Beginner Level Programming Limbo
Hiiiiiiii. 2nd blog post (I am such a consistent human being lol). Sooo, my week has been pretty crazy O M G ! But I am still alive, that’s all that matters. This month marks 1 year since I wrote my very first line of code, it’s super crazy how I have lived like five years in tech already.
For someone who has been a year in, I have so much to learn/catch up with, I am constantly building skills, trying new things, trying to find my niche etc etc, It was just the other day when I was listening to a podcast “Starting out with JavaScript” 2 minutes in I was so mad at myself, I couldn’t believe that a year later I am still getting started with variables, arrays, objects, WTF? I was so over myself!
I know all the fundamentals of programming in like 4+ languages ! It’s such a normal thing though, there are times you will even enroll into a class to relearn these concepts and it’s even more normal to not let yourself move on to advanced stuff because you keep convincing yourself that you are not good enough yet, haven’t mastered anything, you stare at your IDE trying to remember a function syntax and can barely even initiate one.
F R U S T R A T I O N S !
Hello World Programming
I personally thought it was sexy to have all programming languages at the tips of my fingers. I learnt C and C++, Python, JavaScript, PHP, Java, Ruby I also ended up learning so many frameworks and libraries. For some of these, I can write meaningful programs, I really hate some of these languages and some I can only write Hello World! I loved that I explored and found my niche, but for the longest time I killed myself learning syntax of all of these concurrently.
Talk is cheap, show me the code
Flexing the programming languages muscle is not even hot anymore. I used to be super proud of myself when I am speaking to a group of people and they ask for me what languages I knew and by the number I thought that meant I was waaaay smarter than anyone else with a lesser number.
Get Coding in Heels with June Barasa’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
So what happens when it’s time to use your muscle to lift? This is awkward, cause I also don’t know what happens lol. (I am super lucky I didn’t have to prove myself, I easily got away with that)
Pick a language and run with it
I totally have nothing against generalists, but I most certainly advocate for specializing in one or two languages.
Once you explore and find your niche, go in deeper and learn more, advance your skills, there will ALWAYS be demand for specific skill set.
This applies to libraries and frameworks, I personally love JavaScript but there are a ton of libraries, new ones coming up every single day, choose a few, stick to them and get better at them.
Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone
The best way to do this, and works for me best, is getting random simple projects to work on that will help me apply the concepts that I have learnt, this could be anything from calculator, task lists, bookmarking app, simple chat bots etc, there are so many guided you tube videos on almost everything (No seriously, tell me a you tube ‘how-to’ video that doesn’t exist). This way you get to advance your skills further rather than learning concepts individually.
You get to learn how these concepts get to work together and so much more.
CHALLENGE YOURSELF TODAY !
I hope this post helps you get out of the beginner level programming limbo.
Till next time, Keep Coding in Heels ❤ !
