How to Get Better at Programming

Programming is fun and hard, but how can you get better still?

If you are reading this, you are a developer or aspiring to be one. Before we begin, let me state a fact: programming is not hard, it is complex.

My first code was written when I was 16 in Visual Basic.NET. It was hard to grasp. I was in high school and my teacher gave me a book called Introductory Visual Basic.NET to read. I quit and focused on my high school education because I didn't understand what Dim was and how it worked.

I have gotten better at programming though, but it has been at the expense of time, impostor syndrome, failed projects, and unfinished projects. Every programmer goes through this self-doubt phase. You are more than capable.

1. Choose the Hard Way

Over the years I have seen beginners say they would like to be like me. I didn't reach here magically. It took a lot of effort and hard work.

After quitting my teacher's lessons because they were hard, I returned about a year later. His response told me I was lazy. So I went out and built web applications in JavaScript, PHP, HTML, MySQL, CSS on my own.

I went back to him and he said, "I think you don't need me." The hard way of learning is by doing it alone at first because that makes you super competitive.

2. Learn Every Day

Ever since 2012, I have spent my life learning and improving my skills every day. It doesn't matter how long you study but as long as you do, you will get better.

Currently, I spend about 10 minutes plus reading articles, documentation, books, or watching a tutorial every single day. If you can learn a new skill every day, imagine how many skills you would have learned by the end of the week.

3. Read. Meditate. Read. Practice. Refer. Implement.

I call it the RMRPRI way of learning.

1. Read the code or watch a video first.
2. Meditate: close the book and think about how to implement it. Reflect on the new concept.
3. Read again: the second pass is where things start to click.
4. Practice: now try to write the code yourself.
5. Refer: go back and forth to the original material when you get stuck.
6. Implement: finally, use it in your own application or project.

Don't try to code the first time you see something—you'll just be copying and pasting. This cycle helps you truly understand.

4. Don't Google Everything

One mistake that most beginners and even senior developers make is Googling every little problem. That's not effective.

Most complex logic is just a combination of different technologies put together. For example, user authentication is simply:

• Forms
• Security
• Storage

Before you go to Google, try to think of ways to solve the problem yourself. It won't be pretty but it will help you understand things better.

5. Walk Before You Can Fly

Don't jump into frameworks too early. They are highly abstracted and you miss out on so much knowledge.

This post was originally published on Medium.