Learning to code might not change your life, but it could be fun
When I was in school, I had no idea what I wanted to do for my future career. I’m sure this is a sentence many of us have thought and I know I am not alone in saying that I have worked jobs to make ends meet and had always wondered if there was more. When I started learning to code, I had a full time job in pharmacy with the opportunity to grow into my role, but I knew it wasn’t the right place for me. I had always enjoyed building things as a child, be that lego, K’nex or sandcastles, but I was never particularly academically strong. Learning to code hadn’t even crossed my mind.
Then in 2015 my father encouraged me to give coding a try. At 23 and having been out of school for 5 years the thought of watching lessons and assignments was particularly daunting. As I mention later on, I tried a free course that was only a few hours a week, not wanting to commit too much time incase it was just another phase I was about to start. I was unfortunately never exposed to many women in technology and a lot of my friends didn’t understand my decision to pursue a career in software development, so I understand if you feel like it might not be the right thing for you. Learning to code can be done at your own pace and within your own terms, if you are a full time parent, have a full time job or anything that you have to commit time to, don’t stress if you can only put in a few hours a week coding, that’s how I and many others started. It’s your journey.
I had a lot of bumps on my journey to where I am now, and I’m sure the rest of the road will be similar. However, I wanted to give you some tips that helped me keep going in the hope that maybe you would like to jump on board, and learn to code as well. It turns out that that course was not a phase and I am pleased to say that I now work as a software engineer and I get excited about work every day! It’s a cliche I know, but it’s true.
1) Have a reason why
Learning to code looks really hard when you start, there are all of these special words, odd symbols, and people will tell you that you have to be really good at maths. I’m going to dispel that myth straight away; I’m terrible at maths, don’t tell my boss!
Having a reason why you want to learn will help you get over that hump when things get hard. Maybe you would like to automate a task you do at work or write a small program to rename the hundreds of photos on your hard drive. Perhaps you are looking for a career change or you would like to support a child starting their own code journey. Whatever your reason, write it down and remember it when you want to throw in the towel.
If you’d like to have accountability for your journey, maybe start a blog or a dedicated social media account. These days people from all walks of life are learning to code which is fantastic, connecting with even one other person on their learning may help you stay on your path. If there is a certification you would like to take, book the exam for a certain date so that you have to study for it. This is something I have to do because I know I will just keep procrastinating!
2) Have a project
Your ‘reason why’ doesn’t have to be your first project, or even the second. My reason why was a career change, which is a pretty big task to achieve! For my first coding creation I made a birthday card in Scratch, a fantastic tool that allows people to learn the concepts of programming through a series of drag and drop elements. It took me most of the day and I’m pretty sure my sister doesn’t remember it, but I had a blast and more importantly, I was hungry for more.
Another fantastic website and organisation that could help you get that spark of interest is Hour of Code. Hour of Code is the worlds largest learning event in history and backed by thousands of people. The idea is that in one hour, they can demystify computer science and show that anyone can learn the basics.
What ever you choose to start with, make sure it has something that you can create and see to the end, be that a bit of code that renames a file, a text based game or something that helps you at work, having something visual will show progress and keep that learning spark lit.
3) Find a course in your language of choice
These days we are spoilt for choice with thousands of free and paid for resources, there are so many that it can be hard to pick one to start off with. When I started, I followed a structured course offered by Coursera, it was 4 weeks long and only took a few hours each week to work through with assignments to be completed at the end of the week. It worked for me as I was working full time and I wasn’t sure if it would be right for me but the assignments kept me logging in each week. It helped that it was free so I didn’t have any financial implications for not finishing it, although for some people this may be an incentive.
The course I took was Python for Everyone by Dr Chuck Severance and can be found by following this link! The course is well explained and was a fantastic introduction into programming and I would highly recommend it. Python is also a great beginners language and Dr Chuck is an enthusiastic teacher.
The right course depends on an individuals learning style and it’s important to note this when choosing. For me, I like something that is interactive, if I’m spoken to on a video I’m going to get distracted. Luckily there are many different ways to learn how to code:
- If you like playing a game while you learn I recommend Code Combat
- If books are more of your thing, this article by Learn to Code with me has a fantastic list of them in many languages
- If you enjoy following videos there are so many out there it’s hard to pick one! freeCodeCamp have a great selection of easy to follow videos on various languages, certifications and computer science fundamentals on YouTube and they also have a great website!
Perhaps you would like to just get stuck into a project. There are several avenues here; you could help contribute to an open source project like one of these from Google, or you could try your hand at a Hackathon. Hackathons are time based projects around a theme and can be a fun way to spend 24 hours or longer making something around the pre-defined theme. You can find some beginner online hackathons on Eventbrite or if you like the idea of a game jam, a hackathon around creating a game, have a look at the Ludum Dare website.
Picking the language you want to learn can seem a bit daunting at first, Melanie Pinola has written this article on Life Hacker that might help you find the right language for your why and a fun way to learn it.
4) Find something to sink your teeth into
So, you’ve tried a small project or two and maybe even a course. Now is the time to get something to sink your teeth into, a more structured course, a bigger project or your reason why!
Udemy do a huge range of courses on almost every programming language and technology out there. The fantastic thing about Udemy is that many of their courses can lead to official certification which can help if your reason to learn is a career change or promotion. Many of the courses get discounted during Udemy’s many sales so be sure to check back often if there is one that catches your eye.
Once you have started to learn the basics of coding you may find it useful to your journey to looking into the fundamentals of computer science. Tools such as networking, version control using git and learning about the command line can really help enhance what you are learning and give you a clearer picture. With how the world is evolving, don’t be scared to look into technologies like cloud computing or maybe even making a game using an engine like Unreal Engine or Unity. One of my favourite projects and the one that really cemented my journey into computer science was creating a game in Unity.
5) Encourage others to learn
The biggest reason for me writing this is in the hope it encourages someone else to learn how to code. The world around us is changing, children are growing up surrounded by technology and that technology is becoming more connected in the growing internet of things. Learning to code is a fantastic way to understand how this more connected world works and learn a new skill while doing it!
Something I would love to see is more women and people from under represented groups coming into technology! When I was at university there was never more than 6 females in a class of over 150 individuals, and in the technology industry females and other individuals from under represented groups are often made to feel like the ‘token’ person.
Computer science has the power to finally make all people equal, but the quality of the output is reflective of the quality of the input which is why it is essential that people from all works of life are represented both in the data sets as well as in the creation of the software. With this balance in representation achieved, the products created will be more accessible and engaging for a more diverse group of people.
Some fantastic charities and organisations trying to make computer science and software engineering open to everyone include the wonderful Stemettes, SheCodes, Diversity in Tech and the Athena Forum who have recently merged with the STEMM Disability Advisory Committee. Have a look at some of these resources to see if they could help you or someone you know.
Encouraging one other person also means having someone along with you on this hopefully exciting journey, and if you ever need someone to speak to, or help you google the answer just drop me a message and I’ll try and help!
Let me know if you decide to embark on your own coding journey, and what things you make along the way!
