Don't Be Afraid Of Mistakes and Find What Attracts You To Programming: 7 Tips From A CodeGym’s Mentor

Senior Java Developer and mentor Vadym Novakovskyi answers the most common beginners’ questions and tells how to study challenging topics without quitting halfway.

How to study difficult topics?

• Write your projects to understand the code better

For almost every beginner, the most difficult thing is to understand the principles by which the code works. A student doesn’t understand how to tie all the information received together. For example, you study variables, methods, and classes, but what to do with all this? How to apply the acquired knowledge? I often suggest students create a small project in which they must use the technologies they’ve learned. It helps because students understand why they learned a particular technology and how to apply it.

• Don't be afraid of mistakes

Often, everyone who starts coding faces the fear of making mistakes. Remember, developers always make mistakes. Even with 7 years of experience in programming, I still make mistakes. In fact, I often have to google to find out how to solve a particular task.

• Put a difficult topic aside and move on to a new one

Sometimes it's just worth putting a difficult topic aside, moving on, and coming back after a while. Generally, it helps the brain to take a break and cope with a difficult task. You can jump from topic to topic without jumping too far ahead because in the curriculum the topics that stand next to each other usually complement each other. It helped me a lot when I was just starting to learn programming.

• Thoroughly study the basic topics

There was a time when it was difficult for me to deal with lambdas and streams because I missed the interface theory. Then, I studied the interfaces basics again and understood what interfaces were for. After that, I could learn lambdas. The world of development opened up even more to me.

What topics should a newbie definitely learn?

• Interfaces and abstract classes, because the work of the Spring framework and collections are built on them.

• Multithreading is worth learning and understanding. But the thing is that it is not used everywhere. So, this is not a prime topic for a beginner.

• Collections. This is the basic topic you’ll use in all projects.

• SOLID principles. A programmer has to write not just code but clean and beautiful code. Knowing the SOLID principles will help.

• Basic principles of OOP. If a developer knows and understands them, he can work with methods.

How to learn without quitting halfway?

• Create a schedule

I started learning programming during my university summer break. In 3-4 months, I completed the entire CodeGym course. I studied from morning till night, as if I was working. I believe it’s the best way to study without distractions. But most often, people acquire a new profession while working. In this case, I would recommend developing a habit of practicing 3-4 times a week, even when you don’t feel like it. You will get used to studying and get into the rhythm over time.

• Find what attracts you to programming

Nowadays, many people choose programming because of money. But if money is your only motivator, then the profession will not bring you joy. Try to find an exciting occupation in programming. There are various interesting areas in Java: front-end, back-end, Android, working with robotics, and building AI models. Turn programming into something fun, and it will be a much better motivator than money.