I studied chemical engineering from Obafemi university, graduated in 2013, started programming in 2015, landed an entry level job same year, and now working as a Website developer. As a self-taught, I think I can share some experiences that you might take benefit from, if you want to learn efficiently and in the long run.
- Learn the fundamentals of website design so that you get the basics of HTML and CSS, W3school is a good resource website for this. At the end of the day, you must understand how your code works, not just some boilerplates and snippets, so you’d better learn the foundation of HTML and CSS, things such as html dom elements, entities, css framework, etc.
- Introduction to Javascript, and building of dynamic websites with the implentation of HTML and CSS. Be it web development, software development, mobile development, stay focused. As a self-taught, your time must be well spent. You can not be good at so many thing that quick, so be good at one thing, and others can be hobbies, that’s what I learned in my first 2 years, focusing on web development.
- Set your code quality standard high. If you are copying and pasting codes, then something is wrong, something is duplicated and can be refactored. Comment your code, review it, put it in retrospective, refactor it, remove duplications. You don’t just learn the courses so that your code works. You also learn the code convention, code quality standards. If you want to move fast, then spend time to review your code and set the code quality standard for yourself.
- It might take years to code properly. You might learn very efficiently, but it will take years, so please be patient with yourself. It took me 2 years, learning from zero, to entry-level job, and to work professionally. After all, others spend 3–4 years at college, so 2 years might be considered efficient.
Finally, if you are in need of a mentor or want to learn programming with our help, send an email to info@cowebplus.com.
No comment