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Editor’s note: Kate Ray is the technical

cofounder of scroll kit, a visual webpage

creation tool that was recently acquired by

WordPress.com.

One of the most dangerous things I’ve seen

happen to people who are just starting to

code is being told that it’s easy.

Here’s what your brain does:

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Drawing by me. (I am better at coding than drawing.)

Most programming doesn’t require a

special brain, but it’s more frustrating and

messier than anyone lets on. There are

thousands of enthusiastic blog posts,

classes and apps that aim to entice you

with the promise of a slick, unequivocal

procedure for learning to code. They rarely

mention the tedium of getting your

environment set up (which, trust me, even

the nicest of your programmer friends

don’t want to help you with, because that

stuff is mad frustrating and nobody

remembers how they did it).

They don’t tell you that a lot of

programming skill is about developing a

knack for asking the right questions on

Google and knowing which code is best to

copy-paste. And they don’t let you in on a

big secret: that there is no mastery, there is

no final level. The anxiety of feeling lost

and stupid is not something you learn to

conquer, but something you learn to live

with.

This winter I decided to learn iOS. I’d taught

myself how to code the summer after

college, so I was pretty cocky about my

ability to pick up a new language. I forgot

how hard it is. After getting over my

resentment of Xcode (this “Storyboard” thing

looks like it’s for babies, this isn’t real

programming), I launched into a series of

projects that were too advanced for me.

iOS turns out to be different from web

development; everything I expected to be

hard was easy and everything that should

have been easy was hard. I was impatient

and annoyed with myself.

What I forgot is that the most common

state for a programmer is a sense of

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inadequacy. As a programmer, there is a

limitless amount of stuff to learn. You can

become a specialist in one language or

framework, but if your job is to build things

efficiently, you will constantly need to be

learning new tools and constantly feel out

of your depth. It helps to be mentally

prepared for feeling stupid.

The psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

came up with an insightful way of

visualizing the learning process (for any

discipline):

Adapted from an image in “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience”

I’ve found my experience to follow that line

closely, and came up with this Recursive

Recipe for Learning to Program:

1. Follow a tutorial step-by-step even if you

don’t always understand what you’re

doing. I like to think of Hunter S.

Thompson copying the books of the

Great Masters on his typewriter. You’re

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getting a feel for how things are done in

your new language/framework. This part

should be easy, if boring, because you’re

just doing what you’re told. [Incline of

Optimism]

2. Rebuild the thing you just made or a

slight variation of it. Try not to use the

tutorial too much. Realize just how little

you understood of what you were doing.

[Fear tugs, slowing your ascent]

3. Try to build something simple that you

actually want to make. Discover that you

have absolutely no idea what you’re

doing. [Sea of Despair]

4. Find a new tutorial related to your new

project. (Hopefully your tutorials are

providing you with increasing

background on the language.) Follow the

steps. [Slight sense of understanding,

rise in self-worth]

5. Rebuild the thing yourself. [Fear]

6. Start a new project. [Despair]

7. Repeat steps 1 through 6.

I’m a big fan of tutorials. During this

process, I made an app for collecting the

best tutorials recommended by

programmers who’ve used them. Hopefully

it will shorten the stumbling-around period

before you get into the groove of learning

and help you find the good stuff faster.

As long as you learn to grind through the

frustration, you’ll come out on the hillsides

and get a good view of your progress. Be

okay with not understanding everything,

trust that you are getting better even when

you can’t see your progress, and don’t

rush. Good luck.

Huge thanks to the Shuttleworth Foundation,

whose amazing Flash Grant prompted me to

go down this path of learning new things and

gave me time to work on Teach Yourself To

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Sriram Srinivasan · Top Commenter · Teaching Assistant at Department of Computing Science,University of AlbertaInstead of learning one (or more) programming language, one should understand problem-solvingtechniques such as algorithms/data structures/combinatorics (not advanced stuff, just basic).When one is learning these techniques, one can practice this using one language(C++/java/python). This way, when you want to code in some other language, your mind will beable to think about solving the problem algorithmically first, and then you can read thedocumentation about the specific programming language. In practice, most programminglanguages share a lot of similar concepts/syntax.Reply · Like · · Follow Post · May 25 at 2:26am

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Adam Panzica · Top Commenter · Robotics Engineering at National RoboticsEngineering Center (NREC)The biggest failure in most computer science education is the focus on learning thesemantics of a particular language, rather than focusing on teaching problem solvingskills.Reply · Like · · May 25 at 3:47am49

