Hi everyone.. I have this doubt last Sunday for the first time since I have started to learn programming (last year). I’m really new to this and ev...
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Yes, programming is for you.
It won't feel like it, sometimes. I started learning in 2006 and I still suffer plenty from impostor syndrome. Programming is for me, too.
Keep reading, learning and building. Try to be better than yesterday.
Thank you :) I didn't realize it was imposter syndrome and instead thought I was just too much of an amateur to feel I have a chance.
I can totally understand how you feel. And like everyone else here has said, "Yes, programming is for you" BUT - only if you really want it. It's pretty tough to climb over the hill from your first "Hello World" to being able to work on a team building out projects. And your determination might be the most important factor in whether you can do it or not.
You mentioned not being as invested as others around you, to that I say, try and remember why you wanted to learn how to code in the first place. Remember whatever it is that motivated you and keep it close in your mind. Also, it's important to not compare yourself to anyone. We all grasp new ideas in a different way and at different paces so don't beat yourself up it you find you're not progressing as fast as you think others are. Remember, this race is not with others but with yourself. just keep trying to improve your skills every day.
Now, let me answer your questions:
Thank you :) I've tried to list reasons why I dived into this field and I find lots! And I'll try to compare myself with others less.
Also, I realize that communities are VERY important as well. I was down and didn't know if I should continue coding or not, but reading the answers here made me hopeful again. So thank you again :) and thank you for nice and useful advice!
10 year veteran here:
Yes I have felt that people are much more experienced that me.. In fact I still feel like that sometimes.
I consumed any media I could (book, videos, articles) on a SINGLE language and then added more on top. (FYI I started in Java 5/6)
Just keep doing... the more you do, the more you learn the more you know.
Thank you for sharing! Yes, I'm also trying to learn and keep up with the trend (and also the basic); one language at a time, I swear! I had made a mistake of taking too many things at once that I didn't get a single thing.
But I hope you don't feel not being enough. I realize that one can never be the best, but still be able to do wonderful things. :D
The answer to this is really simple.
If you love it, do it. If you don't, don't. Makes sense?
In other words, if you genuinely like building something from nothing, or building something from other things, because at the end of the day this is what programming is really all about, then you continue doing it.
Having people who are really knowledgeable about these topics should be considered as a positive thing rather than a drawback. These people can transfer to you the knowledge you might lack or the misinformation you might have, and you can also transfer your own knowledge to them.
Feeling like you're not at the top of the food chain is natural and realistic, you're never going to be the best ever at what you do, but you can always aim at being one of the best. Don't let it pull you down, take it as a healthy competition where you need to shine more than those around you.
When I was a newbie, which I still am, I'd find open-source projects that need help and try to contribute to those. I'd try to answer as many questions on Stack Overflow as I can. I'd try to find people I look up to and follow their blog posts, ask them questions and gain as much experience from them as I can.
At the end of the day, practice, practice and more practice.
My advice is? Again. If you don't love coding, spending hours in front of a computer screen, then just drop it.
Otherwise, practice, ask, answer, repeat.
And if there's anything else you need to know, ask, satisfy your curiosity, you can always find me on christopheelkhoury@gmail.com and I'll be more than happy to help you out.
Thank you! Yes, I do love coding. I like seeing the problems I try to solve getting solved and the solution working!
It's interesting that you suggest contributing to the community aside from practicing. Though I'm not at the level where I can fully help others but I will try as much as possible!
Thank you again for taking time to answer a thoughtful and useful advice TvT. I really appreciate it, and for the email as well :)
There's no such thing as a specific level where you can help others.
I'll give you an example of how you can contribute to the open source community.
Assume you're starting a JavaScript project, and you're requiring the use of a certain module, say a normalizer which takes an email address and gets rid of all capitalization.
What you can do is access the repo of that project, take a look of how the code is written, then take a look at the issues in that repo. Figure out if you can fix anything, then open a pull request for it.
Get your hands dirty early-on.
Aye, aye!! I'll try contributing as much as possible from now on 👍
Yes. Regularly. I still do!
I just kept coding anyway!
Ask questions, write code (even terrible code), make mistakes, keep learning. Don't worry about learning everything - find topics, languages, and tools you like, and build lots and lots of stuff with them! (I did that for so many years, I accidentally became a verified expert in C++ memory management, object-oriented programming, and Python software design.)
I strongly recommend you read this...
You're Not An Impostor
Andrew
😂 I hope someday I will accidentally become a good programmer, too. And thank you for the advice and the recommendation (I'll be sure to definitely check it out!). One mistake I realized I have is that I was rushing to learn at a pace I'm not comfortable with and that probably starts the imposter syndrome in me. :(
But I'll try to reduce the learning to one language at a time and try to experiment lots!
I been programming since i have 9 years old.
In high school, i choose a computer science, at first i didn't understand , but then i got the click in my head and i said "that's like LOGO" (i was using Pascal at the time and LOGO was my first programming language).
I learned so many languages, not fully but when you know the logic , every language works in the same way.
Wow, that's a really young age to start. I remember I still thought I will be a designer at that time 😂
Thank you. After learning a few languages, I realized that I really should get the basic right. And it has helped me tremendously!
By the way, this is just my curiosity, but what makes you start early?
