Many times I hear people say this. Even uncountable are the times I have met innocent individuals who're so enthralled by the power of a programmer that they would also wanna wield that power, or a force of the same semblance. I call that a motivated passion. A passion fed by an inner thinking and boundary-less imagination of what he has already achieved as a programmer albeit he's yet to write his first line of code. He thinks and he sees his app running through the veins of successful businesses and making the million steps ahead of their competitors. Yes, he wants to build a "Business Bloodstream" (with myriads of versions).
I only sit and admire them. Every. Single. Day. If nothing at all, their beams cause me to reminisce about those days when I shared those dreams, when I so badly wanted to be a programmer. Their eventuality is a tale for them to tell, but for me, eventually I am a programmer (without a class adjective). I have no right, privilege or responsibility to tell who plays in what position, or perhaps which part of your body is best fit for the game. But what I learnt in the time of becoming a programmer is an experience I will not hoard. I wanna share them with everyone.
I compiled some dos and don'ts through my personal experience and that has been the rule that has kept me going. They're, humbly, below.
DONTS
- Don't be taught Introduction by a person. If you can't read it from a book or online, I doubt what a lazy dude can learn.
- Don't use more than four (4) books for a particular language or concept. If you have 5 or more books on Python, another five or more on Python GUI, about 7 books or more on Java Swing, man you're building a library for a hobby. You become familiar with a certain book after continuous use. Plus you know your progress well.
- Don't copy codes and run them. Type them and run them (even if they are sample codes in your guide book). Learning can be subtler. After all your fingers and the keyboard can have a lil intimacy.
- Don't think you're not good enough. After a day or two, you're good for anything programming.
- Don't look for perfection; better your good then perfect your better.
DOS
- Make it your passion, your priority.
- Pay attention to problems and perceive which aspects can be eliminated with the electronic device.
- Specialize in diversity. Learn more than one language. As you probably know every language is adept at solving a certain problem.
- Perceive patterns in both naturals and artificials. Everything has a pattern. They'd mean algorithm later.
