Yesterday I had a kick-off meeting with my capstone team members and mentors. I was not surprised that I’ll be learning new technologies and frameworks along the way. That’s part of being a software engineer. I was surprised, however, that I have had little exposure to such technologies since my time as OSU. So much of being a computer science student in 2021 is self-teaching, building personal projects, and leetcode (that is a topic for another day!). For my capstone project, we’ll be using C#, .NET, learning how to deploy an existing project to the cloud, machine learning topics, and so much more! I’m probably missing a few things, but will refine my knowledge as time goes.
For now, here’s my advice to learning new programming languages. This is as much a reminder to myself as for you, the reader. Whether this is your first programming language or your fifth, I think you’ll find something useful from this list!
Do:
- Have an idea of the types of projects you want to make.
- If you’re just starting out, learn Python. Python is not fussy about the syntax and it will come in handy when you are solving technical interview questions.
- In my case, I want to learn C# for my capstone.
- Search the programming language you’re interesting in + reddit + beginner + resources + other relevant keywords
- You will find discussions on reddit for the best resources on the topic you’re interested in. From a developer with 10+ years in industry or a student that is also in your same shoes, having different perspectives and consensus on the many resources out there will cut back your learning time.
- Use different resources to learn the same thing
- Having someone explain a concept in a different way can help solidify the topic.
Don’t:
- Get stuck in tutorial mode
- Tutorials are useful, but only as useful as you make them out to be. After a certain point, if you’re watching tutorials but not coding along, how useful is it? How much information are you retaining?
- Sweat the syntax
- Familiarity comes with practice. The more you use a language, the syntax will become second nature.
- Not ask for help
- Taking the time to craft how you’re stuck, the things you’ve tried but didn’t work, what the expected outcome is, is actually very valuable. You’re practicing communicating your problem and getting closer to the solution! I have found that asking for help is normal and encouraged.
Goodluck on your journey!
