Ten Lessons I Learned While Teaching Myself to Code

• This is a big one. You should try to do some coding every day—at least, say, a half hour.
• Why? Because this is just like learning Spanish or French: Fluency comes from constant use. To code is to speak to a computer, so you should be speaking often. 
• Bootcamps are good if time is tight .

• You can very quickly learn to automate boring things in you life.
• That’s because computers are amazing at doing dull, repetitive tasks. They’re also great at being precise. Since we humans are terrible at doing dull tasks and quite bad at being precise, this makes us a match made in heaven.

When you finally figure out the problem—when you fix the bug, and things start working—there’s a sudden, narcotic rush of pleasure that’s almost unlike anything you’ve ever experienced.

• Sure, you obviously need to be able to think logically, to break big tasks down into tiny steps. That’s a prerequisite.
• But if you asked me what’s the one psychological nuance that unifies all the coders I’ve interviewed?
• They’re all able to handle total, crushing, incessant failure and roadblocks (at least, at the keyboard.)

These were all small and silly, but they had to at least function, and when you have to make something function, that’s when you learn.

• When you’re building stuff, you don’t need to start from scratch.
• You can grab things that already exist, rip them apart, and see how they work. It’s a superb way to learn.

• If you’re coding in an abstract way, doing tutorials, it’s easy—when you get stuck—to think, ah, screw it, and stop.
• But if you’re actually building a tool you’re going to use? It pushes you to go further, to work past the frustration and the blockages.

• So when you learn to code, your core skill is going to be constantly learning and constantly relearning.
• That’s true in the short term and the long term.
• Over the years, new languages and frameworks always emerge, and old ones evolve.
• “Being a programmer basically means you’ll be an eternal student”

• Learning to code can be pretty isolating—it’s hours of just wrestling with the computer.
• And while it’s good to try to figure things out, yourself, sometimes the fastest way to get unstuck is to ask someone else, How the heck does this work?
• Frankly, I wish I’d done more of this socializing.
• I too often spent time grinding away at a problem, myself, instead of asking for help.
• When I did talk to other coders about problems I was having, inevitably they’d suggest an approach that helped.