A Step by Step guide on how to become a self taught programmer :)

Being a self taught programmer is the best way to get into programming because you are not limited to something concise.

The most important thing is:

You actually learn how to learn!

To be a self taught programmer, there are various stages. Let me briefly talk about the various stages of learning programming:

1. Learn a language:

• First and the foremost step to start programming is to get your hands wet with any one programming language.
• It could be any of the following languages:
• C
• C++
• Java
• Python
• I would strongly recommend to get started with C++. You can pretty easily learn the other Object Oriented languages later.
• Some of the most useful websites to know the basics and get conceptual clarity of the language:
• CodesDope : Learn to Code
• GeeksforGeeks | A computer science portal for geeks
• Build a habit of Googling certain specific topics and getting conceptual clarity.
• YouTube is also a great way to learn and get conceptual clarity of any topic.

2. Practicing:

• Practicing is one of the most important stages to learning a language.
• "You can't learn how to swim by seeing other people swim."
• Start practicing on any of the following websites.
• Dashboard | HackerRank
• HackerEarth | Helping 4M+ developers level up and 1000+ recruiters hire top tech talent.
• CodeChef | Programming Competition,Programming Contest,Online Computer Programming
• GeeksforGeeks
• It completely depends on person to person which website to get started with. According to my personal experience,I would suggest you to go by the following order:
• Hackerrank:
• It's best for beginners.
• It will help you get into Competitive Programming comfortably.
• Codechef:
• Once you are comfortable with it, then you must switch to Codechef (Codechef is harder then hackerrank).
• It has practice section which is divided based on the level of questions.
• You should begin with beginner level, and that too from the bottom of the list because level of questions increase from bottom of the list as we move upwards.
• Directly doing the topmost questions might create alot of problems initially. This is one of the first mistakes I did when I started with Codechef.
• Later you can switch to the Easy Section.
• Practicing rigorously as many questions as possible.

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To get your doubts cleared, you might find the following resources useful:

1. Stackoverflow:

• This website will have the answer to each and every question you might have regarding programming.
• You can even post your doubts on the website, incase your query isn't already present there.

2. Google:

• You must acquire the habit of googling all your doubts and queries.
• This is one of the most important skill for any programmer.

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Some other important sources which will help you alot in this journey:

1. YouTube:

• You can refer to certain playlist's on YouTube for reference.
• Data Structures:
• Data structures - YouTube
• Algorithms:
• Algorithms - YouTube
• There are alot of other good playlist's as well, which you can refer to based on your understanding.
• They are only for reference and should not be completely relied on. Build a habit of learning as you practice!

2. Geeks For Geeks:

• This website has the best collection of all the Data Structures and algorithms, with alot of different approaches well explained.
• This can be regarded as the "Programmers Encyclopedia".
• You can even practice the problem on their platform before actually looking into the approach or logic of the problem.

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Practice as much as possible. Ultimately, Practice is the key to success.

In case you have any other query, you can PM me or ask your query in the comments section.

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Good Bye, until next time ;-)

Ankit

#selftaught