Learning computer programming is fun and exciting, but most people lost their interest due to proper guidelines. Before starting learning programming, you should ask yourself, is it for fun, or is it for your career? If you think that it’s for fun, then you should go for it. But If you want to build up your career on it, you should check a few things before starting learning.
- Can you practice daily?
- Can you work hard?
- Do you have an interest in learning new things?
- Can you spend at-least one-hour in learning and solving programming problems?
If you think you can do these things, then you are good to go. Now follow these steps given below to start to learn computer programming:
Step 1: Set your goal.
There are lots of fun stuff you can do with programming. You can create mobile apps, desktop apps, web applications, build websites, build intelligent chatbots, and so many cool projects. So, set your goal first. Do you want to be a web developer, desktop application developer, mobile application developer, or data scientist? Choose which path you feel interested in and want to go.
Step 2: Choose a programming language.
According to Wikipedia, there are about 700 programming languages. But only very few of them are famous and recommended for beginners. C, C++, Java, C#, and Python are popular and beginner-friendly programming languages. I will suggest you choose python. Because you will be able to create incredible Python programs like automate tasks, work with files, access web data, and lots of other fun stuff.
Step 3: Learn data structures and algorithms.
If you completed learning the basics of a programming language, start learning data structures and algorithms. Array, linked-list, stack, queue, binary tree, heap, and graph are important data structures to learn as a beginner. For algorithm, learn problem analysis, searching, sorting, greedy algorithm, dynamic programming, pattern searching, backtracking, divide & conquer, and graph.
Step 4: Solve programming problems daily.
As a beginner, you have to learn how to use these data structures and algorithms to solve problems. So after completing step 3, start solving problems in online judge. You can just create an account and start solving problems. If you solve programming problems daily, you will learn how to solve a problem, which data structure and algorithm to use. It will help you to grow your problem-solving skills.
Here is a list of some beginner-friendly online judge:
Step 5: Build a project.
After completing all these steps, try to build a project with what you have learned. After completing your project, upload it on Github. You can see other people’s projects or codes on Github.
Conclusion:
Learning programming is not so easy. You have to set your goal and start learning. Learn data structures and algorithms and learn which and where to use them. And you should never stop learning. You should explore new things and learn new topics.