Who is a programmer?
A programmer, computer programmer, developer, dev, coder, or software engineer is a person who creates computer software. The term computer programmer can refer to a specialist in one area of computer programming or to a generalist who writes code for many kinds of software.
World’s first programmer
British countess and mathematician Ada Lovelace is often considered the first computer programmer, as she was the first to publish an algorithm intended for implementation on Charles Babbage’s analytical engine, in October 1842, intended for the calculation of Bernoulli numbers. Because Babbage’s machine was never completed to a functioning standard in her time, she never saw this algorithm run.So sad right? The first person to run a program on a functioning modern electronically based computer was computer scientist Konrad Zuse, in 1941.
How to become a programmer?
If possible earn a Bachelor’s degree in computer science.If you chose this path,
Things to avoid:
- Choose this only you’re interested in programming.
- Sitting on the last bench and bluffing every day.
- Saying teacher is underqualified. If you feel so, try to find a good one (It’s your responsibility.)
- Stop memorizing the text from the books. (It’s similar to copy paste)
- Avoid project centers. Do it yourself (90% of such institutions are outdated and doesn’t meet the industry standards)
Things to do:
- Understand the fundamentals and history of computer science.(You got 4 years. )
- Choose a comfortable programming language.
- Exercise programs, learn data structures and algorithms.
- Start building a compiler or any projects which help to understand the foundation.After the course completion, this experience will give you benefits.
- Take online courses. Eg: codecademy, codeschool,pluralsight, etc.
Note: If you don’t have a degree in computer science, No problem.Here you can start your career as a programmer.
Prerequisites
- Should love the things you do.
- Self-confidence
STEP 1: A fresh start
Learn a programming language (I prefer JavaScript(ECMA) if you like web development as a career path)
For that first, you must go to codecademy.com In this website, a lot of languages are there.Choose your preferred language and complete the course as soon as possible.Average course completion time is 8 hours.
Python
- High-level, server-side scripting language.
- It’s considered a fairly easy language for beginners due to its readability and compact syntax.
- It powers the Instagram, Pinterest and is used by Google, Yahoo! and NASA.
Ruby
- A dynamic, object-oriented scripting language.
- Ruby is composed to be simple and easy to write.
- Like Python, Ruby is supposed a fairly user-friendly language for beginners.
- Used on Scribd, GitHub, Groupon and Shopify.
Javascript
- JavaScript is a client and server-side scripting language.
- It can be used over multiple web browsers and is considered essential for creating interactive web apps.
- It is also used in game development and writing desktop applications.
- JavaScript interpreters are planted in Google’s Chrome extensions, Apple’s Safari extensions, Adobe Acrobat, Etc.
STEP 2: Connect and grow with the ecosystem
What is Github? GitHub is a website and service where geeks enthuse all the time. You can find a lot of open source projects there.Can be used for learning purposes.You can also find even the source code for Appollo space shuttle there.
Learn the software version control basics from codecademy.com
Create a Github account if doesn’t have one.
STEP 3: It’s the time to level up your programming skills
Yes, this is the time.
- Go to exercism.io
- Start practicing exercism problems in your favorite language.
- Make a Github repo for that.
I’m not joking, Once you complete all the exercism problems. The magic will start to happen.Your viewpoint about programming will change.
If you complete all the above steps, This is the first checkpoint i think in your programming career.