Self Taught Programmer

Before I endeavored into programming, as most of the laymen I didn’t really know what software engineers do, and thought IT means programmers are sitting in front of the computer coding or just fixing computers. And since I tried my first “Hello World!” with HTML on my old Windows 10 laptop a year ago, I could not help myself with my dramatic imagination of how am I going to save my dreary life and change the world.

I spent the rest of my day to understand how HTML worked and was thinking "programming is easy!", but with the power of the internet, I started to realized I was wrong. I was trying to pick some technical articles to read with the thought that I will finally understand this industry better. But then again, I was wrong. I didn’t comprehend a single sentence in the articles. And even though I tried to use Baidu (a Chinese Google), one question lead me to another with an endless circle. I believe I am not the only one who has felt that way after some research. So I picked up some confidence and started trying to learn in order.

1>>>What programming language you should choose?
There are more than 50 programming languages in the world, and I believe you have heard of some of the famous ones like C, C++, PHP, Javascript etc. I was trying to learn 3 of them at the same time in the beginning but turned out it’s not a wise move to learn how to run before you learn how to walk. I ended up forgetting the previous language when I am studying the current one without practice. So, for now, I am using Python to work on deep learning projects which are helping to build up concepts for a programming foundation. In other words, keep practicing on a project you like until you are ready to move on to the next.

2>>> How to study
• Use online tools like Google, StackOverflow, and Github. There are often people having the same issues as you are. You might get the answers on those platforms.
• Watching Youtube videos to learn is a good start. Visible learning material is very helpful for a beginner to get the basic concepts, and being easier to memorize.
• Make friends with more people in the industry. Hopefully, those who like to share information and encourage you.
• Update what you learned. What you learned including programming languages, framework or model could be out of date in a couple of years. In 2008, Hadoop (for big data) was like Bitcoin in 2017, companies were offering a big salary for a Hadoop. After Spark came on the scene, the world thought it would be the trend in the industry. So stay sharp.

3>>>Adjust your attitude
• Never say no. Bugs, optimizing, developing is what you will be dealing with most of the time. It’s not easy, but there are always more solutions than there are problems.
There are always naysayers in your way with or without all due respect. Do not let their opinions stop you from moving because no one knows yourself better than you.
• Focus and keep moving. I myself always want to try to learn some other tool while I am learning one for my project like I mentioned, and of course, that is not a bad thing if you can manage to handle both and be good at them. That requires experience and a lot of practice. Focus on one thing at a time.
• Invest in yourself. You might feel helpless or lonely sometimes because of the issues taking a long time to fix and none you asked can actually help you. But that is how it works, once you figured out everything, the achievement is the best reward. And try to give yourself a little physical treat after this - it will definitely help.

The reason I started coding is a close friend of mine showed me his work and how powerful it could be to be able to use his technical skill to make good products to help people and their business. Most important is, if you are good enough, you can be working with your computer all over the world can still make good money. I have to admit that this is the most attractive point for me at the beginning to be a programmer, however, it doesn’t come as easy as I thought and moreover, when you get there, you will find the achievement is greater than the income you make.