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Why So Many Wannabe Programmers Fail? 6 Fatal Learning Traps and Ways to Escape Them

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There are two kinds of people in this world: winners and losers. Whichever discipline you take, there will be people who succeeded in it and those who have failed. And professional programming certainly is not an exception. Of course, we prefer to talk about the winners, the ones who successfully mastered programming and now are having careers in software development. That’s why we in CodeGym have a whole section called Success Stories on our website and no Failure Stories section. But the sad truth is, many people actually fail at this task. You don’t really want to read their stories because they just would be too depressing. What’s worth your attention, are the reasons why the majority of people who started learning how to code and eventually failed did it, to learn from their mistakes. After all, what often differentiates winners from losers is persistence and the ability to do all it takes to reach the goal.Why So Many Wannabe Programmers Fail? 6 Fatal Learning Traps and Ways to Escape Them - 1

1. The absence of focus

There are a number of different programming languages that are commonly used today. Along with tools and technologies, they form quite a rich ecosystem, which gets more and more diverse year after year. So any wannabe programmer is facing a choice: which programming language and stack of technologies to learn. Without experience and understanding of these technologies, very often it is not easy to make this choice. And even after it is made, how to be sure you are learning the right thing? That is why so many fresh learners may learn a little bit of JavaScript, then switch to learning Java, and after a couple of months decide they should learn Python instead. Needless to say, this kind of approach more often than not leads to a failure.

Remedy

The remedy is pretty obvious: make your choice in the beginning and stick to it. We at CodeGym, for instance, believe that Java is the best choice for anyone who is interested to become a back-end software developer.

2. Wrong choice of learning resource

As soon as you pick the language and technology stack you would like to learn, another dilemma comes up right away. Where and how to learn it. And this one can easily be fatal as well. Especially today, when there are so many learning resources and materials available. Which is actually a good thing, except it is really easy to lose yourself in all this selection. And some people do.

Remedy

You should choose one objectively good learning resource as the main. It is possible to compliment it with other ways of learning as an addition. For example, to learn Java you can use CodeGym, which was designed to be self-sufficient, so you don’t need to look for any other learning materials or resources as it has everything to turn you from a total beginner into a qualified Java programmer. But it is possible to compliment it with reading books about Java for beginners or watching YouTube lectures.

3. Wrong mindset and/or no established goal

Your mindset towards this task can be wrong in multiple ways, undermining the learning process and ultimately resulting in failure. Many people start learning how to program without truly believing they can succeed. Naturally with this kind of mindset, they give up as soon as the learning material gets complicated enough or when facing a tough programming problem that they are not able to crack easily. Others begin to learn out of intention, without having a clear and articulated goal, be it to master the skill or to get a job in software development.

Remedy

The right mindset is having a long-term goal and being mentally prepared for a long and hard road on your way to reach it. Very often, communication with others can help you to spot weaknesses in your own mindset and fix it. That’s why CodeGym has so many different social features that allow and even encourage users to communicate and help each other.

4. Wrong goal

But even if you have the goal established, it can easily be a wrong one. How to understand it is wrong? If accomplishing it doesn’t make you feel much, if thinking about it doesn’t provide you with motivation, it might not be the right goal.

Remedy

Different goals work for different people. Someone is excited about just having programming as a skill that is so important and in-demand in today’s world. For others, the goal is a long-lasting career in software development or a high-paying job. Another good and motivating goal would be envisioning your own tech project that you will build when having coding skills and some experience.

5. Laziness and procrastination

There is no way to sugarcoat it: some people just don’t put enough effort in learning. And that’s why they fail even when all the other things are in the right places. Of course, factors such as bad learning habits, poor planning, and not serious enough approach very often are contributing to the lack of overall effort, which ultimately leads to failure.

Remedy

Truth is, good things almost never are easy to get. So you just need to put time and effort into learning. If it doesn’t go too well, try to improve your attention span and the ability to focus with these methods here. Using some tools designed to help you beat procrastination and get more productive, also might be a good idea.

6. Wrong approach to learning and not enough practice

Another important reason why many wannabe programmers fail, and we mention it quite a lot in CodeGym articles, is the wrong approach to learning how to code. Programming is a skill that is learnt by combining theory with practice. But many people keep making the mistake of getting deep into theory before they even try to write their first line of code. Very often this mistake either delays the result and makes the learning process much longer or leads to a total failure.

Remedy

Make sure you get to practice what you just learnt from the very beginning of the learning process. And look out not to be stuck in reading theory without supporting it with practice for too long. This is why some learning methods in programming turn out to be less effective than the others. And the reason why CodeGym has its trademark practice-first approach, which allows our students not just to learn Java faster than others, but also to possess really applicable skills upon graduation, which allows them to start working in software development professionally soon after completing the course or, in some cases, while still learning.
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Andrei Level 41
13 April 2021
Point 2 has the same link. Where are the YouTube😁 materials?