Mastering how to code while the lockdown extends

Staying quarantined away from the outside world gives one plenty of time to try their hand out in a number of skills.

While some are working on their long-forgotten passion and others are on a lookout for fresh skills to learn during the lockdown period. Programming skills are becoming one of the popular skills to learn especially if you are interested in building and working with software programs. 

With lockdown extended, social interactions remain limited but it does give us ample time in our hands. 

So why not try your hand at some programming and venture out into the world of coding?

In this article, we will help you become the Yoda of coding just like thousands of our mentees. 

Let’s begin...

Why coding though?

Well in today’s highly digital era, every aspect we deal with is in some way or the other relate back to programming. 

In this era, learning how to program would mean contributing to shape and reshape our current world. 

Coding is a simplified form of problem-solving. Every program out there is a puzzle waiting to be solved. 

Even though, through programs you deal with problems in today’s digital world, it is through coding you create your software, apps, and websites. 

While some are simply curious and keen to learn a valuable skill and have time on their hands. Others are uncertain about their jobs and looking for a potential new career.  

Whatever your reasons are, this quarantine does make a great time to learn how to code when compared to hours of binging on Netflix social media.

How to learn to code?

With unlimited resources from the internet, the journey into the exciting world of software development is made easy. 

Though the internet makes it easy to access all that we want to learn, coding is how to begin. 

However, there are way too many options on learning how to code.

So do you pick up an online course and workshops or do you learn through some youtube tutorials or read through blogs on languages or learn through books on coding? 

Some more questions that pop up are how long will I take to learn to code? Can I go from a beginner to someone who can be a hired developer within one to three months?  

Well for starters, we suggest you get to know about the world of coding a little before venturing out into it. 

There are more than a dozen coding languages out there but to begin with, we have listed down a few of the coding languages one could pick up during this quarantine. 

Moreover, the steps to start your journey into coding have been broken down accordingly

Step1. Select the programming language that interests you

The mentioned are some of the basic coding languages any coder should be thorough with. 

HTML

When you try to go to the source of any webpage it leads to you the HTML coded lines. 

Hypertext Markup Language is basically the bones of the internet, it defines the structure and semantics of the content of your webpage. It tells you a webpage on what to be displayed, where, and how to fit things within a given style sheet. It creates connections to other web pages through hyperlinks. 

Even though HTML isn’t considered to be a programming language, it is an essential one to learn. 

CSS

Well, the next thing to learn in your journey of coding languages would be CSS. Just as HTML holds the basic structure and poise of your webpage, CSS is used to style and layout your webpage. 

It interacts with HTML structures as well as brings out the style and effect to your webpage. 

Pro tip: If you are looking to designing a career in UI/UX design, learning CSS can be truly helpful.

Javascript 

It is a language that brings interaction to the webpage. It is used to add functionality and make users feel more comfortable interacting with the webpages. 

In today’s world javascript has grown to be the most used coding language. It is a natural starting point for anyone learning to program, for the language is in high demand in the programming field.

For example, If you go to a website and click on a button, the javascript makes the button look like you’re actually clicking it.

Python 

Python is a high-level programming language with dynamic interpretation. If one wants to create programs that allow high user interaction in the webpages then python it is. 

It’s simple and easy to learn syntax emphasizes readability and reduces the cost of program maintenance.

For example, if you want to ensure an automatic payment or booking page for your client using python would help you code the best.

Step 2. Opt for Online Courses

Try out online courses on coding as they ensure you understand the coding principles and concepts thoroughly. They allow interaction and step by step process in learning the languages. 

Some of the online courses you could check out to start coding with

• Codeacademy is a popular site that can help inexperienced coders learn the basics. The site offers a variety of courses that can help you learn programming languages and all their basic aspects for free. So if you're a beginner this is where you could start.
• MyCaptain provides Coder’s pack that gives you a start with Java and Python to learn. It provides interactive sessions with experienced coding professionals to learn from and also give in some hands-on experience with live projects as a part of the pack.

• Coursera - Learn coding with Coursera’s programming for everybody. Coursera provides online certified courses on programming languages like python from top universities and organizations.
• Coding Ninjas - Top destination for understanding and building data structures and algorithms. They provide online content and video support and simplify difficult topics and concepts too. Foundation, development, and advanced courses in coding are covered by coding ninja. 

• MIT is a resourceful platform for curious programmers who want to learn from instructors at the highest level. While this isn’t the best option for beginners as the courses don’t let you interact with instructors, and you may not be able to access all course materials programming knowledge. Look into MIT OpenCourseware if you’d like to move beyond the basics.

Step 3 Practice 

Coding requires a lot of practice. It’s not enough to just understand the concepts. 

To learn to program, you have to write programs and more programs and more programs. 

Create an environment where you can focus on. Coding is an exercise that requires concentration. Moreover, you’ll need to be disciplined enough to set meaningful challenges for yourself. 

Good news though!

Quarantine is great for all that. 

Practice and get a solid hold of your coding basics. While you may not emerge from quarantine with a software development job. But with practice, it’s quite possible that you’ll have pushed through the hardest, most intense part of the journey.

Mastering the basics and understanding the world of 0’s and 1’s.