Many ambitious young people these days want to start their career in the world of programming, some of them want to do this in order to improve their financial level, and some of them want to do this in order to satisfy their passion, and some of them need to learn programming for their job.
In any case, whatever your motivation and desire to learn programming, in this article I will provide you with everything you need to know in order to take your first steps in this mysterious world.
But before I do this, I must first tell you the beginning of my journey in learning programming, to understand what is behind the steps I am giving you in this article.
In my first year at the Faculty of Pharmacy, I was very passionate about oncology and I used to attend the course after the course in it and attend seminars in universities and large hospitals in this field, such as: Hospital 57357, Nile University and others.
With the passage of time, I realized that the future in this field is the integration of oncology research with programming and machine learning, and because of my passion at that time in this field, I started from scratch in the mysterious world of programming at the time.
Then I tried several times to start on my own and discover this world, and I took the first steps 3 times and failed, before I finally succeeded and I can say that I really learned to code.
I got success the fourth time because I realized these steps I'm going to share with you in this article, so get your coffee ready, grab a pen and paper and start reading right away.
Programming steps for beginners
Learning programming for beginners is not an easy process at all, but it is not impossible either. If you have a clear vision and plan and you do what you are doing in order to reach a specific goal, your learning journey will be simple, easy and not stressful.
What makes people fail the most is confusion and confusion at first, as they keep looking for things like the best course or the best programming language for beginners, and waste all their efforts in this useless search, so before we move on to learning resources we must address some of the most important things in the start.
This is what I will present to you in this article through these steps:
First Step: Decide the reason you want to learn programming for
The first, most important, and hardest step is to decide why you want to learn programming, and set your learning goal in mind. If you don't have a goal, how can you achieve it?
This is the most important point in learning programming for beginners, which will help you chart your way in this world that you do not know much about - now -.
In this step, you will have to learn more about Computer Science and what programming is and its different types.
And do not worry about these topics and other basics that you will need in any field that you will enter, whatever and whatever job tasks assigned to you.
Knowing or looking at the field from above will help you decide which field is right for you - if you haven't already identified it - as well as identify the programming languages ​​and tools you will need to learn and master.
It will also prevent you from making some serious mistakes, as your knowledge of programming and the field you want to enter may be wrong, and another field may suit you.
Here is an overview of some scenarios you should consider in this step:
a) If you want to enter the field of programming in order to improve your financial level and improve your salary
In this case, you will have to learn about the fields available to you and the nature of the labor market in your country, for example, the chance of getting a job in the field of web development is much better than fields such as: video game design or cybersecurity.
It would also be better if you thought about how programming intersects with your original field, so that the technical and programming skills you will acquire will ensure that you advance in the same profession if you love it and want to stay in it.
b) If you want to learn programming in order to develop in your field
Many fields - for example, the academy - today need to learn some programming skills, in this case you will have to identify which languages ​​and tools are used in your field and you need to learn them, instead of studying a language or tool that you do not need.
Today, programming has entered one way or another into all fields, from management to civil engineering, medicine and pharmacy. All you have to do is just look carefully at the opportunities around you in your field.
c) If only you have a general passion for learning programming and want to know more about it
In this case, there will be more suitable beginnings for you than others, and programming languages ​​that you prefer to start with, for example, the Python language, which will open the door for you to almost most of the existing fields.
d) If you want to get the benefits of programming for logical thinking, etc.
In this case, there are languages ​​and tools that will be more suitable for you than others, and knowing them will save you a lot of time.
Of course, these are not all scenarios, but I think they are the most important.
This step was my stumbling block that made me fail to learn programming properly until I succeeded the fourth time.
Each time I didn't have a clear plan and I didn't define my goals and chose the resources that would help me achieve them.
Until the fourth time, I put a complete plan in front of me - after reading in detail, of course - and I was able to find the techniques and programming languages ​​I need at this stage of learning, and I will tell you about the rest of the details in succession in each of the next steps.
