It's difficult to be a first-year student, you know why? Learning new skills, especially with regard to programming, may be difficult. To understand any coding language, all you need is the correct learning strategy. Which programming language should I start with” is probably one of the most popular questions that first-year students try to resolve. In this post, I'll lead you through some stages that, in our opinion, are the best way to start your programming journey.

INTRODUCTION

The Internet is brimming with helpful information. Whatever you want to learn, there is something beneficial that you can get for free. All you have to do is put in the time and effort. At the same time, making a decision amid the vast sea of free books, websites, and courses available on the internet is challenging.

If you're not cautious, you'll wind up wasting a lot of time exploring and switching classes without actually learning anything. That's when a curated list comes in handy. If you're new to programming, you might be wondering where to start and how to get started.

To begin, I recommend investing:

1. 80% of your time to practice and 20% to theory
2. Combining many resources and seeking help from more experienced developers in your community.

There are several routes you can opt to start your coding journey. You have the option of learning from books, taking online classes, or attending college. Each of these pathways has advantages and disadvantages, but none of them is superior to the others. It is up to each student to discover what works well for them!

Regardless of whether you want to be a software engineer, a web designer, or a data analyst, all IT-related jobs require programming experience.

The most common misperception we see young programmers make is concentrating on syntax rather than understanding how to address problems.

Below we are mentioning a short and crisp roadmap to start your coding journey:

1. Choose the right language: The first and foremost step is to ask yourself which language suits you best. You have the option of selecting a language that fascinates you, as well as a topic that you'd like to work on in the future. So, if you want to make a mobile application, you should start with Java or Kotlin for Android and Swift for iOS, and if you really want to make a website, you should start with Javascript. AI & ML, Python & R are the programming to learn if you want to work in data science. Commit to one language until you've mastered it, then go on to something else if you desire.

2. Focus on Learning Programming Basics: After choosing the apt language, learn and focus on the fundamentals completely before attempting to decipher the code by creating and solving your own challenges. Basics include Data Types, Variables, Functions, Arrays or Lists, If statements, Conditional loops, Classes and objects, Exception handling, Trees, maps, graphs, and more.

3. Resources to begin with: After going through all the fundamentals try to grasp the advanced concepts now by enrolling in either paid or unpaid courses. After going through all the basic concepts and implementations, you need to learn DSA in-depth and practice questions to acquire the problem-solving skills, the basis for all tech interviews.

1. Deep Dive into Competitive Programming
2. Level up on the advanced data structures and algorithms
3. Catch up on Modern programming features

What’s Next Build Projects: Creating your first mini project is a great way to experiment with and understand how things function. It also provides you with total control over the modules that you use. This helps you to get more knowledgeable about language features and library components.

Tips to accelerate your Programming journey:

1. Understand the fundamentals of the language that you are programming in. Learn beyond the theory by implementing all concepts in different ways.
2. Understand the depth of time and space complexity. Code and test.
3. Focus on strengthening logic instead of studying existing codes. A better logic will help you solve more unseen questions.
4. Improve problem-solving skills not only specific to programming. It changes the way you think and can help you gain more exposure to larger problems.
5. Practice coding on sites like Leetcode, Code Studio, etc. While practicing, ensure that you solve at different difficulty levels. Do not stick to a particular level and solve all from that only. This will reduce your exposure to higher-difficulty questions.
6. Keep calm and believe in yourself. No question is unsolvable.

If you implement these procedures, you'll have a leg up on the competition when it comes to coding; these are factors that will keep you from being caught off guard.

CONCLUSION

Challenges in the first year should not cause you to reconsider your major choice. Not in the least. Initial stumbling blocks are to be anticipated, but they can be conquered. However, if you truly believe that computer science was the incorrect decision for you. It's fine if you want to pursue something different; it doesn't imply your early interest in CS was unfounded.

If you have ever been stuck in an infinite loop of questions in your mind like how to master any Programing Language? How do I get to know what to study in how much dept? Do I am following the right path? Where to practice questions? How to get placed in tech giants like FAANG? Then the paid online courses or an unpaid youtube series will act as a break statement for you.

If you can't solve any of the problems on the sheet or somewhere else, don't give up quickly. At the very least, allow yourself 1–2 hours of brainstorming, and if you still can't figure it out, go for a solution answers, you may easily locate various online courses or YouTube videos with good explanations, as well as the Code studio discussion section or Leetcode.

In the end, if you are starting to get nervous seeing so much to learn, COOL DOWN. Learning programming is really a fun process and you will surely enjoy it.