Learning coding or programming skills at home is challenging but not impossible. With confidence, discipline, planning, creativity, and the availability of online learning sources you can learn coding on your own at home.
Learning to code is important to build software, web application, and tools. And software and tools are important in businesses that continue technology development and solve current and future problems. There are various reasons why programming is important. And also, there are various reasons to learn to program other than a job or for a job as well.
How to learn coding at home?
1. Set the time and follow it to learn coding at home:
Learning any computer skills at home is challenging. And learning programming skills is not different, but even more challenging. You can overcome any challenge through discipline. To be disciplined you have to set your time to learn to code.
You can choose any morning or afternoon or evening session to learn to code. But you have to be committed that each day you will be ready that time in front of the laptop or computer for learning.
You can fix at least 2 hours or more as per urgency to learn to code.
Setting time for learning is as important as learning to code. So that not only you and your mind get prepared for learning but other family members know that as well.
At home, you have to deal with many things which include cooking, taking care of kids, listening to neighbors, and attending to guests and outsiders. The work at home is different for everyone. But that kind of small work, controversies or debates with family members, and connectivity with social media, and social networks might distract and disturb you.
It’s also because there is a big difference between a home and a training center or school or office. That’s why it’s important to build a learning environment at home. Read more: How to build and follow healthy habits online
But because you want to learn coding at home, it means you have to lead and guide yourself to learn. In schools or colleges or institutes, instructors or teachers can guide you. There you will get timetables and classmates as well for learning to code. But at home, you have to guide, lead and learn on your own.
So that’s why it’s important to set time to remain disciplined, and consistent in learning to code.
2. Learn the basics of computer science and technology:
If you already have knowledge of basic computer skills and technology then it’s great to learn to code. But if you’re not aware of the technology field, software, uses of computers, uses of the internet, and fundamentals of computers and the internet then it will be difficult for you to learn the programming concepts.
The use of programming skills is to build software, web application, mobile apps, and various other tools. Mainly the work is to automate repetitive tasks. But if you don’t know yet, what is a computer? Importance of software or not using computers or software in studies or work than just starting building tools or learning programming is difficult.
For example, to make tasty food or recipe. At least you should know about the taste. What things include to make anything tasty?
Software development is similar to making food. To make food there are many things involved such as cookware, spices, oil, stove, items etc. Similar to building software, you need to plan, and design, frameworks, programming languages, and many other things. Behind the tasty food, there are hundreds of things involved. Similarly, that in any software.
For example, to build a WordPress plugin it’s important that you 1st know the basics of WordPress, plugins, and themes. Similarly, you must know the types of software, web applications, and websites.
When you know and use these things in your daily life, you can think and plan what you want to build and how I am going to build it. The point is before you start creating a car, make sure you know how to drive a car.
And to learn the basics of the software. You have to practice and use the various software, you have to test how they work, what files they included, etc. And you can learn these things while you learn the basics of computer.
To make it easy for you I suggest learning the basics of computer science through books, videos or online courses. And also use and test various computer software, mobile apps, and games on computers. Read their manuals, and installation details, visit various websites, understand their functionalities etc.
3. Learn the Basics of Programming:
Once you find yourself good at operating computers, software, and mobile apps now it’s time to learn the basics of programming. You can select any computer programming language to learn the basics. You can learn the basics of programming by learning C and Python.
At least chosen one, I will suggest starting learning programming with Python. Python is modern, more advanced, efficient, and easy to learn to maintain.
Learn the basics of python which include variables, expressions, statements, functions, conditions, iterations, string manipulation, lists, dictionaries, classes, objects, and many other things. Read More: How to learn python programming basics online
Practice all of these concepts through various examples, and video tutorials on your own.
For this search for string manipulation examples on google, search for examples of conditional statements, search for “for loop” examples, etc. Learn everything in detail. And use one thing in more than 10 ways. For example to learn for loop, search and find more than 10 examples where for loop is used. Then practice all of those 10.
This type of practice will make you master python and computer programming. It’s because each example or exercise will teach you something different from others. And you need that later in software and web development works.
After Python, learn the basics of JavaScript, and MySQL and use similar techniques to learn these languages as well.
Explore: Best Free Basic Computer Programming Tutorials for beginners
4. Practice and learn more advanced coding techniques:
To learn advanced computer programming, software development, and web development concepts, it’s important you know them. But because you are learning at home or only depend on online programming courses or tutorials for learning advanced concepts. That’s ok. Learn everything that you get in the programming course.
But you should not only depend on learning from the instructor and course. New technologies, new programming languages, and software development or the use of code are continuously changing. It’s important to be aware of them. But more than awareness, you need to learn practical concepts.
For this I have some ideas for you to learn the latest and advanced coding concepts to practice your coding skills:
- Use Freelance websites such as Upwork and create accounts and find coding-related projects. For example, if you’re learning python, then search for python projects. You will get various types of Python projects and works. But you don’t have to apply now. Instead, you have to learn about that project, required skills, and required technologies. For example, you found a web scrapping project and a list of skills or tasks. Such as beautiful soup. Now go to google or YouTube and search for beautiful soup tutorials. And learn the basic uses of beautiful soup. Similarly, if you found streamlit, search for that use that, and practice as per the tutorials.
