Like most professions, candidates need to develop certain skills to begin working as an expert. Whether you are an old-hat programmer or just stepping into the programming domain, you always have to be open to learning coding skills. This article discusses the best ways to improve coding skills to get an edge over others in the world of programmers.
In terms of course degrees, you can pursue BCA and MCA to develop knowledge about programming and computer applications.
How to Improve Coding Skills?
Read books
The best way to improve coding skills is to read books. While programmers these days focus on online tutorials over books, however, books are always the best option to work on the basics. The fundamentals of programming are evergreen and for new programmers, reading coding books is an excellent way to improve coding skills.
Here are some of the recommended books:
- Code Complete
- Absolute Beginner’s Guide to C
- Java: A Beginner’s Guide
- Ruby: Programming, Master’s Handbook: A TRUE Beginner’s Guide!
Listen to Podcasts
Podcasts about coding are a great way to keep up with the latest developments and discover cutting-edge methods and web design tools. Moreover, hearing from more experienced programmers about their professional journeys helps you plan out your way ahead. Learning through listening is also a fun and successful educational method that allows you to focus on the subject matter without being distracted by clickbait videos.
Given below are the most popular coding podcasts:
- CodeNewbie
- Shop Talk Show
- JavaScript Jabber
Join a Community
Interacting and engaging in conversations with already employed programmers is a surefire way to advance your programming skills. Ask questions by signing up for Stack Overflow or Reddit. You can even visit Subreddits, the programming one is a good place to start. Moreover, you can also share your code and ask for feedback from the community. Take the feedback seriously and improvise accordingly to improve your coding skills.
Work on Real Projects
Believe it or not, if you are not actively working on real projects, your programming skills won’t advance quickly.
Now, the question arises, where to find these projects? You could look into freelance websites and approach small businesses with your services. Alternatively, you could send out a cold email to neighborhood agencies with freelance proposals and offer to help out when needed.
In case, if you are not able to locate real projects, you can always create something of your own. You can build your own website or apps to acquire confidence and develop a portfolio to further pitch to clients.
Play Coding Games
Another fun way to improve coding skills is to play coding games. The fact is if you only read about it and then code until your eyes are square, then you might easily lose interest. Hence, playing coding games is an excellent activity that will make the skill development process fun. Play some coding games. As you solve puzzles and advance through the levels in gamified learning, you can develop your programming skills and increase your confidence.
Contribution to GitHub
Joining and contributing to GitHub is a requirement for improving coding skills. No matter your level of experience, contributing to an Open Source project almost always teaches you something new.
It’s a fantastic learning curve and a huge confidence booster all rolled into one, whether you learn that from looking at someone else’s code or from getting feedback on your own work.
Learn Something New Each Day
Nobody becomes an expert coder overnight. It requires perseverance, practice, and hard work.
However, if you want to give your skill development a little extra boost, set aside some time each day to push yourself to try something new. The key here is to do something to progress in the field each day. It doesn’t necessarily have to be something difficult. IT could be anything as easy as picking up a new programming language or shortcut methods.
These were the best ways to improve your coding skills. However, as they say, practice makes the man perfect. You must practice something new each day. In case you want to acquire a degree in programming or computer applications like BCA or MCA, you can learn about these courses at CollegeSearch.
