Learning independently can be difficult. It is easy to get distracted by the many other things in your life. Becoming a web developer is going to be a long road that is going to take hard-work and dedication. With the right tools and strategies though, it is completely doable. Here is my advice.
Set your time and place for learning.
It’s important to build a routine and stick to it. Decide how many hours you’re going to dedicate to learning. You will need to set aside at least two hour chunks of time for this. Programming requires a lot of concentration and attention for extended stretches of time. This is not something you can do via ten minutes here and there. The reason for this is that coding can be complicated and it is easy to lose track of what you were doing if you step away from it. If you have trouble working for long periods, you may want to consider the Pomodoro Technique.
Also decide on where you will be studying. It can be easier to get into a routine if you have one place you go every day that is separate from your leisure space. There are plenty of low-cost options such as libraries, coffee shops, or your own home office. Also consider paying for a co-working space. These are popping up in several cities and offer private and shared office space for a monthly fee. A co-working space can provide community and socializing, which may keep you motivated.
Be an active learner.
Passively watching videos and reading tutorials is not going to turn you into a web developer. On your own computer, follow along with any coding demonstrations. Complete the independent exercises that are offered to you. Take notes. Coding isn’t about memorizing facts. It is building things and hands-on problem-solving.
Consider paying for resources.
Learning on your own isn’t 100% free. There are subscription resources worth paying for, such as Treehouse, Pluralsight, and Code School. There is no need to pay for all of these at once. At certain points in this curriculum, I will recommend specific tutorials on these websites. While there are free alternatives out there, I feel these services are worth the money. Remember that any money you spend learning is an investment in yourself and your career. Your starting salary will more than make up for it.
Get a mentor.
There are times when you are going to hit a wall. Rather than give up, ask for help. Websites such as Code Mentor offer mentors for hire. They usually charge by the hour. If you need extra motivation, then it may be worth meeting with a mentor weekly to keep you on track.
Before asking for help, though, do make an honest attempt to solve the problem on your own. You will have to do this working as a developer. Resources for this include Stack Overflow, programming forums, and good old fashioned googling. Never be afraid to google what you don’t know. Developers google regularly on the job. If you’ve spent over an hour on a problem, it is probably time to ask for help.
Join a community.
Another great way to stay motivated is to join a community of like-minded people. Code Buddies and Free Code Camp offer online communities for aspiring developers. Your city may also offer in-person events for junior developers. Checkout Meetup to see if there are any technology-focused groups nearby.
Break problems into small steps.
It is impossible to throw together an application with no planning. Every exercise and application you attempt to tackle can be broken up into steps and then those steps can be broken up into smaller steps. I regularly take notes when figuring out how to resolve a bug or add a feature. These are notes I can also refer to later on when I come across a similar problem.
Popular media portrays programming as hackers typing quickly at their computers. The truth is that web development comprises mostly of researching problems, debugging, and building on top of already existing code. I spend more time doing this than writing new code.
It is ok to google and it is also ok to copy and paste other peoples’ code. When you copy and paste code, however, make sure that you know what the code is actually doing. You will need to modify it for your own purpose and make sure it is not going to break the rest of your program.
In the next post, how to learn programming fundamentals and set up your tool box.