Just Type Away

The idea of making computers respond to your commands, whether verbally or written, always seems so elegant in movies. That is where I first got the urge to learn coding. Initially it was just an easy concept for me. Write code and the computer does exactly what I tell it to. Easy...right? The reality could not have been further from the truth. Far as I can recall, the only line of code I got to work was

<h1> Hello World</h1>

Apart from displaying simple html text, there was nothing else I could get right. Programming quickly became a daunting task and I gave it up for video games. Might as well use my computer for something. One video games too many and I figured maybe I could make my own video games and incorporate the features I wanted in the video games but couldn't get in any of the games I was currently playing. This time, with a clear goal in mind I was able to follow a tutorial through to the end. This is not where I post some awesome video game that I made binge coding for an entire week in my bedroom with only caffeine keeping me going. Actually, the resulting game, if you could call it that, was horrible. However, I didn't give up on programming. I decided to focus on web development.

I figured if I had a goal in mind then programming would be easy. Truth be told it works, at least for the first stage of your programming journey but it's not sustainable. What happens when you attain your goal? Do you quit programming? For me, the result was lack of enthusiasm. I couldn't code consistently. Soon as I hit a target I would stop coding and probably come back later when I had forgotten the concepts and start all over again. The cycle repeated itself and I was stuck in the tutorial loop.

The lockdown last year left me with a lot of free time. While scrolling through twitter, I discovered that people had picked up programming as a way to keep busy. Most tech communities were helpful in assisting new programmers and I decided to challenge myself. Movements like #100DaysOfCode gave a sense of purpose and building projects that were suggested in the tech streets of twitter made programming a never ending learning journey.

This time I'm doing the #100DaysOfCode challenge again and I plan to document every step of it on my Twitter. I also have a few projects in mind to build by the end of the year. This keeps me going even when I feel overwhelmed.