener in 3 different technologies. Back in 2020 when i was learning PHP i created my first link shortener with PHP. in 2021 when i started learning NodeJs and ExpressJs the first project i choose to re-create was link shortener. Then Recently for my website i re-created link shortener with NextJs. This allows me to make better and better link shortener with extra security layers and more.

Remember one thing, You never completely learn a programming language. There is no end in process of learning. You just keep going and find new stuff all the time. I have spent thousands of hours with JavaScript yet still i don’t know some stuff, by time i will just learn it by default. Also using help from internet is not a bad thing in this world. People working on google still use google to find answers. This is a Community, Not something like exam where you are not allowed to see answer. So feel free to use online resources while learning. But while doing this keep in mind that if you just copy paste the code and never think about how it works you can’t learn programming. When you first see the answer of your problem; analyze it, think how it might be working under the hood, then proceed.

Actual Method

When you are good enough to make a project by your self, create projects by your self. I believe in Open Source Community a lot, Open Source helps a lot to be better at problem solving. Use GitHub for publishing your projects and if you are interested in Bug Bounties hacker-earth and hacker-one is one of the best platforms to start your journey. Actual Method of learning is to think of an project, go through the Documentation of the Language and start experimenting new stuff written in Documentation. This allows not to fall in Tutorial Hell and to be updated with Original Content.

Here are some good resources, when you can’t solve a problem by your self:

• stackoverflow.com
• github.com
• dev.to
• There are more platforms to solve your problems just search the problem.