r/learnprogramming • u/_tshepo • 13h ago
A simple tip to learn things efficiently
I've been a self-taught everything(Woodworker, Chess Player, Programmer, Furniture Repairs...etc) ever since I last went to school. The one secret that kinda helped me learn things efficiently is, learn what you can use now.
See, a programming language is big. You should not try to cram all the syntax at once. You can, but that is not an effective way to go about learning something as deep and wide as a language. It could be a spoken language or any skill whatsoever.
It is important to follow a roadmap or some structure. Especially a structure that breaks what you are trying to learn into small tasks. Each task should consist of 2 main things. A lesson and practice.
In any programming language, there are two main parts. The language specific part and the computer science part. If you read through a programming language book, the computer science part is broken down into concepts that are not specific to any language. They are known as fundamentals.
So, you will learn about data concepts (variables and types) and then program something small that implements what you just learnt. Dont worry about deep concepts, you will get there. Then learn about collection concepts (lists and others). Program something small.
Approaching programming this way has been effective for me since 2017. Dont get me wrong, I did learn about advanced stuff I never implemented before. You will too. It's good to know what exists. But remember, if you want to learn effectively, chop down your skill into smaller tasks, learn and implement. Don't wait to implement after a while.
Today is my day 6 of learning Java and Backend Engineering from First Principles. Time flies and a part of me wants to rush the process... but I know that, that is not efficient for who I want to become.