But before I move on to the next step I have to advise you to start learning about computer science in this step, it helped me a lot when I was at this stage.
Fortunately, there are plenty of courses that will also help you start your career, such as:
1. CS50: Introduction to Computer Science from Harvard
This course is perhaps the best in the world, as it has benefited millions of students around the world who want to start learning programming.
The course presenter is the famous Professor David G. Malan, and the course includes many topics, such as: fundamentals, algorithms, data structures, protection, web development, and others, and through it you will learn about languages such as: Python, C, JavaScript, SQL, in addition to HTML and CSS.
2. Computer Science Course from Crash Course
This course although much less popular than CS50 but I find it very valuable, in short, it explains everything you need to know from computer parts and what they work and operating systems to NLP natural language processing.
The introduction to this course is Carrie Ann Philbin, who has a very simple and interesting style and will take you on a short and interesting journey into the world of computers and programming.
Of course there are a lot of other courses but these are my two favorite courses and I think that each one of them is more than enough to take your hand in this mysterious area on you - just now -.
Many people skip this step or initially see it as not very important or as a waste of time, but this is not entirely true and you will realize that it is the most important after a while in your coding journey and then you will thank me.
Second Step: Knowing the field you are going to enter
In this step, and after you have defined your goals, you will be able to define the field in which you will learn, as you know there are many areas now.
I will tell you about the most important areas of programming for beginners that you should pay attention to:
1. Web Development
The field of web development is the most popular and easiest field to hire both in traditional companies and in self-employment.
The domain is divided into two sub-domains:
The front end is responsible for designing the interfaces of websites, and it depends on languages ​​such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and on development tools such as Bootstrap, Sass, and others.
This is the field in which most of the newcomers start in the world of programming and web development, and it is the most field for which you will find many courses on the Internet.
The best of these courses in my opinion is the Front-End Developer track from Zero Academy, in short, it is comprehensive and tidy.
You'll find everything you need in it, from the questions in your mind to arranging the lessons you need to learn.
Also, Osama Al-Zero is the presenter and explainer of this course with an extraordinary ability to explain and simplify, especially since he is not a graduate of the Faculty of Computing or Computer Engineering and has learned programming by himself.
The other area in web development is the back end, which is responsible for everything that happens behind the website's interface.
In this field, you need other programming languages, such as: PHP and its frameworks such as Laravel and others.
Usually in the fields of web development, the programmer or developer is either a front end specialist or a back end specialist.
But there is a type of web developer who is a full stack web developer who develops the interfaces of websites as well as their back-end systems.
They either know and use the languages and tools specific to each of them, or they know programming languages and tools that allow them to do both in the same language.
One such language that combines the two is Ruby and its framework, Ruby on Rails, which are very much in use these days.
2. Mobile App Development
Another field that competes with the popularity of web development is the field of mobile application development, and its popularity has increased during this period because every company and business has become necessary to have an application.
The most widely used programming languages ​​in this field are Swift for IOS application development, Kotlin language and Java for Android application development.
But now there are programming languages ​​that help developers write application code that works on both platforms at once, the most famous of which are Flutter and the React Native framework based on JavaScript.
Mobile app development is the second most in-demand field for programmers and that is why a lot of beginners are joining it.
3. Data Science and Artificial intelligence
These two areas are very similar so I'm going to talk about them together, as the two are very much based on the Python programming language.
They are two very important technical areas that are growing very quickly and annually need tens of thousands of programmers.
In 2020, there was a shortage of about 250,000 data science professionals, and this is only in the United States of America.
And if you want to learn this powerful language, you should definitely check out our comprehensive guide: Learn Python: All the resources and information you need.
As for artificial intelligence, you will not find a more comprehensive resource on the Internet than our guide to: Learning Artificial Intelligence (all the resources and information you need).
Of course, there are many other areas that cannot be discussed in detail, such as:
- Software Engineering Software Engineering.
