Be gritty.
Posted on 26 May 2014
Tags: advice
I recently stumbled across Cecily Carver’s (@cecilycarver) Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I Was Learning How to Code, and I thought she made some great points about how to succeed as a programmer.
Here are my takeaways:
- It’s a vast world out there… Consider what work you’d enjoy doing before embarking on your programming journey. Be strategic about how you spend your time. You’ll save yourself headaches and find the path a lot more enjoyable.
- Like all other disciplines, programming has its own grammar, vocabulary, tools, techniques, etc. Don’t be intimidated! Immerse yourself in the language - When you own the terms, the concepts will click.
- Everyone makes mistakes. Be patient. Have faith that you can figure things out. Experienced programmers believe they can hack their way through any problem - This is one of the things that separates them from novices.
- What you make is more important than what you use. Don’t listen to people who tell you that you’re not a real programmer because you’re not using their preferred tools.
- Programming is hard. The learning curve is steep. You’ll encounter walls that appear insurmountable… but don’t stop! Keep trying new things. Persevere. Eventually, you’ll break through. Be gritty!
I’d recommend reading the full post - I found it motivating. It’s a quick read, and it just might be the kick in the butt you’ve been looking for.