This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Jeff Jakinovich
This is boring advice but simple: read more documentation.
You will never memorize everything when learning to code. There is too much information. Fortunately, programmers already know this. So they created tons of documentation for the languages, libraries, and tools they built. There are literal instruction manuals for how to get better at using these technologies.
Now you just have to get comfortable reading them.
Learning to read documentation will push you to grow fast for three reasons:
1. Learning to read documentation is the equivalent of learning the rules so you can break them later
You don’t know what you don’t know when starting out.
It is hard to build things when you don’t even know what your tools or raw materials can do. After reading your programming language’s documentation for a few hours, you’ll start to get an idea of how little you know.
Don’t let this discourage you.
Instead, write down all the questions you have when you come across things that are new or don’t make sense. Then go and Google those questions.
Rinse and repeat. You’ll start to see all the new and useful ways you can use different technologies which will compound into more learning.
2. Learning to read documentation will help you write better documentation
One day you will write a useful app or tool that others are going to want to use.
How are you going to make sure they know how to use it?
Whether you are working by yourself or in a team, being able to document code in a way that is succinct and easy to understand is critical.
As you read more documentation you start to pick up on things that are helpful to you and things that are not. Remember the helpful stuff and duplicate it when writing your own documentation.
3. The more advanced you get, the fewer tutorials there are to learn from
When you start learning to code it seems like there are YouTube videos for everything you need to know.
This is true up until a point. The more advanced you get with your programming, the more complicated some of the problems become. You reach a point where there isn’t any other way to solve your problem but to scour various documentation websites for any possible hints.
One way or another, if you program long enough, you will get comfortable with documentation. So it is best to start early.
Learn to read documentation and watch your programming abilities grow fast.
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Jeff Jakinovich
Jeff Jakinovich | Sciencx (2024-07-23T01:39:51+00:00) The Key To Growing As A Programmer? Getting Really Good At This 1 Thing. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2024/07/23/the-key-to-growing-as-a-programmer-getting-really-good-at-this-1-thing/
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