Introduction
I was completely clueless about Web Development 6 months ago, I started in Web Development as all the others do! Purchased a course on Udemy and thought that this course will make me a full-stack developer :p. But as expected, it didn't make me a developer, instead what I did outside of the course was what made me a better developer!
I am going to share with you so many detailed insights about becoming an open source contributor from a newbie, what practices did I follow? and what learning approach you should take to become a better developer now!
Tutorials, do's, and dont's:
I know this has become a very cliche topic, but many people still don't understand what it means to take aside time from your tutorials and focus on building more projects. I will guide you through a step-by-step learning curve where you will not only learn with better insights from tutorials but also will be able to build something without help (google excluded though :p).
Step 1
When to watch tutorials?
They can become your best friend or the worst enemy if not used correctly! I have watched over 100s of tutorials and I think I have a good idea about what to do and when to do it!
The most important thing that can influence your progress is your way of learning. When I was learning C++ as a complete beginner with 0 knowledge of programming, I literally watched a series of 80+ videos on youtube, and even after that I was a newbie with almost no practical experience. What did I do wrong? 👇
Didn't code consistently.
Not coding myself.
Not building projects.
If only these three mistakes would have been avoided, I may have been in a better place right now. Learning how to code is the latter, how you approach learning to code matters much more.
So When exactly to watch tutorials?
You will not need tutorials for a basic HTML semantic or even a small CSS property like transform, margin, or even padding. When dealing with some more complex topics such as flexbox, grid, variables, etc, you should probably be watching a youtube video on those first! It will not only help you understand the concept but will also give you a basic idea of where and how to use it.
Step 2
Develop Curiosity
This one change in your mindset can make you go from zero to hero in coding, in fact, I was genuinely curious about open source and GitHub, that's how I found a good issue on one of my favorite website's GitHub repo and solved it which became my first open source contribution!
You will never become a good programmer if you are not hungry for learning more and more.
This is the first and the most important rule of tech! Once you commit to a career in software, your learning should never end, grasping new things along with implementing them is the best thing you can do to get ahead in your journey.
Step 3
Making a habit
Consistency beats intensity. You have probably heard this a dozen times but it is what it is! Here's a simple math:
You code for 10 hours a day and don't the next 5 days = 10 hours ONLY.
You code for 1 hour daily for 30 days = 30 HOURS.
You decide.
You need to refresh your concepts daily to get a hold of the fundamentals.
Step 4
Become a Problem Solver
Companies hire problem solvers, not coders. There are millions of people coding every day, but not everyone lands a $100K/ year job right?
Understand the problem, build an approach, solve it, repeat 🔁
Step 5
Test new approaches
Don't try to repeat the same learning experience throughout your journey, instead, try learning with a better approach or try to optimize your current approach, both works well!
Small tip
Bugs are more common than you think, It may sound cliche, but when learning a new technology, it may seem that you are getting stuck on every other thing you do, and that is perfectly ok! Getting stuck and solving the problem is what going to teach you rather than perfection.
Conclusion
This was it for the article, I hope I helped you as a beginner to get started in Development/ Coding or any programming field you wish to succeed in. I am not an advanced coder/teacher that you have to listen to, just consider me as a friend who has done mistakes in his journey, which he doesn't want you to do!
Let's see each other next time, I hope you got some value from this :)