- Now look for programming job sites. Watch the types of jobs and work required. See the type of programming skills in demand. Understand the job requirements and responsibilities. And then learn about those requirements, tools, and concepts.
- Join the latest online programming course related to your selected language such as Python or C. It can be related to python framework, flask or web scrapping, or machine learning. But watch that. Learn the concepts.
- See the examples of other programming languages and write them in your selected language for practice and learning. For example, if you find a C program that is written to find odd or even numbers in the list, write that program in Python. If the program is written in JavaScript write that in Typescript. Or as per your selected languages.
So the point here is to learn that you can do almost everything with one programming language that someone else needs to be done in various other languages.
People often say, what you can do in PHP or you can do that in python or JavaScript. That’s correct. But how many do?
- But you should do it. Because you’re not learning to program just for a job or building tools. You’re learning computer programming because you want to become a master or expert and leading programmer. This time your thinking should not be what is best or what is not best. Your focus should be on learning as many concepts as possible before you start applying for jobs.
- I suggest that you should invest the first 6 months each day 2 hours to learning the basics of programming languages, software development, web development, API development etc.
- Programming is power. Learning programming means the installation of that power in you and your profession. And for this, you need patience, practice, discipline, creativity, excitement, competitiveness, focus, confidence, and stress management. Read More: How to learn to code quickly, effectively, and easily
- Don’t be in hurry to become a programmer and find a job. There are thousands of jobs waiting for you. Thousands of business ideas are waiting for you. But you have to wait. And the 1st 6 months are enough to learn the basics of programming and try everything on your own.
5. Apply for programming or software development job interview, projects to get failed:
It might sound strange to you, but it’s creative. People go for interviews and apply for jobs to get successful. Why I am telling you to get fail?
I always wish you to get successful in the job interview. But I suggest you get failed.
Many students or professionals become nervous and fear failing in interviews. Even many do not apply and keep studying and practicing coding for years. They don’t become confident in their coding skills. And they fear facing programming experts.
That’s ok! And it’s obvious. But most students or professionals apply for projects or jobs with expectations of getting successful or getting a job. But they get failed. And then lose their remaining confidence as well. And they start thinking about another profession or a small option. And they find that programming is hard for them. Read more: How to keep learning coding without losing your interest?
This kind of attitude and mindset is not good for students who are ambitious and have bigger dreams. That’s why I suggest you give at least your 1st 5 interviews only to get failed. Let people laugh at you and your poor programming knowledge. If you know the power of failure and disregard you will easily understand my point of view.
Each time you get failed in an interview, you will learn new things about programming, and you will learn what needs to be learned. And then you will go home, start learning those concepts and become a master. After becoming an expert in that, try again. Get failed, and then learn again. This is the fastest method to learn to code and become an expert and get a job.
Now if people and your seniors or interviewers laugh at you during an internship or even in the interviews, then just smile. But use those disregards as power. So that you convert that disregard into respect by learning and becoming an expert in programming.
6. Start building on your own tools, web or mobile apps:
This is very important. You have to start building small tools, projects, and scripts on your own. When you will get a job, you will be involved in any part or process of software development. Then you will not get a chance very soon to understand the overall software development cycle and plan.
That’s why it’s important to start building your own small tool so that you can show them as an example. For example, you can create your own website, where you can list the code, scripts, and tools created by you. And share the link of those tools or GitHub. Explore: 20 Creative Projects Ideas for Web Development beginners
7. Read computer programming books:
Books will help you to learn programming concepts deeply and in detail. Computer programming books or most books go through various editing processes. That makes books more useful. Also learning programming by reading books help your mind to focus and learn the concepts and think like a computer scientist or technologist.
Also, computer programming books build your programming vocabulary and you become fluent in learning, listening, and explaining programming concepts to others as well.
Along with other methods of learning programming, read 1 to 2 pages each day at night before you sleep or in the afternoon. Make it a habit to study one book related to one thing each month. For example, if you’re interested in machine learning, web development or more in python, then read at least one python book each month.
But make sure, you not just read but also practice the concepts on the computer.
8. Take new challenges and keep learning:
If you want to become an expert in computer programming, software development or web development, you have to keep yourself connected with learning sources, events, boot camps, online courses, and books.
Make it your habit from today that for the next 5 years or 10 years each day you will spend at least 2 hours learning about programming, technologies, and software development.
In the future, you might become the CTO or CEO of any big company. Or you can be a part of millions of dollars in startups. Still, in that time, you should get 2 hours from your busy schedule to learn about new technological problems, consumer problems, and social and environmental challenges so that you can create and lead the technologies to solve those problems.
That’s why you need to make it a habit to spend 2 hours each day only learning programming, and technologies on your own. No matter, if you have 100 employees to research for you. I suggest you research and learn from your own. And then it’s your choice to include a team to execute that idea.