Transcription
Hello, my dear friends. Most people who decide to start learning programming don't know how to do it correctly and approach the process in a standard way. In this video, I will tell you how to learn so that you can be better than the rest. Let's go!
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Don't get stuck on theory. Look, I know a huge number of people who dig and dig into theory, trying to understand something unclear. They think they need to bury themselves in it and search for how it all works, and as a result, they just waste time on theoretical exploration. I mention in almost every video that this approach doesn't work. What works is when you do something hands-on. When you search, read, and watch, that's just gathering reference information; you aren't learning anything at that moment. You need to work with your hands.
How to work with your hands? While others are still reading theory, you start doing projects. A project is what you really need to do from the very beginning of your programming journey. Let me remind you again: when you know nothing at all, just when you've decided on a programming language, take your course, your book, or your article, and start learning from it. Study about 20-30% of that book or course. If it's a small course or book, it might be the whole thing, or maybe half. Look at how relevant and useful the knowledge is in terms of technology.
In that video, I talked about how to determine which knowledge is relevant and necessary for your technology. Check that list and write it down. So, from the very beginning, when you start learning, look at your course. If it mentions or starts teaching things that aren't necessary for Java, for example, like UI that hardly anyone ever uses, you can skip that part.
Okay, if the course continues in the same spirit, then this course is no longer needed. What you need from this course is to learn the basics, to simply write the most basic programs. For me, a good indicator that a person has mastered the basics is the ability to write a console calculator. If you can write a console calculator in your programming language—meaning you input the first number, input the operation, input the second number, and it gives you the solution—then that's it. At that moment, we stop and start doing a project.
Don't be afraid that the project is too big or that you don't know where to start. Start with what you know. You begin programming from a place that interests you. Why do I advise this? First, you'll learn only the technologies you need. Second, you'll gain only the knowledge necessary for writing the project—only the knowledge that is truly useful. Third, you'll remember this knowledge because you applied it immediately in practice. If you just read it, it will go in one ear and out the other.
So, learn the basics and start doing a project. How to choose which project to do? There was a video on what projects to do as a beginner programmer. Choose your projects and start working on them right from the beginning.
You need to remember that when you choose your programming path, a lot is not obvious. For example, right now, the market situation is such that, let's say, React is easier to learn. All front-end developers say that Angular is more complex. However, since everyone has rushed to React, it has become much easier to find a job in Angular. So, maybe it doesn't make sense to run with the crowd. If everyone is running in one direction, it might be worth choosing a less popular path to become a highly sought-after specialist in your niche.
And once again, I remind you that it makes sense to focus more on your own desires. Ideally, if you choose a path that you fall in love with, even if it's not popular with everyone else, you will be more motivated, and you'll study it much better and go much further. Right? Because you like it.
And most importantly, you will have less competition. On the other hand, if you are incredibly passionate about the path that everyone else likes, then okay, let's go there. It's all logical.
Are you looking for programming courses that will actually help you get a job? Do you want to obtain a sought-after profession as a Java developer with a starting salary of $500 or more? Everyone wants that, but only some achieve it.
The mission of Fox Minded is to prepare students for real work. Here's what our students say about us: Yulia says she liked the format and approach to learning, which teaches you how to learn, and as a result, she found a job during the final stages of her training. Grigory said he completed the Java Spring course and found it to be a great option for someone starting from scratch. By the end of the course, he began looking for a job and received several offers right away.
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For those who truly want to become developers and learn real working processes and tools.
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An important mistake and crucial information for those who are just now choosing a programming direction: there is no programming language or direction that will definitely make you number one. Rather, there isn't one single path for all directions that will make you number one. For you specifically, there is that one direction that will captivate you, one that you will want to work on even in the middle of the night or on vacation. That direction will definitely make you number one.
