Giving a computer instructions on what to do grants the power to do anything in the world.

Many over-analyze programming and get the wrong idea. They’ll look up to a successful programmer and note down their path to success. They will then imitate that path and will be shocked when it doesn’t return the same results. Imposter syndrome will kick in, they lose motivation, and they quit. This is how many start their journey into programming.

Copying other people is not a good way to learn anything. Everybody is different and will have different goals and preferences. What works for one person may not work for you. You can still get ideas or inspiration from others, but don’t think copying others will result in success just because they’re successful. They got there with genuine interest, motivation, and an ounce of luck. It won’t be different for you.

Learn to be self reliant and understand what works for you. Attempting to artificially alter your unique style of you, to someone who is not you.. will end up with poor results. Stop trying to use a cheat code that doesn’t exist. There aren’t any.

Eliminating these issues (if you suffered from them in the first place) are a great starting point to learn programming or anything in life. I see this way too often.

How to learn programming

“You are never going to learn programming by watching a video called “learn programming”. Everyone I know who can program well learned it all in the same way; they had something they wanted to do, and then they tried to do it. ~ George Hotz

Fuck paid courses and coding bootcamps. They are a waste of time and just want your money. Granted they will teach you the basics of programming and will make you feel like you got your moneys worth by showing you how to code a few worthless programs that you’ll never use, but it will be a whole hell of a lot easier and more fun to just simply learn the basics yourself while simultaneously creating something you like. If you’re not having fun with it then you’re likely going to get demotivated from the start and quit altogether. Watching an 8 hour C++ introduction video on YouTube while falling asleep at your keyboard writing the most boring program in the world is more of a chore than anything. Why would you subject yourself to that? Most people will open an 8 hour long YouTube video, only watch the parts they find interesting, half ass pay attention, and then click off after 5 minutes. Wow, so much value! Even if you properly, efficiently, and responsibily follow the course and spend an hour of every day to get on a schedule, you just spent 8 days of your life for little value in return.

Long courses jam everything into a video or a video series, which will typically be overwhelming and your average person isn’t going to watch it all the way through and efficiently memorize everything that was taught in the video. Out of that 8 hour video for example, you’re probably only going to remember an hour of content. You’re not really getting the bang for your buck, or the bang for your time.. if it’s free.

Again, even if you do spread out your time to create short study sessions to learn everything, you could have instead spent that time creating the program you’ve always wanted while learning on the way. This is a lot more efficient as you’re creating something you’re passionate about and it’s something you genuinely want to make. You’re way more likely to memorize things you learn if you’re having fun in the process. It’s also more efficient in every way to put your newly learned skills to the test making something you enjoy, rather than a calculator or something equally as boring.

Think of something you want to program and then do it. Don’t know how? Baby steps. Google is your friend.