Jesus Eduardo Ramirez · Top Commenterhead meets nail.the meat and potatoes of programming is the critical thinking needed to solve problemsand create solutions.good call thereReply · Like · · Edited · May 25 at 3:49am10

Jim Shaw · Top Commenter · UT Dallaseven before learning all that CS theory, I feel one should have a solid grasp on math.specifically discrete math and linear algebra.....Reply · Like · · May 25 at 4:35am5

Christian Hresko · · Top Commenter · Director of Product - Mobile at ROBLOXCompletely disagree with many of these comments. You really want to learn what's applicable towhat you're building. There's a lot of 'practical' applications of Comp Sci that don't require rigidmathematics, data structures, runtime analysis, etc. If we want more people interested in CompSci/Programming (and we do), why start off by intimidating them?Reply · Like · · Follow Post · May 25 at 5:33am

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Fabio Dos Santos Franco · · Sorocaba, BrazilI do agree that we should not start off by scaring them, but banalizing the trade is notthe answer either. I've lost count of how much terrible code I had to maintain for thelack of proper education. Nowadays lots of kids think it is an easy way to earn moneyand don't look for proper education. This is plaguing the industry, at least where I live.You don't get to build houses just by reading a "construction for dummies" book.Reply · Like · May 27 at 1:38pm

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Matt Watson · Top Commenter · Georgia StateI recently tried to learn Python after having little to no coding experience. I can create very detailedand macro rich spreadsheets for my job so I figured it's essentially the same logic just in a differentlanguage.

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language.

Sites like codeacademy are not built for beginners no matter how they advertise themselves. I hitso many roadblocks on that site simply because 2 hours in and it was giving directions as if you'vebeen coding for 2 years. I had more luck with Learn Python the Hard Way, but my motivation of "Ican learn to code and fix problem A at work" became heart-breakingly far away when I realized justhow much you had to learn to accomplish that.

Maybe one day I'll have the time to dedicate to learn Python, but until then I'll stick to macrorecording and excel!Reply · Like · · Follow Post · May 25 at 3:04am

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Ti Na · I won' agree that codecademy is not suitable for beginners or first advancedprogrammers, I would rather say, that the order of languages u get started in coding isthe most crucial thing to focus. I started with the mother of all coding C++ and got anidea of variables, datatypes, operators, functions, control flows, loops, structures,typecasting, pointers, fields, strings, classes, constructors, destructors, this, classvariables and methods, inheritance, public and private accessing, polymorphism in thatlogical order and most important learn to understand what a preprocessor, compiler,terminal, linker is doing with ur source code that takes a lot of starter barriers as u getan idea of how ASCII code is translated to be read by a virtual machine...after I got abasic understanding of those themes, I started with codecademy lessons (great Q&Asupport or stackoverflow) and I'm happy with the progress I made and this makes mehighly motivated to keep it up..learning it the hard way as a noob I would stuck andlose patience, especially when I'm not that much in CS related stuff. To cut a long storyshort, I would agree wth the author that it's not as easy as everybody pretends it to beand will remain a lifetime challenge but that's what we like about technologies, theyalways improve and get smarter to handle :)Reply · Like · · Edited · May 25 at 7:09am

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Renato Rocha · Top Commenter · Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas GeraisI think Codecademy can be suitable for begginers with the right mindset of whatprogramming is and what to expect from it. Overall, I agree that should exist a balancewith problem solving algorithm and the initial contact with a first language, and itshould be taught that way, not a tossed syntax like you normally see at college.Reply · Like · · May 25 at 9:50am1

Kendall Scott · University of North TexasIf you want to learn python then www.udacity.com could be a good choice. They have areally good comprehensive look at some basics before they delve into the syntax. I amwatching those even though I am learning php not python.Reply · Like · · May 25 at 2:15pm3

Darren Venn · New York, New YorkFinally someone who is telling the truth. Programming is hard. That's why recruiters chase us onLinkedIn, because not everyone has the patience for it. Tackling iOS after your first course is very challenging, so you gave yourself a more difficult taskthan most. Xcode is a difficult environment to code well in. Anyone can string together a series ofViewControllers, but the finer detail of iOS is extremely challenging. I've been coding for over 20years and I think Xcode is the most difficult, convoluted IDE I've encountered. So much of it isexceptions and hunting for the right link/build parms. The simplest of tasks in iOS can be difficult.The easiest environment I ever coded in was VS2008. For a brief period of time Microsoft got itright. You could code up an application and put it into Prod in about a week or two, and i...See MoreReply · Like · · Follow Post · May 25 at 3:12am9

