Thinking about a career Learning change? Before you start, get the reality check you need. Discover 8 hard truths about learning to code that will actually help you stand out and land a lucrative Tech Job in today’s competitive market.
Practical techniques for learning to code
They do things like AI and coding. Instead, they share their experience-based advice for effective learning, where they treat learning as a skill in itself.
1. Hard Work > Talent
Programming is a skill, just like learning to play an instrument or juggling. In the beginning, most people got good at it. For a while, they think they understand a little bit, and then suddenly they realize they are still struggling. And this cycle continues over and over again. So, learn to embrace the pain of debugging and error messages. Talent helps a little, but for most people, consistent hard work and dedication matter more than talent.
2. Patterns over Syntax
Give up the obsession with memorizing language syntax; you will forget most of it anyway. Instead, focus on problem-solving patterns and approaches in a mental toolbox like loops, recursion, and read across. All of these things are transferred from one language to another. Recommendation: Python is often the best for a single language because its syntax is very minimal, it is popular, and it is quite useful. If you want an alternative, you can look at JavaScript, Cotton, or Swift. Interviews focus more on your problem-solving skills in loop syntax. Sometimes, even the Sudo court will work.
3. Stop Watching—Write Code
Tutorials and videos are useful only if you code along. You won’t learn guitar just by watching others play.
- Build from tutorials
- Build your own projects
- Do coding challenges / hackathons
Aim for at least a couple of hours of actual coding most days. Experience is what counts.
4. Stay Healthy
It is absolutely true that sitting in front of a computer all day is completely unhealthy. Protect your physical and mental health with things like exercise, sunshine, a good diet, and decent nutrition. If your health is bad, you’re learning efficiency will also decrease. It is not worth sacrificing your health for anything.
5. Feynman Technique
Practical ways: write summaries/blog posts, mentor others, answer questions on Stack Overflow/Discord/Slack, or pretend to teach. The speaker notes they learned far more by creating content than by coding alone. Example flow: Pick a topic (e.g., “program a video game”) → research + experiment → explain simply → build a working demo quickly → refactor and improve with feedback.
6. Dopamine Hits
So, I quickly engineered the cook routine to get some peace of mind. Build a whole event as soon as possible, even if it’s a profit. Write down some small and big goals for the next day every night. When you check them off, the domain will be released in the mind, and a positive addiction of progress will be created. Always avoid pure negative love where only Andres is struggling and no small one is found.
7. Not Too Hard—Pace Yourself
Work hard and then do something completely different. Often our ego pushes us to grind, which is of no use. Instead, go to sleep, go out, move a little, or have a cool drink. Problems that seem impossible at night become impossible the next morning. Keep spacing between work.
8. Learn Like a Pro For Tech Job
As a software engineer, you mostly Google whatever you need or search for the documentation. Once you have the learning habits mentioned above, just search for the specific thing you want to learn and start building. The core message is that coding is a deliberate and consistent practice, not just watching tutorials or brute force brainstorming.
