The life of a newbie programmer can be very frustrating sometimes. Getting stuck and not being able to see results early on can often make people give up.
Here's a word of hope from a fellow newbie programmer.
I was reading Giannis: The Improbable Rise of an NBA MVP, a book about Giannis Antetokounmpo's rise from poverty in Athens, Greece to super-stardom in America. As an NBA fan the whole book is amazing.
As a self-taught developer myself, one thing got me:
Giannis and his brother Thanasis bring up a video they saw on YouTube - which I didn't find -, where three men had to cut down a tree. The book mentions:
"The first man was swinging his axe hard at the tree. But after a few hours, he stopped. The second man whacked the tree for four hours, six hours, then stopped. The third man kept chopping at the tree, nonstop, refusing to quit.
The other two men were amazed that he kept at it for hours on end, but when they came closer to him, they realized the man had on a blindfold. He hadn't wanted to see his results, because if he had seen his results, he'd get discouraged. Instead, working blindfolded fostered the mentality that every time he took a swing, he believed the tree would fall."
After two years of learning how to code, being in my thirties and alternating between other responsibilities, I feel like having to chop down a whole forest almost every day. Sadly, I barely see sophisticated results such as beautiful interactive webpages or complex APIs. It can be very frustrating some days. Stare at the screen contemplating how little I did in terms of working functionalities.
If the feelings of the former paragraph resonate on you, young developer - regardless of your age -, stay strong. Things will click at some point. If they don't, it's fine too. The majority of sophisticated application will be built by a team of full time developers. You can still be an average programmer and find good paying jobs that will put you in touch with more experienced people. These people will most definitely contribute to your personal development.
There are many messages you can take from the book's quote. Analogies are usually good to simplify and talk about very complex situations - like learning difficult topics such as programming.
A few take aways to me are:
- Don't put too much attention on the results of your studies. The quality of the working software you are producing while practicing doesn't matter much at this point of your journey
- Make sure you are investing solid hours into practicing the right thing. Look up for fundamentals and put them into practice. Don't try to chop down all and every tree of the forest. Aim a single technology first
- When you're practicing make sure that's the only thing you're doing. Four or five sessions of 25 to 50 minutes, no outside world interruptions. Every day
- Stay strong
PS: Motivational blogs tend to make some people's eyes roll. It is not easy at all. The journey of becoming a developer is way harder then following a 4 bullet points magic list. Still, the excerpt from Giannis' book really touched me this morning. It connected deep with my experience. This blog is almost like talking to myself to be honest. It's been worthwhile already. I hope it gives you a slight boost as well. Don't give up!
Cover photo by Michael Benz on Unsplash
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