Hello 👋,
In this piece of writing, I would be addressing little of the possible and common mistakes a newbie in tech can make.
Starting out 🚀:
- Fear and self-doubt
Seeing tons of codes, experiencing consecutive errors(bugs), difficulty in understanding etc. actually causes fear and self-doubt, which makes it mostly unavoidable but it can be conquered. There are also many misconceptions about being a techie, like:
- Being a genius
- Being knowledgeable of mathematics
- Being fast at using the computer
and many more.
It is okay to be afraid while starting but it shouldn't continue or stay for a long period of time because it can cause a lack of interest or demotivating situations.
Having this mindset can be of great help.
- Experts started as a newbie
- Learning makes me better day by day.
- Ask for help while stuck, research and source for mentorship from expert
- Take breaks
- Believe in yourself and what you can do
- Messy code formatting
This is mainly on the arrangement of your code in the editor. Wrong code formatting causes errors in scripting language like Python, JavaScript etc.
Formatting doesn't really affect the likes of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Cascading Stylesheet (CSS) etc. but formatting beautifies the code and makes it more accessible.
- Bad variable and function names.
This is very important and to solve issues like this make use of Mnemonic naming.
What is Mnemonic?
a system such as a pattern of words that assists in remembering something.
- aiding or designed to aid the memory.
- relating to the power of memory.
Also, avoid inconsistent use of lowercase and uppercase characters.
- Over commenting
Commenting on codes is very useful and helpful, it is advisable but much of it makes the view of the code sucks.
Writing clean code sequentially actually need less comment.
- Languages and frameworks
Firstly,
- A language is syntax, grammar, semantics (and perhaps a core library) that implementers are required to support.
- A framework is a cohesive set of library code that together simplifies programming in any given language.
A framework is always embedded in a language.
Newbies always find it difficult to pick up a language or framework, here are factors to consider:
- Your tech field determines which language you can learn.
- Make a research of the most demanding in the market
- If you are willing to be a full-stack developer, it is advisable to start with the backend.
- The framework or language that would fit in (easier) in what you build
In addition, learn a programming language at a time and don't rush into frameworks without a prior and good understanding of the language.
- Not taking advantage of debugging tools
There are different tools and techniques to debug faster. Example: React developer tools, Google developer tools, use of console.log() in Javascript or print() in Python and many more.
- Not backing up your project.
Backing up, I mean storing projects source codes for any reason, like:
- Computer might crash
- External Storage device
- Source code more accessible
A solution to this is using Version Control System (VCS) like GitHub, GitLab etc.
Thanks for reading through this blog, you can connect with me on;
Bye 👋