- Video Game Development Video Game Development.
- Cybersecurity.
- Internet of Things.
Third Step: Familiarize yourself with the programming languages and tools you will need for your chosen field
After you know the right field for you and see if it is suitable for you or not, read more about it and find out what tools and languages ​​are most used in it at this time, yes, as the languages ​​and tools for each field are constantly changing in the market and the demand for them changes.
And pay more attention to getting to know the most requested technologies in your country, as by asking specialists or looking at job applications for companies, you will learn everything you need.
After you have familiarized yourself with the languages, tools, and frameworks required in each field, it will remain for you to determine the source from which you will study it.
This is where learning programming for beginners begins, but as you've seen, this precedes many other important steps.
As for me, while I was at this step, I knew that there were two languages ​​I needed to master in order to achieve my goals, Python and R.
Plus I had to learn a lot about data structures and needed some math to understand data science applications.
Fourth step: Determine the appropriate source of the study
Learning programming for beginners is very easy as there are dozens of online resources that provide you with everything you need to know.
Sometimes it can even turn into a problem, because you can't decide the best source from which to start your journey of learning programming.
In general, you will find a lot of articles on the winners site that will help you start learning the field you want.
And if I want to advise you one advice in this step is to pay attention to the application, learning a language or technology without applying it in real projects is a waste of time and effort.
The application is what will help you to build a business gallery for you, and also enables you to start freelancing if you do not want to work in a company.
And if you do not know which source of study is most suitable for you from the beginning, then simply experiment with several sources until you decide on the one that suits you best.
Sooner or later you will realize that learning programming for beginners is not a problem with a lack of resources but a lack of motivation, as you will not start to find everything you want on the Internet.
As for me, when I started learning, I did not know what was the best source for learning the Python language, but I tried many sources until I reached the right one for me, which I completed my journey with, and some of them I shared with you in the guide to learning programming.
Step five: Planning the learning process
Learning programming does not depend on the learning process only, but also depends on planning and organizing, especially if you are a student or employee and are not free to learn.
In these cases, you must specify precisely the number of hours that you can learn programming in, and after determining this number, even if it is 6 hours per week, divide it by two.
Want to know why? To give yourself time to absorb and apply, you are not learning literature or sociology.
Rather, you are learning a technical field so you have to put in extra time in order to comprehend the concepts you are learning, many of which you will not be able to understand satisfactorily the first time or even the second time.
Try to divide your learning time into two or three days a week. For example, if you have 8 hours of free time in your day, divide it into two groups of 4 hours, one in a day and the other in a day.
Step Six: Apply as you learn
Application in learning programming is equivalent to the learning process itself. Programming is a practical field in which if you cannot apply what you study, you have not learned it.
Always apply and experiment with what you learn and you can even devote more time to application than to learning, and after a while learning the basics work on real projects.
Apply even to very simple projects, the important thing is that you use what you learn, I think that just like there is muscle memory there is software memory that you have to build up during the learning period.
On the Internet and on YouTube, you will find many projects that you can work on, implement and add to your portfolio.
Step 7: Never stop learning
The title Learning Programming for Beginners may suggest that the learning phase is a temporary phase, but this is not true at all, as learning programming is a continuous process.
Technologies change and you may find in just 6 months that the frameworks you are using are outdated and the market has moved to other frameworks to work.
So keep in mind that you should devote a week to learning even after you have finished your beginner programming period.
Read also:
Cyber Security Fields (The Top 10 Most Prevalent Fields 2022)
Conclusion
Learning programming for beginners is not an easy process, but it is also not impossible. If you know the right steps, you will easily be able to become a professional programming with minimal effort and in the shortest time.
In this short guide I have provided everything that will help you in your programming journey and I have also shared with you my story and my learning journey as well.
I hope that this guide is useful to you and helps you to start your journey as well in learning programming, and if you have any question or inquiry, do not hesitate to ask us in the comments and we will answer it with love.