Alright, I get it! You just woke up from a daydream and searched up, “How to invade the world”:
Learn Programming
Crush Programming
Master Programming
Create a Fancy App
Contact Some Aliens
Create a Hydrogen Bomb
You’re like: “Yo, DAMN programming!” Then, you search, “How to Learn Programming FAST” and finally end up here, right?
Lucky you! In this article, I’m revealing the coolest and the most pro step-by-step guide to complete your top 3 world invasion steps.
Eventually, you’ll figure out how to complete the rest…
Choose a Cool End Goal!
Wait, why the hell is there an end goal even before starting?
To make you stay motivated 👩🏽💻
To keep you intentional 🎯
To make you feel cool 😎
In fact, this is the foundation of your learning journey. So, you have to choose wisely;
Believe me, this is really the programming world… Your passion defines you!
Some examples of end goals:
The Next Pokemon Go
Frog-GPT (Prog → Frog)
Forza Underworld (yeah, a car game)
AI Rocket Scientist
BurnTube to crack YouTube
If you wanna be fancier, imagine you are creating your end goal for a huge corporation. I call my one: Out-of-Limbo Corp (from Inception). Your company gives you contracts and once you finish them, you gain a reward. You have to reward yourself, though (e.g. Playing Clash of Clans for an hour).
Pro Tip
If you don’t have good enough ideas. You can ask Chat-GPT (or Frog-GPT) for some using the following prompt template;
You are the CEO of
your-imaginary-corp. I’m ayour_interest-specialist. I want you to give me some cool projects to work on. Make sure to provide all the required resources such asblah blah blah.
Break Down the Goal!
Every journey consists of destinations such as mysterious forests, endless deserts and castles with attractive princesses and dragons!
Similarly, you have to break down your end goal into pieces. Chat-GPT can help you along the way...
You should clearly define those pieces in a trusted system. A simple checklist will do the thing!
Then, start gathering knowledge to address each piece (i.e. slay the dragon and save the princess).
Learn the Stuff!
Firstly, you should research a programming language to learn. Make sure it allows you to address your destinations and doesn’t narrow down your opportunities.
Most beginners begin with Python or JavaScript.
Every programming language needs an environment to run (this is called the runtime). You’ve gotta download and install it on your computer.
Afterwards, you need a code editor to write your code. Every pro programmer’s recommendation is Visual Studio Code (VS Code) since it is lightweight and has tons of extensions to fulfil your purposes.
Now, your minimalistic workspace is ready! All you have to do is embark on the QUEST!
The best way to learn something is through execution. So, you would get your fruits way faster by following the following schedule
Weekdays → Learning
Use tutorials and guides.
Resource Hub
Official Documentation
If you feel a bit confident, try defeating some problems in CodeWars!
💡Problem Solving is an important skill in programming
Weekends → Smashing Mini-Projects
You can use your imaginary corporation and Chat-GPT as before to find some fancy project.
Make sure to bind a reward, though (it’ll keep you motivated)
If you need a roadmap, Roadmap.sh has heaps...
The Harsh Truth: Along the way, failures are abundant! Sometimes you might spend a lot of time trying to learn a hard concept. That’s what makes programming funner! They expose many opportunities to grow!
As Mark Rober said in his Super Mario Effect:
“Focus on the princess (task✅/goal🎯/dream🌈) not the pits you’ll fall into [they’re a part of trial🧪 and error⚠️]"
Create Your Fancy Goal
Yahoo! Now you know pretty much every concept you need! All you need to do to complete your end goal is nicely weaving them…
To keep everything organised, it’s a good idea to learn nitty-gritty Git and GitHub (there are heaps of resources over the internet).
Share your Project
This is where all those fancy programming/developing communities come in handy. Some of the best are:
Reddit's Programming Subreddits: r/programming, r/learnprogramming, and r/AskProgramming
Discord Servers such as The Programmer’s Hangout
Just share your project in these… You’ll become a star!
Conclusion
I must say, you can’t always stick to these steps. Your journey is just yours. No template or workflow can limit it. You choose your adventure. Embrace new opportunities. Break the cage and conventions. Try something new. That’s how you can enjoy the programming world.
Before I end I must reveal a terrible mistake I have made and still make throughout my learning journey. It’s trying to learn everything! Please don’t fall into this pit. I have spent months wasting my time on useless stuff. Just follow the 80-20 Rule. 80% of things you do only require 20% of stuff you learn.
Keep it fun! You’ve got this!!!