But no one knows—neither I, nor your family, nor acquaintances, nor any experts on YouTube—no one knows what will captivate you. Therefore, the most important thing is to choose your own path and your own programming direction. Many people reach out to me for comments on which direction to choose. It seems that one is 3% easier, but no, the one that is easier for you is the one you like. It's easier to find a job in what you enjoy.
And everything boils down to what you like.
The next piece of advice I want to give is to focus on the process, not on deadlines or achievements. Enjoy the process you are engaged in—in this case, studying. And studying, as I remind you once again, is writing your own project. While you are writing the project, enjoy it. If you enjoy it, you will want to return to it, and you will want to continue. Everything is interconnected.
You know, there are many debates among psychologists about whether you should reward yourself for doing something difficult. This doesn't always work, and often it doesn't work at all. But what always works is if you enjoy the process itself. If programming is interesting and important to you, then you definitely won't quit because who would quit something enjoyable?
And as a result, you will finish and reach a very good level. By the way, here's a small additional piece of advice: never overwork. Always try to finish your work on your project when you still want to work on it. Because if you always finish in a state of "I don't want to do this anymore," your subconscious will associate that feeling with the project, and your motivation will quickly decline.
Try to stop when you're a bit tired but still want to work. This way, your subconscious will remember, "I want to work on this." Yes, this is how it works. Just a small life hack that helps a lot.
It's also quite important to plan your project before you start developing it. Yes, I might have oversimplified things by saying that as soon as you finish the introductory course and learn to write a console calculator, you can immediately start developing a project. But how do you develop a project? You need to at least roughly understand which frameworks it will consist of.
Remember, it's the 21st century; hardly anyone writes in a bare programming language—practically no one. Most of the time, you have frameworks and libraries. You might even have a stack of frameworks if we're talking about Java. Therefore, you need to think about which frameworks you will use.
For this, it's enough to just read, even just Wikipedia, about each framework. When you chose the list of frameworks you need to know, that list is ready. Just take it and quickly skim through what each of these frameworks does and what part of the application it handles.
I think it will quickly become clear in your mind which framework should be used where in your application and what role it plays. If this framework isn't needed in your application right now, then that's okay; it can be used in the next project.
As you develop the project, you might realize, "Oh, it would be great to use this framework for this part." Sometimes, that thought just doesn't come to mind initially.
Another piece of advice I never tire of giving is networking. Networking is key. Honestly, from my own experience, I found almost half of the jobs I had while working in employment through acquaintances.
Moreover, in IT, people really value recommendations from others. If you are just some random person, even if you have all the right credentials, you are still not as valuable as a guy whose resume was sent by someone already working at the company with the words, "I know him; he's a good guy." That is a million times better, and the chances of landing a good job are much higher.
Furthermore, this is a great way to secure your position because you already have a connection at the company. Networking starts working for you, making it much easier for you and for them. Companies love hiring people who know someone within the company; it immediately increases the loyalty of the person who referred you. Their opinion is valued, and you are not just responsible to the company but also to your acquaintance who vouched for you.
This is also beneficial because it gives the company some human qualities of that acquaintance who brought you onto the team.
But that's not all. There are countless situations where I solved my programming problems with the help of people I knew. I would just message them, saying, "Hey, I remember you're an expert in this framework. I'm struggling with it and don't know how to proceed." And they would say, "Oh, it's like this." And I would think, "Wow, thank you so much! I spent a week trying to figure this out."
Networking is really great.
Lastly, soft skills are everything. Honestly, hard skills are just binary: either you fit the project when hired, or you don't. Everything else—your salary, the speed of your career growth, how often you are invited to transition to other projects within the company, and how you are treated—depends on your soft skills.
So, if you're thinking about what to improve to ensure you get that salary increase, focus on soft skills. It works for sure.
I hope I've answered all your questions. I love you all. Subscribe, like, and goodbye! As Michael Jordan said, "I can accept failure, but I can't accept not trying." So don't be afraid of mistakes; move forward and try again. Only through perseverance and persistence can you achieve high results.
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