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If you have taken a call to grow your career in the information technology sector, knowledge of coding is essential. It is the most in-demand skill in the industry. Thus, the programming knowledge you gain and practice, in the beginning, is priceless.

Learning the art of programming can be a bit of a struggle for some. However, knowing some ways for making your learning process faster can be a huge help for you. It can be a manageable task if you follow and implement a few simple steps.

With every new subject, the sooner you start playing with the code, the faster you will learn the given concepts. Even if you blaze through an entire chapter of reading and a topic like for loops seems straightforward – so straightforward even a monkey could do it – you’ll still be scratching your head when tasked to implement the code for the first time. You’ll think, “wait, what was that one piece of syntax again?” As the saying goes, you need to “use it or lose it”, because despite the evolution of technology, this ole’ proverb holds true when learning to code.

A mistake many students commit in any learning process is to try and skip the basics or spend less time with the fundamentals of a subject, and instead jump to chapter 3 or 4 right away—ignoring or skimming over the first few chapters.

While this may work in some areas of knowledge, while learning computer programming, you must make it a point to spend more time fully grasping the fundamentals of coding. If you are learning through a tutor and you find that they are going too quickly for you to follow, you must tell them to go slowly and explain all points so that your understanding is firm and clear.

More often than not, people get stuck when they reach higher levels and may find themselves getting lost easily and having to go back to learn basic material. Learning the basics well means your overall time required to finish learning programming can be cut down.

Coding education sites such as freeCodeCamp and Codecademy offer several 101-style courses you can start with.

This might sound strange to some. Why use your hands to write code when the actual work is expected to be done on a computer? There are strong reasons for it.

One reason that can be immediately understood is that if you were to get called for an interview for a programming job, the technical evaluation process would include coding by hand. While that is a valid reason, experts have found that if the coding is learned this way in the beginning, the next levels of learning are easier and faster.

For college exams and technical interviews – a critical component of the job interview process – you will have to code-by-hand, because not only is this good for learning, but it’s universally known to be the ultimate test for a programmer’s proficiency.

Seeking help from professionals while learning a new skill is never looked down upon. As with many professions, a fellow programmer will likely not feel any hitch in sharing their knowledge with you. In most cases, they have been in the same position as you find yourself to be in now, and help will be forthcoming.

You may need help with understanding where the bug in your program is or when getting stuck in a debugging effort. Like solving a Sudoku game or a crossword puzzle, the other person’s glance might go straight to the point, which might have escaped your attention all day long. Your co-programmers can be included in this exercise too. Don’t feel shy that they will make fun of you. They may be stuck with a similar issue one day and will feel comfortable coming to you for help.

You’ve probably come across friends in the same profession burning the midnight oil, yet not arriving at the solution to a bug detected and reported by a client or testing team.

These are commonplace occurrences in the industry. But you might have heard of instances where the coder takes a break, plays a game, or even takes a nap, and then, back at the monitor, the solution pops up like a flash. Taking advantage of the benefits of taking breaks will make you better at learning programming.

This, again, is not rocket science. When learning any subject in a traditional classroom, we sometimes stumble upon difficulties grasping the materials teachers teach us. And that’s when we seek other resources to get a better understanding of the subjects.

Learning programming in a classroom environment or through an online tutorial is no different in this matter. Browse online resources and programming guides, and use search engines to gather insights to help you understand the subject clearly. You should have the time and the patience to dig out the information needed.

The online resources to learn computer programming are endless, and there’s always a reddit post, youtube tutorial, or blog explanation that will make the material-at-hand crystal clear.

Reading sample code is not enough to understand how it works. To develop a true understanding, you need to actually run the code and tinker with it. With the additions of comments and instructions, sample code is packaged to be easily digestible by the reader; but in reality, it’s pretty difficult to replicate from scratch. Reading is not the same as understanding, and actually trying to write the code yourself, or at least running it, will facilitate the learning process much more.

When debugging, it’s easy to go down the rabbit hole for hours, and there’s no guarantee that you will fix the problem. To avoid this, it’s best to step away from the bug for a few hours, and return with a fresh perspective. Not only is this a guaranteed way to help solve the problem, but you’ll also save yourself hours of headache. So if help isn’t available – to touch on our previous tip about seeking advice – consider taking a break to clear your mind and return later. In the meantime, the bug won’t be going anywhere, and you’ll at least restore some needed sanity to improve productivity.

Life is an endless learning process. The previous generations had the luxury of making mistakes, learning from them, and then finding success. In today’s context, you have to be more alert and learn from others’ mistakes, and not commit the same errors yourself.

Bugs appearing in a program you wrote are part of a fully acceptable and commonly occurring situation. Your programming skills lie in quickly detecting the bug and resolving it. In many cases, detecting the bug may take a while, but once found, it may take very little time to resolve or reset the codes.

There are debuggers available that you can use to make the resolution process faster. The effort may have to be repeated a few times, since you will have to get back to the full program to test out the changes made in the coding and check if the expected output is being achieved or not.

The adage “practice makes perfect” holds true no matter what profession you are in. In the case of coding or programming, it becomes even more critical, since your first exposure is through books or other theoretical methods whereas the real work has to be done hands-on. You must, therefore, spend as much time on a computer as you can to get the hang of it in the initial stages.

Take any model project and start doing it. Some experts suggest personal projects as an effective starting point. Think up a project and start writing the codes. You may feel like you’re getting nowhere, but slowly, the solution will emerge.

The more you practice your coding during your learning days, the sooner you will end up feeling confident to take on any coding assignment. That kind of confidence will help you perform quite admirably in a technical evaluation by your prospective employers. If you are lucky, you might start off with a tough assignment that could even fast-track your career.

Coding can be exciting, yet exhausting. People are known to spend many hours at a stretch trying to find a solution or debug the errors. Your complete schedule of meals and sleep could be affected. That’s not a very healthy situation to be in, particularly when you are young. You need to balance this by keeping yourself physically and mentally alert.

Our brains need to cool off from time to time. It helps to moderate your levels of stress, which ultimately helps you be more focused on learning and excel in your performance.

There are many ways you can achieve this calm state of mind. Some would suggest mindfulness exercises such as meditation or yoga. Others say to take your mind off it for a while. Just moving out to the balcony to take in some fresh, cool air and watch the traffic moving on the road below could bring a sense of calm. Maybe you are fond of gaming on your phone. If that’s the case, play for a few minutes to refresh your mental faculty.

The most important ingredient to learn programming faster is to remain confident. To do so, you should expect to fail repeatedly and be patient with your progress; because becoming an expert at anything requires hard work and time. And if a single doubt ever clouds your mind, remember that every programmer has walked this path before – none of them more destined to become a developer than you. Whichever path you are currently on, be it college or coding boot camp, the only barrier to success is your work ethic and confidence to persevere.

Tips to Learn Programming Faster