Sorry , i just read your response.
My father was a Electronic Engenier and always i was sorrounded by techology, Tv's, Phones (rotatory), and electronic component (resistor, capacitors, led).
Also i went at my father school (primary and until 2 grade from high school), originally was only electronic, by the time i mean, in the 60/70, was the most advanced stuff in tech.
My father bought a sinclair TX , that was my first computer in the 80's, then he bought a Commodore 64 , an then a PC.
I learned LOGO on DOS at primary school.
I learned Pascal at Hight school.
You need to be curious.
I guess one of my problems is that I hesitate to try something when I don't fully know it (and I learnt that I'll NEVER fully understand anything).
I certainly continue to have doubts in my own skills, especially when things aren't unfolding according to plan. However, I continue to not only study languages or frameworks that are trending, but I still read up on fundamental software development and design skills.
I think an advantage of learning while in the process of building something is that you are able to close the gap between theory and practice. Its almost like pro-active retrospect, in that while you are learning about the best practices, you are able to integrate that knowledge into your existing code.
My advice: Explore your curiosity. Look to further your list of existing skills while also gradually adding to them. Experiment!
Thank you! I did try to make something while learning the concept, but it's not as big as a project. I'm sure if it's as effective though.
And..
is such a great advice. THANK YOU!
P.S. Do you have recommendations on which fundamental topics should I research about? And where or from what source?
im new to programming too
recently just taking informatics engineer in my university
that was my first time coding and it was really fun
and then I learn more langueges and those all really hard
but when u find that coding is fun then programming is for you
it doesn't matter whether ur friends really good at programming or not
you can learn from him
be positive
read this
Thank you! ❤️❤️ I'll try to stay positive 👍! And thank you for the recommended read, I really NEED that to get things done 😂
I think that's the general feeling of doing something that requires certain skills / experience for the first time. Everyone did feel the same at the beginning of whatever you start. Pumping iron for the first time? Damn, you're doing it all wrong! Trying to learn how to play a song without any musical background? Wrong, wrong, wrong!
You don't have to worry about muscular gym hitters or music school graduates when you just started getting into something. The best thing you can do is... practice it! Pick a language of your choice (if you have classes that teach a certain one - keep on exploring it).
Programming may be as boring as it is challenging and interesting. Do code challenges as you learn the basics, go through basic algorithms. Copy examples from tutorials, learn how they work and make them into something else. Write your own stuff - it's a whole new world.
And, hey, you are already here! That does sound like you may be into coding more than you think. Being a part of the developer world is not just staring at the screen, that's also a great community that is widely open to new talents.
YES, thank you TvT. Sometimes I always forget and letting myself down by comparing myself at level 1 with someone at the top.
And yes! I also realize that programmer/developer community is really nice and friendly ToT.
By the way, what are code challenges? that's the first time I've heard it. Is it like coding competition?
There will always be more to learn, and the more you know, the more there is yet to learn!
I remember right in the beginning. I picked up a book about programming and just started going through it. I grew up in an IT house, so tech was always a thing for me, but it took quite a few years to really understand what it was all about.
"Programming is about helping people, by solving problems they have, with your problem solving skills."
Much like how doctors also solve problems with their skills, but instead of working with the human body and medicine, we work with "Words, languages and abstract ideas"
Hope this helps.
Thank you SO MUCH ❤️ for reminding me what actually is programming. I remember getting into this field because there are lots of problems that I wanted to solve, but I wasn't experienced enough to solve them. That reason makes me getting through bugs, errors, etc. every time. :)
I started feeling like programming is not for me long after I had many successes with it. I was still anxious (because there were people with more skills than I have! Wow! How can that be!), and thought that I was just fiddling with code, it was not serious, I rejected the idea of working as a developer one day.
Now I do and enjoy every day of it.
What I want to say is that having these feelings is surely not a sign that you should stop.
As for advices: don't rush it. However amazing are stories about people who picked up programming in 4 months and got their first job after that, they're actually exceptions from the rule. We all learn differently. I personally didn't just one day started programming, instead over the years I gradually picked up small programming related skills until I built strong enough foundation to understand how to actually code a little bit. I took a relaxed tempo, and it worked well for me.
Have fun with coding!
That is what happened to me! I met people who are really talented and felt overwhelmed by it. But thank you for reminding me that programming is a long process of learning. I think I should try a relaxed tempo sometimes because I have been rushing A LOT and it doesn't help much.
Im kind of a newbie as well, and i get you man, there are a lot of times where you are going to feel frustrated, and sometimes i feel like that, i feel like i know nothing and its hard, but you better keep going.
My advice, praactice practice practice, learn learn learn, read read read, and never give up!.
For some people coding is not that hard, and for some other people coding can be quite hard, but if you never surrender and you keep it up, in a future you would call yourself a senior dev
YAS!! Thank you! After reading comments here, my enthusiasm is back!! Let's hope we'll get through this together and ridding the feeling of not being pro enough!
It's imposter syndrome, we all get it and it's a pain in the ass. But please don't give up, your doubts will change to something more constructive and probably back again and the cycle goes on. It's a very common feeling because humans telling computers to do things is hard.
:') Yes, thank you. It's people like you that make a community a good place to be a part in.