Programming has quickly become a lucrative skill over the past couple of years thanks to all of the lucrative and fulfilling opportunities that it offers people. However, programming is a skill that requires continuous learning and improvement. As such, it’s something that you should ideally engage in even if you don’t have a programming job.
But how can you level up past the beginner level? What are some simple and effective ways to keep improving your programming skills?
Read plenty of tutorials and watch videos
Whenever you have a spare moment or are doing something repetitive, why not put on a video about programming? It could be about an easy-to-use git client to add to your workflow, or it could be about advanced concepts. You might watch a video about video game development, or you might be interested in reading development journals. There are so many resources out there that you can learn from, but you need to search around to find them!
Practice whenever you have a chance
It’s important that you practice programming as much as you can. The more you do it, the better you’ll get. This includes things like writing code, debugging your code, working on new projects, and even collaborating with others on their work. Start simple, then slowly develop your apps and programs to add more complicated real-world features.
Join an online community of programmers
Whether it’s on Reddit or various other message boards, why not connect with other programmers in an online community? This can be a fun and interesting way to learn from others, but it’s also a good way to get feedback on your work. You can ask questions, or you can even work with others to collaborate on projects. Not only does this improve your collaborative skills, but it’s also a form of networking. Places like GitHub and StackOverflow are great places to connect with other programmers to get help or even to collaborate.
Don’t just stick with one programming language
While you might have one programming language that you like a lot, you should always learn new ones when you have time. This is because it helps you become more versatile in a programming role. You can start learning about the differences between each programming language, and it’ll build up your understanding of computer science. In many cases, a job will likely ask you to learn a new language or use it in a way that you’ve never tried. As such, learning to adapt your current skills and knowledge to a new language can be an important quality if you want to find a job.
Don’t be afraid to fail
Many young developers spend a lot of time fine-tuning their projects, even though they already work and perform well enough. But it’s important that you don’t avoid the possibility of failure. You learn a lot from failure in the world of programming because it can teach you what to avoid in the future and how you work around certain issues.
