Coding is the IT skill that has everyone talking from a regular English professor to a bartender. The career of a developer is lucrative, the software industry is booming, and the job prospects seem the brightest in this department – so it is understandable.

But all people do is talk and not act on it. They have fears of the unknown, to be honest. Am I too old for this? My math isn’t the strongest, so will I be able to understand coding at all? Will I be able to keep up? Does it require a bachelor’s degree? So on and so forth.

I could go on and on about the various questions and fears that hinder people from taking the plunge. Yes, coding does require commitment, but it isn’t ‘hard’ as many make it out to be.

So if you are one of the dreamers that want to convert their dreams of being a kick-ass developer into a reality, then keep on reading.

Set up your computer for programming

How can you do that? By getting the right software installed. The process isn’t that hard, and you have several tutorials available that assist you through a step-by-step guide. Since your computers need to run the code, they need these assistants (softwares).

If I were to put all the necessary pointers together, I would say

1) You could write your code in a text editor but save it with a specific type that is in relation to the programming language you have used within. For example, if you are writing code in Python, you would save the file with the .py extension.

2) Next, to run the code, you would need a certain software that would read all that code and run it. For that, you need to search for the ones that are most suited for the language you have chosen.

3) Integrated Development Environment (IDE) – do not get spooked by the name. This provides with everything mentioned above: a code editor, runner, and the ability to create project files – all in one. You will need it once you dive in deep and start writing complex codes.

“YouTube It”

Bet you knew this one coming at some point – such is the power of YouTube. It has become a powerhouse for the students and learners from a plethora of tutorials available on one subject or query alone. I’ve seen so many developers with educational backgrounds that have nothing to do with computer science, yet they are the skilled programmers. Ask them where they learned it from? And you will get the answer you already know – YouTube.

So never underestimate this platform and make immense use of it.

Practice Coding Through Interactive Games

learning through gaming apps and websites is one of the most effective methods, and you can surely take advantage of them once you have the hang of the basics. These programming games have various challenges and programming problems for you to solve and learn from.

Some of the examples that you can check out are:

CodeCombat: A web app that teaches specifically in the areas of computer science, web development, and game development through puzzles and challenges. It even has a classroom edition that allows teachers to connect with their students and help them learn.

CodinGame: Supports over 25 programming languages and is a web app. Every puzzle/challenge has a theme that you would need to work around, creating the ‘fun’ alive in a programming session.

Codewars: More of a gamified learning platform than an actual gaming app. You get points for completing challenges, and it even lets you view solutions submitted by other participants.

Join Communities

Do not underestimate these online communities of fellow coders. Once you know the basics and have simple to intermediate projects under the belt – you can get lots of direction, mentoring, and help with tricky problems from the members. Some of the well-known communities are:

Stack Overflow: This is the place where you first search for the answer to your problem because it is likely that someone has already solved it for you. In case you do not, you can always ask.

Hackathons: These events bring everyone together to have a code-fest. You can search for ones within your area or in your city, attend, learn, and network.
Reddit: If you are a millennial, then you must know what Reddit is. /r/learnprogramming/ is where you should be for all-things-programming.

Enroll in Coding Bootcamps

A lot of the people require a physical classroom to engage themselves in learning. This is where these boot camps can help such people in learning how to code from a teacher and peers around engaging in group activities and projects. However, this shouldn’t be the only reason to join a coding boot camp. These few weeks of training is for individuals that want to dive deep into code and build a career out of it.

Old School Learning Through Books

Book lovers and readers rejoice. You have the option to opt for a book that helps you enhance and polish your coding skills further. You get to learn ideas, concepts, philosophy, and of course, programming activities for practice.

Only books can’t reply to you when you are stuck. But it is still a great resource to get you going. However, if you do not practice and just read – it won’t get you anywhere, nor will it help you retain the information as applying the programming concepts when practically solving a problem does.

So what did we learn so far?

1)Programming isn’t scary or tough or limited to factors like age.
2)Learning how to code requires dedication and self-discipline.
3)There are several resources at your disposal to start from scratch. Out of which some of those ways as discussed are:

               -Through YouTube tutorials 
               -Through code games and programming challenges 
               -By enrolling oneself in coding boot camps 
               -By taking an online course 
               -Through reading a book 
               -Through joining code communities like Stack Overflow
               -By creating smaller and simpler code first 
               -By listening to podcasts 

So what are you waiting for? Shed all the ‘what-ifs’ and fears. The software industry is booming with its market projected to amount to around 507.2 billion U.S. Dollars by 2021. What more is that developers are always in high demand, so rest-assured your decision to start learning to program is indeed fruitful.