You may have already heard that computer coding is one of the most crucial job skills in today’s tech landscape. Coding is infiltrating virtually almost every aspect of work and it’s becoming nearly indistinguishable from common work since tech-related tasks are becoming important parts of even those fields that are less technical. In other words, learning code gives you that much needed competitive edge in today’s job market, no matter whether you do it full-time or part-time. In this post, we’re going to discuss the reasons for which you must concentrate on learning code.
1- Why learning code is imperative today?
If you’re still on the fence about whether you should focus on learning code, have a look at these reasons that would help you decide.
1.1- YOU’LL BECOME PREFERRED TO RECRUITERS
Constant job hunting is a harsh reality for many people, especially if they’re absolute beginners. Imagine if you never had to land in that situation. Once you’ve finalized your decision of learning code and become established as a coder, recruiters will keep looking for you. This not only alleviates the stress of constant job hunt but also makes you more competitive. Having more job offers means more leverage for better and higher paying job opportunities over time.
1.2- IT’LL HELP YOU THINK DIFFERENTLY
When you’re trying to accomplish your goal of learning code, you become able to do better in other subjects which you’re learning or studying. Within coding, you learn ways to break down problems into individual steps and how to use a language understandable by the computer in order to logically develop a working program.
This helps you to develop a specific mindset for dealing with problems and processing huge amounts of information. Put simply, you learn to look at problems with a different mindset and adapt to working through difficulties to solve issues. So, learning code is much more than just learning a language – it’s about developing a productive and effective mindset toward problem-solving that affects any intellectual endeavor you consider to a great extent.
1.3- YOU’LL BE ABLE TO EARN MORE MONEY
Financial success is a crucial part of life and learning code can leave a significant impact on that. Regardless of what your profession, career, or background is, coding skills are greatly useful. Once you succeed in your endeavor of learning code, career opportunities will become almost endless, which you’ll be able to financially capitalize on.
Apart from getting you ahead in the job market, coding skills can also help you greatly if you want to do something on your own. There’re lots of developers who apply their coding expertise to create websites for others, start their own business etc.
1.4- YOU’LL BECOME MORE SELF-CONFIDENT
One of the greatest feelings is knowing that you’ve got the ability to perform something really complex or that you’ve accomplished something great. Once you complete your journey toward learning code, you’ll get to enjoy that empowerment and excitement. It’ll offer you a lot of satisfaction and self-confidence if you don’t need to wait for someone else to develop a program in order to improve your workflow at your job.
1.5- YOU’LL BE ABLE TO WORK REMOTELY
When you work in the tech domain, there’re lots of opportunities to work remotely, or online, which means it doesn’t matter where you’re – at home or on vacation – as long as you’re completing your assignments. This is probably the biggest advantage of learning code if you don’t want to take up regular jobs.
In addition, when you’ve learned how to code and obtained a couple of years of experience, you’ll be in a position to increase your contractual hourly rate and end up earning more, even if you work less. This freedom and flexibility are hard to find in any other tech-related domain other than coding.
1.6- YOU’LL BE ABLE TO LEARN MACHINE LEARNING
Probably you’re already aware of the fact that machine learning – the highly successful approach to the wider field of artificial intelligence, is one of the buzzwords that are taking the tech domain by storm. Learning code is essential to perform machine learning-related tasks.
For example, Python and R are the two most widely used programming languages presently for this purpose. Both of these languages come with robust resources and support to help learners accomplish their goal of learning code easily. Other languages that are considered good choices for artificial intelligence development include Lisp, Java, and Prolog, among others.
1.7- YOU’LL BE ABLE TO COMPETE FOR THE TOP JOB
You’re probably aware that the role of a data scientist is the top and one of the highest paying jobs in the tech domain. Learning code is imperative to become one of those elite professionals.
A good data scientist has to be a good coder to succeed. Learning code and becoming a master of that is one of the central skills that you’d need to focus on to step into the field of data science.
2- Key things to keep in mind when you’re learning code
Though some schools may try to push aspiring people into coding by citing learning code is easy, in reality, it’s one of the most difficult skills to achieve and excel in. Here’re some crucial things that you must keep in mind even before you start your journey of learning code.
2.1- MAKE SURE IT’S FOR YOU
If coding is something you don’t want to do, you should leave it to the people who do. The first step toward learning code is to understand why you’re doing this. When code gets trapped in knots and nothing seems to be right, it’s only remembering your key purpose for learning code that can help you get through.
Of course, you don’t need to be highly passionate about coding from the very beginning because this thing doesn’t happen overnight, but the motivation has to be there to help you move forward.
2.2- START SMALL
Though learning code can surely be an uphill task, one of the most useful ways to attain is to start small. Consider learning things one at a time to stay focused and master the individual concepts. As you get a solid understanding of the building blocks, you can go ahead and focus on bigger aspects of coding.
2.3- GET A MENTOR
Having a good mentor by your side can greatly help you throughout your journey of learning code. Having a mentor makes you able to avoid common mistakes that can slow your learning process down.
These people can offer you invaluable guidance that they’ve gained from real-world experience. You can do a lot of things with your mentor like mock interviews, pair-programming etc.
2.4- KEEP ON DOING PROJECTS
Projects not only help you understand your limitations but also improve your problem-solving and analytical skills. You should understand that learning code isn’t all about learning syntax; rather, it’s about learning how to solve problems.
If you’re a beginner, it may become difficult to get project ideas. In that case, your mentor and/or online research can help you to a good extent.
2.5- MAINTAIN A PORTFOLIO
Once you’ve done some projects, remember to keep a collection of all your work. It would pay you off significantly well, especially when you feel a lack of motivation.
Your portfolio is something you should refer to during hard times to see how far you’ve come. It’ll also help you in getting a job once you’ve completed learning code.
2.6- MASTER THE TOOLS OF THE TRADE
Just like any other learning path, a good understanding of tools can help you in learning code. Regardless of the programming language or framework you’re learning, you should always try to take advantage of the tools available. You can also use tools to automate most of your manual works to keep yourself free to focus on the key problem.
2.7- BALANCE YOUR LEARNING
When you’re fully engaged with learning code, it’s easy to forget about the world outside. It’s important to make sure that you’re taking breaks consistently.
Spending an excessive amount of time without having positive results can easily lead to stress, frustration, and eventually, a burnout. So, spending some quality time on things apart from putting effort for learning code is crucial to rejuvenate your brain.
2.8- BE A PART OF A USEFUL COMMUNITY
We’ve already discussed that the journey toward learning code isn’t an easy one. Coding communities can play a crucial role in helping you sail through difficult times.
Just perform a quick search on the internet and you should be able to find lots of coding communities for developers, including some for beginners.
Conclusion
Learning code can be one of the best decisions of your life, if you do it right and try to follow the above steps. Once you’re comfortable with the skills, you should try to do real-life projects to test your expertise as well as earn some money.
There’re some online platforms where you can find freelance projects for coders. Doing them will not only help you learn things but will also let you build your portfolio. Alternatively, you can also look for work opportunities within your community or peer group and help people out with their projects to establish yourself as a good coder.
