Hey everyone and welcome back to my channel! If you're new here then welcome, my name is Temi and
i'm a graduate software developer making youtube videos about tech, early careers and all things in
between. So if you've clicked on this video, then i'm guessing you're at the early stages of your
programming journey and you just need a little bit of guidance. When you start learning to code it's
really easy and actually really normal to feel quite confused and a bit lost as there are so many
ups and downs with learning how to code. So to make the process a little bit easier for you, I'm going
to share five things that you can take advantage of to make your coding journey less confusing.
So the first thing that I think you should know is that learning to code will not be easy as you're
going to have to start from the very basics and then slowly work your way up once you learn new
concepts and skills. So you'll need to be patient with yourself because it will take some time.
It's quite likely that you'll find some concepts will click a lot easier than others whereas you'll
realize with other concepts you'll find that you have to keep consolidating what you've learned and
keep going over it just until it sticks and that's perfectly okay. The idea is that you stick with it!
And this leads me nicely onto my next point, which is to find your why and find your motivation for
wanting to learn how to code. So finding your why and your motivation will really help you when
you just feel like giving up because when you are teaching yourself to code it's likely that
you'll be doing it alone, so you'll first need to find the motivation to get the ball rolling
in the first place but then be disciplined enough to see it through and continue with your learning.
It's also really, really, important to learn in a way that suits you best so know your
learning style. If you're a visual learner then it might be a good idea to follow some online
courses or tutorials and if you like learning in groups then it's probably a good idea to find a
local coding community or an online community, where you can team up with people who are in
similar situations to you and learning to code as well, that way you'll be able to stay motivated
and stay on track. And if you're not sure what your learning style is, then I would suggest trying
a little bit of everything. Try learning from a book, an online course or tutorial or even going
to meet-ups or joining an online coding community. So just keep trying different methods of learning
until you find one that suits you best. And once you've figured out your preferred learning style,
then you'll be a lot more likely to actually finish what you started and achieve your goals.
This leads me nicely onto my next point which is to set yourself some achievable goals and
objectives. So at this point you'll have your why and your motivation for actually starting to learn
how to code but it's important to set yourself some realistic goals. So figure out what it is
you want to achieve and then work backwards from that goal. For example, if you want to learn how to
build websites then it might be a good idea to learn HTML, CSS and JavaScript or maybe even PHP.
Then you can figure out whether you want to learn by following a book, an online course or tutorial,
joining a bootcamp or meeting up with your local or online coding community. I'd also recommend
setting yourself realistic time frames to achieve your goals. I can't give you one because everyone's
learning styles are different and everyone's circumstances are different as well. So it's
really important to know your limits and know what it is you can and can't do within a certain time.
You need to remember that you're learning a whole new skill so it will take longer than a few weeks
or even a few months. Also, learning a little bit every other day is better than learning
once every two weeks. Consistency really is the key to picking up a new skill or building new habits.
So even though most of your self-learning will be done alone, it doesn't have to be. I'd highly
recommend joining a local or online community of other software developers to help you along
your coding journey. So it's important to join a community because it means you'll have a support
network to help you through your learning journey. It also means you'll start to build a network of
other people learning to code and hopefully some professionals who are already in the industry,
which should give you an idea of what it would be like to be working as a software developer.
If you're not sure where to start to look for online communities, there's a huge community of
developers on Twitter, also Instagram and even Tick Tock. If you'd like to join some online communities
that are quite beginner friendly then have a look in the description part of this video, I will be
leaving the name and links to some down there. So my last piece of advice is to learn the basics
first. When you start learning to code, there will be a lot of new concepts and a lot of
terminology that you'll have to come to terms with and that you'll have to understand. So I personally
think it's a good idea to learn the basics of how computers work and the basics of computer science
before you start learning to code, just because it will help with putting everything into perspective.
It's likely that you'll find the more you learn about the basics of computer science,
the easier everything will click and the more things will start to fit together.
Once you've learned the fundamentals of coding and feel comfortable, I'd highly recommend you then go
on to build your own projects from scratch and step away from the online courses and tutorials.
And if you're not sure how to make the transition from following books or online courses to
building your own projects, then I would highly suggest you check out one of my recent videos. I
actually talk about the best ways and the easiest ways that I think you can make that transition, so
i'll leave a link to the video either up here or up here somewhere. So those were my tips and
I hope you found them useful and now that you've finished watching my video you are 100 percent ready to
start coding today! It took me a little while to hit the ground running and start my coding journey
so this is a PSA to start your coding journey today! Okay there are no more excuses. If you're
looking for some online resources to help you get started then do take a look in the description
part of this video, I have already filmed a video on some of my favourite online resources,
so make sure to check it out. Thank you for watching and good luck with your coding journey!