How to Choose a Programming Language to Learn
When you’re starting to learn to program, the first question you might ask yourself is, What programming language should I know? There’s no one language that’s best for beginners or is a must-know when you’re first getting started. At its most basic level, a programming language is a set of rules for giving computers instructions. These instructions can range from simple commands like addition or subtraction to more complex tasks like building a website or creating a video game. And each programming language will have an advantage depending on which of those things you want to do. So, you see, which language is best for you is difficult to answer…
6 Things School/Bootcamps Can’t Teach You About Being a Programmer
When you’re starting out as a programmer, you put a lot of emphasis on learning the technical side of your chosen language, framework, or stack. But what happens when you graduate from school, a bootcamp, or your own self-taught curriculum? Experienced and newbie programmers share what they learned as a developer that school and bootcamps didn’t prepare them for. 1. The First Language/Tool You Learn Won’t be Your Last “When you’ve worked in the tech industry for as long as I have, you realize your tech stack isn’t as important as it seemed to be when you started out. Once you know procedural programming, you’ll quickly pick up any procedural…
What Is the Difference Between Coding and Programming?
Coding and programming are two terms used to describe the same process. There seem to be a lot of people out there writing very long posts attempting to explain the differences when, quite frankly, there aren’t any. At best, these people are splitting hairs so fine that an electron microscope would have a hard time seeing it. In this post, I’ll show you why coding and programming are functionally the same. I’ll also highlight a more important distinction to make: that between someone who codes and a professional programmer. Coding and Programming Defined Let’s start with the definitions of coding and programming from Oxford Languages via Google search: Coding the…
100 Days of Code: Nabendu Biswas on Motivating Students—and Himself
This post is part of a series interviewing folks who have recently participated in the #100DaysOfCode challenge. Today we’re talking to Nabendu Biswas. Nabendu has been working in the software industry for the past 16 years, and he has a decade of experience in building professional websites and front-end applications. He started his career with a government research lab. He then worked at a startup and top investment bank. His previous job was in Innominds as associate architect. In September 2021 he became a full-time JavaScript teacher and founder at TWD. He teaches JavaScript, React.js, and complete web-app development to various corporations, startups, and individuals. You can connect with him…
Lessons From a Veteran: Juan Reyes on Hard Work and Humble Beginnings
This post is part of a series interviewing veteran developers, asking them questions about their journey to tech mastery and sharing the advice they have for those getting started. Today we’re talking to Juan Reyes, an engineer, entrepreneur, and writer living in Tokyo, Japan. An engineer by profession and a dreamer by heart, Juan crossed the seas to reach Japan following the promise of opportunity and challenge. Eventually, he left his stable career at a large IT firm to create his own startup, and he hasn’t looked back since. Let’s see what lessons he has to share for other aspiring entrepreneurs. Let’s start by talking about you: What has your…
Best Way to Learn Python: Resources and a Brief How-To
Python is one of the fastest growing programming languages. Even though it’s been around since 1989, it’s still widely used and learned. It provides an opportunity to work with a lot of programming fields, from web development to data science to game development. If you want to get started in Python and don’t know how, you’re in the right place. Lots of open-source materials are available for you to learn Python. In this post, I’ll share some easy-to-follow resources that will help you get started on your Python journey. After that, I’ll explain some Python basics that we’ll use to build a simple program. Beginner Python Resources I’ll divide the…
Why Are Programmers Paid so Much? Programmer Pay Explained by an Expert
There may be plenty of negative stereotypes about programmers that aren’t true, but one that stereotype that is pretty accurate is that they’re paid well. That may not be true of the entire industry, but on average, programmers tend to be relatively affluent and also have a variety of nonmonetary benefits at their jobs. So, why are programmers paid so much? Is it because they work long hours? To answer these questions, we sat down with Erik Dietrich. Erik has worked as a developer, architect, manager, CIO, and, eventually, independent management and strategy consultant. This breadth of experience allows him to speak to all industry personas. Let’s hear what he…
Lessons From a Veteran: John Pereira on Just Having Fun With It
This post is part of a series interviewing veteran developers, asking them questions about their journey to tech mastery and sharing the advice they have for those getting started. Today we’re talking to John Pereira. John is a technology enthusiast who’s passionate about his work and all forms of technology. With over 15 years in the technology space, his area of expertise lies in API and large-scale web application development, and its related constellation of technologies and processes. He lives in sunny Sri Lanka, where he works as a senior back-end developer for a Dutch SaaS event company. You can find him writing odds and ends on randomcoding.com and on…
Programmer Imposter Syndrome: 3 Devs Explain How to Overcome It
Programmers at all stages of their careers deal with imposter syndrome. But that feeling of inadequacy is especially prevalent among aspiring and junior developers, who often question whether they deserve to work alongside senior developers on a project or team. Those new developers may not realize their more experienced colleagues suffered from imposter syndrome when they were starting out and may even continue to feel that way. Imposter syndrome is often an unmerited feeling. But knowing that doesn’t help you dismiss or deal with it. In this post, we’ll learn about three programmers’ experience with imposter syndrome. They’ll share tips on how to overcome it and explain why it’s OK…
Programmer Education Requirements Explained by an Expert
Unlike in many careers, aspiring programmers aren’t locked into going to college and getting a computer science degree. You can do that, but there are other paths you can take to become a programmer. That being said, there must be some minimum requirements to become a programmer. So, how much education do you need to become a programmer? And are programmers smart? To answer those questions, we talked to Erik Dietrich. Erik has worked as a developer, architect, manager, CIO, and, eventually, independent management and strategy consultant. This breadth of experience allows him to speak to all industry personas. So, let’s hear Erik’s take on whether programmers need to be…
