Programming is the process of creating computer programmes. Technology is evolving rapidly, there are always a plethora of tasks to be done and professionals are paid huge sums of money for the work done, which is why this industry is so popular.
The field consists of several ranks. One of them is the junior programmer – a beginner who knows the basics and understands how their suite of software technology works. To go the long way from beginner to professional requires knowledge and skills, which you will learn more about in this article.
1) Basic programming principles
Programmers write programmes and applications in different languages. In programming, more than 7000 languages are a set of lexical, syntactic and semantic rules that determine the appearance of a programme and the actions an implementer will perform under its control.
Of course, it is technically impossible to master all languages. A web developer chooses and learns languages according to their skills and specialisation (website development, application development, game development, etc.). Web developers can also do frontend development (the look and functionality of a web application), backend development (the “internals” of a program, how a set of scripts runs on a server) or full-stack development – the “jack of all trades”.
Start with languages like this:
- Python is a beginner-friendly backend server language with a rich set of libraries and frameworks. It is used for web scraping, analytics, game testing and more. If you need to master the latest technologies like “big data” or innovations related to neural networks and artificial intelligence, the tools for them will probably be written in Python. The tool is notable for its cross-platform nature – the ability of an IT product to work on different devices with any operating system.
- JavaScript is a multi-paradigm programming language with a long history, the de facto standard for web development. It can be written in it – websites, mobile applications, server side. With it, websites become interactive: pop-ups, animations, likes buttons and forms for submitting information are added. For the beginner, JavaScript is as easy as PHP. Beginners can learn it in a few weeks or months (depending on their learning curve), but it takes around 12 months to become a JavaScript expert.
- HTML is a standardised hypertext document markup language for viewing web pages in a web browser. It has been in use since 1989. It is the language of website markup and layout, the basis of web page design.
- CSS (Cascade Style Sheets) is a language for modifying the appearance of a website, which can be used to add backgrounds, colours, transitions and other interactive elements. It helps to create a lightweight, adaptive and SEO-friendly website. It was first used back in 1994. Before the advent of CSS, pages were designed only within the same document using HTML. For example, cascading stylesheets made it easy to apply a single style to each document – just include the CCS file in the HTML.
2) English
Professionals need to know English in order to learn basic concepts for programmers. Specialised literature, websites and other training materials are most often available in English.
The names of files, functions and comments in the code of both your application and third-party library code will almost always be in English.
The final argument is to support communication with more experienced colleagues and foreign customers.
3) Frameworks and libraries
Explore and work with standard frameworks.
Frameworks and libraries are codes written by another developer which make his life a lot easier. The difference between the programmes is in the control of the development process: a library is a tool to work with, which can be used at any time, while a framework calls the code itself and provides space for the details. Application development, synchronisation with the server, the mobile version – these and other things can be done with the framework.
4) Algorithms and data structures
You need to learn how to work correctly with algorithms and data sets. An algorithm is a system of actions on data.
The study of data structures and algorithms will make it possible to write efficient and optimised computer programmes.
5) Join the community
Join the profile groups for messenger programming and social media (Telegram, Vyber, Facebook, Twitter).
In the communities you can learn a lot of interesting information and talk to like-minded people. Foreign customers sometimes post vacancies there as well.
6) Online courses
For effective training, it is worth taking courses, the most convenient format being remote mode, without being tied to a location. An experienced programmer provides training, gives valuable advice to newcomers and points out mistakes – it is much more effective than watching videos on the Internet for years and remaining a novice.
Online programming courses – experienced professionals, acquired skills and abilities, and guarantees. Of course, it will be difficult, but if the desire to ‘get into IT’ is really strong, the result will pay off all the time and effort.