Want to Learn How to Code? Here’s Your Crash Course
By Jody Bell
We know that learning a second, third, or even fourth language is much easier to do when you’re young. Well, learning how to code is no different.
In fact, learning to code when you’re younger has some serious benefits – it teaches you an entirely new way of thinking and expressing yourself. You are literally learning how to speak to a computer.
In an increasingly computerized world, this is crucial. As a reflection of this, research is telling us that those with coding skills are increasingly in demand, and are enjoying higher salaries as a result. Plus, as a Girls With Impact student you’re learning how to build your own business. Imagine if you also had the ability to code your own website, app, or even product? Now that’s an unstoppable combination of skills.
So, if you’re a student with some extra time on your hands this summer, this is some seriously great news for you. Plus there are tons of resources available for you to start your coding education for free and on your own schedule.
But where do you even start? Well, that’s where we come in – here’s your crash course on teaching yourself how to code.
1. Understand what your learning objectives are
Determining the most efficient learning pathway is usually done by working backwards. Thus, try to think about why you want to learn how to code, and visualize some learning objectives you hope to achieve by the end of the summer.
Obviously you can’t expect to be building advanced applications and video games with one summer of education, however, it is completely feasible to learn how to build a website, program a Raspberry Pi, or just gain a general understanding of the field. Some basic questions you can ask yourself when determining your goals are:
Do I want to study coding in college and go into it as a career? If so, how certain am I of this?
Do I have a particular project in mind that I want to complete this summer?
How much time do I have this summer to learn?
What is my current understanding of code? Do I want to learn enough to be able to produce my own code?
Answering these questions is crucial in understanding what sort of coding program to complete, and scheduling out your summer learning plan.
2. Get a broad understanding of the field and computers as a whole
Once you have a general understanding of your learning objectives, you can work on the the foundation of your education, and figure out what your more niche interests may be.
A great place to start is through gaining a basic understanding of computers – including both the hardware and software components. How does a computer actually work? What are the most important components of a computer? How do computers communicate to each other? What exactly is the internet? While these are very basic questions, they provide some high level understanding and can give context to your studies.
Additionally, you may find it helpful to look into some more niche and emerging topics within the industry.
When I taught myself some basic code a few summers ago, I knew I wanted to actually use my code in the physical world. This meant I bought a Raspberry Pi and ended up making a smart mirror for my bedroom that displayed the time, weather, and other bits of information onto my mirror. However, while I was learning some of the basics needed for this project, I dove into the Internet of Things, and became absolutely fascinated with this, machine learning, and artificial intelligence as a whole. Unfortunately, I didn’t include these other tangents in my schedule for the summer and thus lacked the time to dive deeply into these sub topics. In retrospect I wish I had done more general research upfront so I knew which topics I wanted to prioritize studying.
You may find that after your preliminary research there are more niche areas that hold your interest. Try to include studying these topics as a way to break up your actual coding language studying.
3. Figure out what language you want to learn how to code in
Coding is a general field, but just like various spoken languages, learning how to code in Python versus C++ are entirely different and have different capabilities.
Python is a popular first language as it reads similar to English and has a very broad usage, however HTML is a fast-tracked way to build websites. If you’re strictly looking to build software with visual components, a language such as C # might be most helpful. There are plenty of resources out there that can break down the various languages and give you further guidance.
4. Figure out what is the best channel of learning and make a schedule
Based on your situation – specifically your schedule along with budget – there are many available options.
If you feel secure in your discipline and want to customize your schedule, there are plenty of self-paced options. Personally, I’m a fan of DataCamp, which allows you to make functional code within the context of mini-projects, and Khan Academy, which has instructional videos that are easy to follow. The Odin Project also has a huge selection of content if you are hoping to learn more about a specific topic.
Looking for something structured? A bootcamp may be a better choice. If you truly want to push yourself, there are plenty of online bootcamps, and many will have financial assistance or are offered for free if you live in a particular state/are still a student. Additionally, there may be in-person boot camps offered in your area!
5. Supplement your learning with practice and projects
If you’ve ever taken a foreign language, you know that the material you learn in class is useless if you don’t actually practice speaking. Coding is the same.
Outside of your learning, it is crucial to practice your skills within the context of something that interests you. This could be as simple as coding a basic game, app, or website consisting of only a few lines of code. Not only will this give you an opportunity to practice and find potential gaps in your knowledge, but these projects are great additions to your resume or LinkedIn. Many developers use GitHub to publish their code, and then reference this GitHub account on their professional channels.
We know learning how to code can be a bit overwhelming – if you ever have any questions, need some support, or want to run an idea by someone on the Girls With Impact team, shoot me an email at jody.bell@girlswithimpact.com.
Jody Bell, 20 is Girls With Impact’s Editor in Chief and a program graduate from Greenwich High School. Girls With Impact is the nation’s only online, business and leadership program for girls 14-24, turning them into tomorrow’s leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators.