The first 3 things to do if you're serious about learning a computer language.
Most people never do the first two things and wind up quitting.
Number 1 thing to do: Realize you don’t know how to memorize—and learn how to.
Unless you have a photographic memory, you’ll forget ninety percent of everything you read, and things will not go well.
Before you crack your new coding book, learn about effective memory techniques. Re-reading, outlining, and highlighting are easy, but don’t work. Really memorizing takes repetition and something called “active recall.”
Active recall
Active recall means trying to remember something you learned once before. Whether or not a given attempt to remember is successful, trying to recall reinforces each bit of knowledge, like physical exercise strengthens a muscle.
You can make electronic flashcards using the free Anki app, or create physical flashcards using 3 X 5 index cards.
If you’re learning JavaScript, Python, or HTML & CSS, you’re welcome to use my free recall exercises for JavaScript, Python, and HTML & CSS, even if you don’t own my books.
Number 2: Learn how and where to practice.
On average, it takes about forty hours of practice to learn to drive a car. Forty hours, too, is about the minimum practice for learning the fundamentals of a computer language as a beginner.
Before starting a new computer language book, Google free online code playground for [the language you’re learning]. Choose a playground and bookmark it. Then return to the playground for practice every time you learn something new.
My books include hours of live coding practice built into free interactive exercises online. Again, feel free to use these tools for learning JavaScript, Python, or HTML & CSS, even if you don’t own my books.
Number 3: Learn how to program feedback into your code.
How do you know if your code is doing what you want it to do? You need output.
In JavaScript, this means knowing how to code an alert.
As you progress, you’ll also learn the professional way to get feedback using the browser’s developer console. Start here to learn about the console.
In Python and Java, you use the print() function.
In C#, it’s the Console.Write() method.
Every language has a way.
In my books, the first chapter always teaches how to get feedback by using output. If you’ve purchased a book that doesn’t start out with that topic, find “output” in the index and read that chapter first.
Excellent content!