“Technology is best when it brings people together.”
In this blog, I’ll discuss how to get started with the tech journey if you’re a complete novice. I’d also like to tell you about how I got started! (And this is my very first blog so give it a try!)
The first and foremost thing while starting a new journey of learning something is the curiosity to learn. You need to be curious, enthusiastic, and open to experiencing lots of challenges along.
It’s the 21st century, and you have access to an ocean of resources to acquire any new skill. The key is to choose the proper resources for yourself and stick with them throughout your journey!
I would like to share my journey here!!
After finishing my 12th grade, I enrolled in a Computer Science Engineering course with no prior understanding of coding and such… I was genuinely curious to learn since I was amazed by how technology might significantly touch people’s life and alleviate their day-to-day monotonous tasks.
When I entered the college, it was completely online due to the rising of Covid 19 pandemic. I gave my first 3 semesters in online mode and at that time I explored lots of different things. I commenced my coding journey with C and practiced it for about 3–4 months before switching to Python for Machine Learning and Computer Vision (fancy terms for you right now, but don’t worry, I’ll take you through each one of them in depth in my upcoming blogs).
Until now I have done some hands-on in Web design, Web development, Machine Learning, and Simulation using MATLAB and also some AR/VR(Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality) using Unity Software.
This was a short intro of me….
When I first started, I preferred watching YouTube videos over reading documentation. But, with time, I just swapped them for increased productivity and faster learning.
It’s perfectly fine for a beginner to start with basic tutorials from YouTube since you’ll enjoy it more! When visual and aural effects are blended, the human brain absorbs more…
As a newbie, I would like to walk you through five basic steps to get you started and keep you heading:
1) Choose any one language
Almost everyone gets puzzled at this point as they begin their adventure. Many newbies to tech may ask, ‘Which is the best language?’, ‘Which language is the simplest to learn?’, or ‘Which should be the first language to learn as a beginner?’
Hold on! Don’t panic! You may begin with any language. Start with the basic syntax and focus more on logic-building and problem-solving skills.
Pick up the language with a huge community for support, so as a beginner you can solve the silliest of your doubts easily with just a few clicks… So I would personally recommend you to just start with C++ or Java as a beginner and then learn logic building, memory management, and DSA in the same language and stick to it!
Once you have a good sum of knowledge in it, then even if you want to jump to any other language, it won’t be a big deal as you can just learn the syntax in less than a week. The logic remains the same!
2) Logic-building and Problem-Solving
Very important step! I have seen many of the newcomers in tech just switch from one language to another and learn just the basic syntax and then feel satisfied by the number of languages they know. This is the completely wrong approach!
You as a beginner should focus more on these skills regardless of the language.
Let’s take a simple example: You are hungry and you want to eat food. So now it doesn’t matter whether you eat the food on a steel plate, a glass plate, or a porcelain plate. What matters is you have your food and you gain nutrients from it! The analogy here is… Like the plates, is your language. Whether it may be C, C++, Java, Python, Go Lang, etc. It doesn’t matter. What is more important is you take the main nutrients i.e. the problem-solving and logic-building skills out of it!
3) Maintain a GitHub repository
This is of utmost importance as you will get track of your learnings from the start itself. I started with this very late, and I still regret it! But it’s better late than never.
So I would highly recommend you maintain a repository and also attach a ReadMe file with it and document your journey throughout. It would be the best practice ever and you will gain sweet fruits!!
Advantages:
You can go back and look for anything very easily.
You can share your learnings and showcase them very easily.
You can also showcase your journey from the very start to the recruiter while any job interviews.
4) Make an environment around you
As it is well said, ‘you are an average of 5 people around you.’ But in today’s era, you are also the average of your 500 connections on LinkedIn or Twitter.
Join in communities, interact, and collaborate! Ask your doubts. Even Help others.
Connect! Learn! Grow! together…
5) 3P’s: Practice, Practice & Practice
Yes! You heard it right. Practicing consistently is the golden rule to acquiring any of the skills. Ya sometimes taking a break is also okay. But maintaining a well-planned routine will help to chase your aim more easily.
You can’t eat a full basket of apples in a day! So eat one every day!
Take your own time. Learn at your own pace. Give a particular allotted time of your day to that particular task. Let’s say you start with 15–20 mins a day. That’s completely fine as a beginner…
Last but not least…
I will share some easy-to-start YouTube Channels wherein you can surf the playlists and make your own choice:
Also, some amazing Websites to learn to code:
This brings me to the end of this blog!
If you liked it and it helped you to gain some useful knowledge then do share it with your friends and also ask them to start with their tech journey soon!
I will be coming up with the most amazing blogs shortly. So stay tuned! Also would be happy to know your reviews!
Read my other blogs: