let's talk about my process when learning a new programming language but specifically
learning a new programming language fast i think it's something that as software engineers that we
really need to find that balance of both learning new things fast as we're always learning and
always growing and the demands for our skills keep on changing which is exciting but also let's be
honest it's kind of exhausting that mixed with not only doing it fast but having the quality
i'm going to share with you my process of learning a new programming language in five days
now the reason i chose five days for this video is specifically because a lot of times if i'm on
boarding for a new project at work i need to get familiar with that code base that language really
quickly and there are some tips and tricks that i've learned tips and tricks so cliche but such
an easy tips and tricks that i've learned along the way that truly helped me and i have seen using
these and utilizing these make my learning process not only faster but less stressful before we get
into it though make sure to hit that subscribe button for more tech and coding related videos
leave in the comments down below other topics you want me to cover ask your questions to me this is
why i'm here i want to share my experience my insight my wins but most importantly my
failures and what i've learned from them so leave in the comments okay let's just jump right in
the first thing i do when i'm learning any new programming language well i was
going to say start with the core key concepts and the fundamentals which
isn't the first thing but i would say even before that get it running on your computer get the
environment running find a uh ide that really works for you with this find what language what
ide is recommended for the programming language and just get it up and running that's my first
thing second thing with that in the first tip i would say is go to the documentation
that is i would say tied into that because too often when we are learning something new we as
developers like to do it the hard way meaning documentation for whatever reason is something we
detest i guess until it's absolutely needed i feel like we always go to stack overflow but
when you are learning something new specifically a new programming language go to the documentation
different languages will have different uh varying levels of documentation but for example
with python they have great documentation and it literally tells you where to start
the second thing i like to do is to really focus on building habits for learning and what i mean by
that is if i need to learn something new in a very short amount of time i like to have a plan going
into it and i think it does a few things one thing it really does is hold me accountable it
i know that every day at this time i am going to be learning this new programming language
let's face it the older we get the less time we seem to have to learn new things and that's really
unfortunate but it's just with bills and career and family and just life it's hard to find time
to focus on learning something new because when you are spending that time learning something new
it's hard to get your mind in the right place of
the right framework i guess you could say oftentimes we sit down and okay i'm gonna
learn something new today and then our mind is somewhere else and we don't get anything done
so i like to build habits that i do just around learning actually you know what let me rather than
be talking about habits i do let me just show you let's go come on we're literally going we're going
okay the first thing i like to do when i am learning something new and need to get into
what is the word that that routine those habits is get out of the house for me going to my co-working
space sitting down somewhere where there's no distractions is the biggest piece of advice i
can give you when you are learning something new especially if you need to learn it fast
obviously if you don't have a co-working space i'm not saying you need that but
coffee shop wherever go to the park if it's nice out but somewhere where you
are out of your house and you can totally focus
okay so that's kind of what i do on day one but really throughout my entire week of learning
something new is to get in that habit have that rhythm routine whether it be an hour or two and
making it out of my calendar knowing exactly what time i'm going to be going
and it sounds pretty rigid but otherwise i am so not someone who is disciplined so i need that
that laid out for me okay so let's move on to day two so we have our habits we
know we need to learn the fundamentals we downloaded you know the id required for
the programming language on our computer maybe we did hello world what's next well for me looking
at day two what that would look like is after i've learned the fundamentals and really have a strong
understanding or even maybe not a strong but a solid understanding of the fundamentals i would
move on to taking a tutorial now i know there's this thing called tutorial tutorial hell where
it's you get stuck on a tutorial or sorry you keep on doing different tutorial after tutorial
and that's something you need to be aware of but i do think having a tutorial when you're first
learning something new is such a great way to really ramp up on something new in a quick amount
of time now for me when i'm choosing a tutorial i usually end up doing a udemy or youtube class
usually because they've just been reliable and i always go based on what other people are saying
in the comments if it's based on a youtube video if it's on udemy i'll do both the comments but
also too when it was created when it was updated and the reviews what does it have for reviews
okay so now we have taken a tutorial we have the fundamentals down what comes next really
for me it's adding on to the tutorial whether it be challenging myself to do a new feature or yeah
really just a new feature depending on how big or small it is but i think it's a great way to add
on to something that you've already built and not feel like your next step is starting from scratch
i'm just taking a break from doing some work and i wanted to finish off the the last few
days what it would look like when learning a new programming language so we have taken a tutorial
we've learned the fundamentals we have our habits and our routines what's next and we've
also built upon the tutorial via the next thing i would do on the following day is to
build something on your own and for me i typically we'll build something on my own that's actually
pretty similar to the tutorial i have taken and maybe for some people they want to kind of more
branch out and do something different but i like to kind of stay that that path or that course of
action because i know i'm familiar with it i just really reinforced my learning so next up i will
build something on my own kind of similar to the tutorial i took and even then if i need help or i
get stuck i can always refer back to the tutorial it's a good way to really reinforce your learnings
us to our last day our fifth and final day and the best thing for me that really helps reinforce
again my learnings is to talk about it and i'm sure all of you are familiar with the rubber
ducky method but honestly i know it's overused but it's so true that if you actually speak out loud
of what you are learning whether it's to a rubber ducky or maybe it's just to a wall or whatever it
is whatever your choice is uh to your mom whomever it's a really great way to see where there are
gaps still in your learning and where you need to go now after these five days are done you're
obviously not going to be a professional in this programming language but you definitely have a
solid base of able to kind of of starting to take off and for me this is really what i do anytime i
am starting a new project or any kind of thing new so okay we covered the five days i gotta get back
to work i'm procrastinating it's a saturday here and i'm working on build space building a little
nft game which is pretty cool or learning to build it so speaking of learning i gotta get back to it
okay we are we are back from our little journey uh and i hope i gave you a good insight as to kind of
just what i like to do to really focus on learning something new but i wanted to sit down with you
and and continue with some other things that i do okay by this point we've gone through really what
each day of learning will look like and break broken it down of what it should entail and how
to really get the most out of your learnings but i want to end by saying something that took me
a long time to get grasp this is something they don't teach you in school they don't teach you
lots of people don't ever learn this which is you know more than you think you do by this point of
your learnings with something especially new programming language you're probably sitting
there going i still have so much to learn and yes you do i know that feeling but also look
back on those last few days this is so important look back on those last few days and realize just
how far you've come how much you have learned that motivation that fuel of recognizing just how far
you've come should just push you forward to keep on going and it really provides a snowball effect
we always look at how far we have to go but we really need to look at just how far we have come
and i know that sounds pretty obvious or like yes tiffany of course but i really hope you take those
words that i shared with you about reflecting on how far you have come and put them into action and
and really do that as well because for me that's the main motivator as to why i am able to
pick up new things quickly and whether it be programming languages frameworks anything
is because i can see just in such a short amount of time how capable we are to learn so much and
that's really exciting and pretty cool so really don't doubt yourself build up that confidence that
these are the skills you have were able to do in such a short amount of time and utilize that
to keep on going okay i hope you enjoyed this video of how i would learn a new programming
language or do learn a new programming language in five days or less and listen if this is your
first programming language you're learning i'm not trying to set unrealistic standards here by saying
you need to learn in five days but rather having an understanding and sharing with you my process
to learn something new and just how capable we as humans are to learn so much in such a short
amount of time with a little bit of different tricks and tactics to help us out make sure to
hit that subscribe button for more tech and coding related videos and i will see you all soon thanks
everyone hear the birds and see the sun
side beside
let's hold on tight found what we're looking for in life
call us crazy but things are finally right with you and i the future is amazing