Many people often go through these questions
“How to start programming?”
“Can I do programming?”
“Where to start programming?”
Computer programming is the process of designing and building an executable computer program for accomplishing a specific computing task – Wikipedia
Programming is not a complicated task and can be mastered if you are determinate enough. It also requires lots of attention and hard work. But this point should be noticed that Programming can’t be mastered completely. Some might guide you up-to some extent but there is always something left to learn. Ultimately you are the one who should take an initiation in order to learn it further.
Many people feel difficult in the initial stages in competitive programming field but it is a phase which every programmer will face. But many people give up during this phase and this will kick them out of the competition.
Programming is a kind of sport which can’t be mastered overnight. So you need to be patient enough to go through the phases during your transformation.
Now the most frequently occurring question and an interesting one though
“How to start programming?”
Initially you need to be comfortable with a programming language.
It might be C,C++,Java or Python etc ,
you don’t need to master all the programming languages.Choose one or two languages and get comfortable with them. Each programming language has it’s own benefits and disadvantages but it is sure that you can write the solution to a problem in a particular language if you are proficient enough. Choosing a different programming language only differs in the number of lines your code is and that doesn’t matter if your logic is good enough to pass the test cases.This will be only possible if you understand the concept of space and time complexities for the algorithm you have chosen to solve the problem.
First choose a problem.
If you are a beginner then choose easy problem.
Read the problem thoroughly and don’t jump into writing the solution. Many people understand the question in a wrong manner which results in a wrong approach. So you need to know what is asked in the problem and what is needed to be done.Then check the constraints whether your approach works for the given space and time complexity limits. If not try changing your approach.
You might not be able to solve the problem you have chosen. You don’t need to get demotivated for that instead check for the solution over the internet or ask for help.
You might not be able to understand the approach initially so spend some more time over the approach mentioned.
It is clear that if you solve a problem it boosts up your confidence and makes a way for you to choose another problem and try solving it.In the same way if you are not able to solve one don’t get demotivated for it. Programming is all about solving the problems and learning new things. So learn and analyse the algorithm or approach used to solve the problem. Usually, you may think that there is no benefit in learning the approach. But if you learn, it will surely be helpful to you in solving a new problem in the future.
In the same way try solving as many problems as you can since there is no end to problems in programming. After you solve enough questions, try taking up challenging questions only when you are skilled and confident enough.
“Can I do programming?”
This question shouldn’t come across one’s mind as it clearly depicts lack of confidence and belief.This might be due to several reasons such as lack of basics,comparing with people who are good at competitive programming and others. Comparing with others who are good at programming will surely demotivate you if you are a beginner, But there is an important point here that has to be highlighted.Even the programmer whom you are comparing yourself with also was once a beginner and he/she too must have undergone the same phase currently you are going through.So you shouldn’t worry about it.Instead take tips and help from the person if possible and develop yourself.
You need to start programming only when your basics of a programming language are strong enough otherwise you might face several problems which might lead you to lose interest and hope in programming.So be aware of it.
“Where to start programming?”
There are many online resources available.Some of them are
Hackerrank: https://www.hackerrank.com/
Hackerearth: https://www.hackerearth.com/
CodeChef: https://www.codechef.com/
Codeforces: http://codeforces.com/
TopCoder: https://www.topcoder.com/
GeeksforGeeks: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/
w3schools : https://www.w3schools.com/
stackoverflow : https://stackoverflow.com/
and there are many more
