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5 Tips for Software Engineers Who Are Just Starting Out
It can be daunting but here’s some advice to help you navigate the chaos
When I first started programming, I was always confused. I often felt lost and overwhelmed, which kind of forced me to jump between learning different programming languages, different coding tutorials, and different courses. I felt that I should do everything and I couldn’t finish any particular thing. Eventually, I started realizing that this is a recipe for disaster. I started changing the ingredients one at a time, and finally, I was able to become a good software engineer.
Here are a few tips that helped me and I hope you find them useful as well.
1. Programming Languages Don’t Matter
The programming language is important because it’s the language you will use while talking with the computer but it’s not the most critical part. You could learn Java, Python, Javascript, C++ but eventually, the difference between those languages is not huge. You can figure them out pretty quickly. Don’t worry about which programming language is the hottest one in 2021 or what will be the biggest one in 2025. Once you learn one programming language switching to a new one is fairly easy.
It’s almost like learning English, German, or Spanish. Once you know that a greeting word is used when you greet someone, it is fairly simple to do that in any language. Every language has a greeting word: Hello, Hallo, or Hola. The same goes for programming — the fundamentals are the most important and the fundamentals are always language agnostic.
Once you learn the main constructs of a programming language, like assigning variables, doing loops, conditionals, methods procedures, data types — all other programming languages have that kind of stuff in common. So just pick one and start.
2. Find a Mentor
Evidence of the effectiveness of mentors can be seen throughout history. Before the university system took over, apprenticeships were the primary form of education. Some of the world’s greatest artists and creators studied under someone else.
