About Me

From now on, everything you’re reading is based on my opinion. I’ve been programming for 20 years. I worked in technology companies as a programmer, Technical Leader, project leader, and project manager. At the same time, one of my tasks was to train young programmers. Currently, I develop as a web developer freelancer.

One last clarification: in this blog, I will talk about developers and programmers as synonyms. For me they always were, no matter what anyone might think. I believe that the word developer has a more formal distinction, but it does not fail to describe the same kind of professional.

Here, I offer you are some useful things and ways to learn how to program. They’re not exclusive. It is recommended that you try each one of these and stay with the one that feels better. I just want to clarify here that I’m considering theoretical learning. Whatever modality you choose to learn, then you will need to practice hours and hours writing code.

Own research

The most recommended to begin is to investigate a little on your own. I believe that this step is essential not for what you are going to learn at a technical level, but for you to understand the process of starting without knowing anything and having to learn something from scratch. Something a programmer must get used to.

Take advantage of this research to discover the types of technology that exist and in which you would like to play.

Online courses

A few years ago, there were no online courses, but today it is quite easy to access them through specialized sites and even on YouTube. There are many platforms where you can find online programming courses to learn.

Courses face-to-face.

Face-to-face courses are also an excellent way to fit into the world of programming. Also, there are many training centers where experienced programmers teach classes today.

Tertiary careers

If you’re only interested in learning how to program, don’t do the crazy thing about getting into a college degree. There you will learn how to program, but it is not the goal,, and you may not be taught how to program at all well. It may sound shocking, but it’s the truth.

However, some universities and tertiary education centers have careers exclusively to train programmers. They are shorter than degree courses, have less content, but they are focused on the knowledge a programmer must-have.

The need for a mentor

Learning any discipline becomes more comfortable if you have a mentor. Says Robert Greene in his master’s book, a work I recommend beyond all I’m telling you about programming.

A mentor can guide you through this whole process. It’s not going to look at the code you write line by line, but it can give you some general indications. It can also make recommendations on technology, warning you which one has a future and which one does not.

The mentor of a programmer has to be another programmer, more experienced. As the case we’re dealing with is people over 30, then we can make an exception. I’d tell you to find a mentor who has at least 5 or 6 years of experience working as a developer, no matter how old he is.

Once you find him, tell him your plans and listen to what he says. Ask her what technology she recommends to you how he or she learned and from time to time, talks about the world of programming. Let him tell you experiences and anecdotes and the panorama he sees in the future.