Ok, so the coding bug has bitten you. Or maybe it hasn’t. Maybe you’re getting into coding because you want a career change or you want a lifestyle change or it may help your current career progress. Whatever the reason, it is daunting and overwhelming if you have no programming language experience where to begin and look at what resources or courses to take.

In this case, I will give you my experience as to what worked for me. The programming language that got me hooked is JavaScript. Now, if you read my previous blog, you would know the backstory of why JS. Regardless, when I had an interest enough to actually not only watch Matt Landers demo code, but to actually put finger to keyboard myself – I was overwhelmed.

Being completely new to coding, I was unsure where to even begin. So if you do not get anything out of this blog, make sure you at least drill this into your mind. START WITH A GOOD MENTOR OR GUIDE. I can’t emphasize this enough. The start of a great experience in your coding foundation and journey is a good mentor. Your coding “Yoda” if you will. Someone who has a lot of experience with not only creating apps and writing code but also navigating the ins and outs of the software engineer’s career path or paths.

A good mentor will show you what bootcamps or courses are best, guide you in what best suits your skillset and even your personality depending on how much you get to know your mentor and vice-versa.

Once you have your mentor, the second step is to pick the course of action you will take on how to learn to code. Whether it be a bootcamp, college courses, on-line classes, picking up books and reading them, watching videos and trying to figure it out yourself – just pick what best suits you.

For myself, I like structured learning that has foundational ground level beginner content all the way to advanced content. In my case with JS and Matt being my mentor, I enrolled in the greatest full stack web development course ever: Covalence. (Totally biased I know but hey it’s my blog. Here is a link if you are interested! https://gravity.covalence.io/portal/referrals)

What I love about Covalence is the material is relevant in relation to Full Stack Web Development around React JS, is updated by the instructors when needed, labs are hands on, the instructors are knowledgeable and fun, and the collaboration between students is very encouraging and helpful to keep on going within the course. Coding is not easy by any means and a support system within the learning path you choose, in this case a structured course, is crucial.

Lastly, once you pick out a mentor and path- TAKE ACTION! Meaning CODE, CODE , CODE. Build, Build, Build. The only real way you are going to understand and become a good developer yourself is to immerse yourself in building apps. Put that knowledge into action. Pro-tip is to start with family and friends. Offer to build sites and apps for them for free so you actually have to maintain software someone is using. Hope this blog was helpful! Happy Coding!