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7 BEST TIPS FOR PROGRAMMING FOR NEWBIES

7 BEST TIPS FOR PROGRAMMING FOR NEWBIES







This post is intended for anyone interested in Computer Science, be a middle school student, a class 12 student preparing for his/her school exam, or a college student who is interested in coding.
There are always some questions which trouble beginners. Some of these include-
1. I guess I am too ‘young’ to do something huge like ‘coding’.
2. I should wait until college to start. I should focus on my school and ‘JEE’ for now.
3. Which laptop should I buy?
4. Why should I learn to code?
5. I fear I will break something.
6. I don’t have a laptop. I guess I should not go into this field.
7. Which ‘language’ should I begin with?

1. I guess I am too ‘young’ to do something huge like ‘coding’. 

Coding is something that even a class 8 student can do. It is not a huge thing. Please don’t think too much in the initial stages, and focus on yourself. It’s a skill acquired over the years, and it’s not tough if you keep yourself motivated. Programming is fun and everyone must learn it.

2. I should focus on school/JEE instead of doing this.

If you are someone who is good at studies and is below class 11, then you MUST take out an hour every day and learn how to code. You can stop if you are serious about JEE and continue it in class 11, and stop for a year, and continue again. Learn to code. It will help you in the long run. You can go for olympiads like IOI too, which is highly valued. For information, Adam D Angelo, the founder of Quora, is an IOI medallist too.

3. Which laptop should I buy?


Well, if you have a financial problem, then you don't need to for now, because every college has a computer lab, but still having one is immensely useful. Everything in college depends on your laptop, and you must buy a good one. If you haven't thought of buying a laptop yet, and plan to do it later, DON'T. Get it now, and get used to it, code a bit, play with it. A good laptop must have an i3 or above processor(7th gen or above), 4/8GB RAM or more, a decent Graphics card, and a good hard drive(SSD preferred, or 1TB hard drive at the minimum). 
4. Why should I learn to code?
Basically, everything today(and even more in the future) depends on computers, and hence on programmers and computer scientists. Your mobile phone works cause someone has coded the software. Heard of those self-replicating robots and all? They involve a branch of Computer Science called ‘Machine Learning’, which is a subpart of ‘Artificial Intelligence’.
Talking of materialistic benefits, CSE has got really good research and job prospects. Every company, startup and research project needs good quality Computer Scientists/Software Engineers.

5. I fear I will break something.

Computer Science is one of the few fields where you can’t break anything. Every other field includes some of the other physical devices, but in CSE, you are just using your computer. Unless you are really unlucky, nothing happens to you or your laptop at all!

6. I don’t have a laptop/PC. I can’t code!

Well, there are many online IDEs(basically a website where you can type code and it will act like a laptop where you are coding) like Ideone. You can use your phone and go to Ideone, and code there while learning from online resources. So, laptops/PCs won’t be a real issue, but it’s recommended you use one.

7. Which ‘language’ should I begin with?

Well, Computer Science is not about learning n number of languages. Language is just a means of communicating with the computer. You need to pick up one language first. Once you are good with its concepts, you can pick up any language.

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