Carl TrachteI learned to program in VB6 and VBA then decided I wanted to start doing open source projectsand contribute. I took a course in C online from the University of Washington. I made it through butit totally kicked my ass. I've programmed professionally since but really, learning to program "forreal" is anything but easy.Reply · Like · · Follow Post · Edited · May 25 at 5:54pm6

Lee Potter · Works at University of Northern IowaThis is my frustration with GIS software; they have tremendous power and flexibility butrequire an inordinate amount of programming prowess. I want a pet programmer ratherthan a pet programming project.Reply · Like · · May 25 at 6:45pm1

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Jim Fischer · Production Supervisor at SensoryEffectsI get you. I took a c primer, not too bad. Moving on with more intense classes, I foundout just how hard it really was.Reply · Like · · May 25 at 7:08pm2

Carl TrachteJim Fischer Every program I wrote in C had memory dangling/leaking somewhere.That's because I hadn't yet learned to break problems into manageable chunks andfunctions. It was a brutal learning experience, but a worthwhile one.Reply · Like · · May 25 at 7:23pm1

Trent Hamilton · Top Commentereh, languages are easy. they all come down to syntax. i can type out at least ten ways to referencepi in various languages - but they're all just pi. what's truly difficult and the never-ending learningprocess is the combination of critical thinking and the art of problem solving. so many like toshuffle programming off as some supremely technical thing because OMG MATH AND TYPING; idisagree. i see it as an art.Reply · Like · · Follow Post · May 25 at 12:06pm6

Anthony M. Sanders · Top CommenterAbsolutely! Managers want metrics. The need to know that this project is on time.Unfortunately, programmers are really artists. No one knows the precise code toaccomplish your task; It is not a science. They will discover that code in the process.And artistry doesn't run on a precise schedule. This drives managers crazy. They want on-time, and your giving them "maybe" in threemore days. You are supposed to be an engineer, but you are so much more.I love driving managers nuts.Reply · Like · · May 25 at 3:08pm6

Lee Hammond · Top Commenter · SQL Developer at ImPulse SystemsAnthony M. Sanders Great comment! This also applies to project plans and timeestimates: how do I know how long this will take, until I try to do it? I love drivingproject planners nuts, when they ask for time estimates. OK, give me a number...thenthe spec changes. Give me another number.Reply · Like · · May 26 at 6:08am2

Mark Ehle · Top Commenter · Western Michigan UniversityAnthony M. Sanders - I agree totally. I was a professional musician and arranger beforeI took up programming (way steadier work!). I find many similarities between writingmusic and programming. Writing code is much like composing and I can't do my bestwork on a schedule. Some days, the ideas just flow, some days are a total cluster-you-know-what. Fortunately for me my manager is understanding and knows that if she justleaves me alone, good things happen.Reply · Like · · May 26 at 1:07pm1

Matt Cooper · · Top Commenter · Los Angeles, CaliforniaThere's been a lot of snotty comments from VB and TC about schools that teach people how todevelop. I think it's best to simply encourage young people to try this skill as a career instead ofgetting into pedantic debates about how hard it is or isn't. We need more developers. What are wegaining by trying to scare young people away?Reply · Like · · Follow Post · May 25 at 3:13am

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Nick Fisher · Top Commenter · Software Engineer at The InternetDesire is everything. If you want to learn, then any time spent is well spent. Learning without desireis impossible. This article's take on the 'boredom' aspect kind of gets me.

Think of professional athletes. Just because a basketball player has made millions of free throws inhis life, doesn't make the next one in a game any more or less 'boring'. You learn a skill and thenyou use it to accomplish a task. If you're not using your skills to accomplish a task, of course it'llbe boring! Remain objective and you will succeed.

Trying to take a shot you've never -tried- before and labelling it anxiety is a bit rough. Sure, it -can-be stressful if you let it, but remember: 'learning something new' is something you've done before,and must continue doing to be an effective player in this game.Reply · Like · · Follow Post · May 25 at 10:50pm4

Anurag Panna · · Top Commenter · CEO & Founder at Codetag StudioFollow

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Programming is not that hard, Once you learn the semantics,it is pretty easy.However, problemsolving techniques i.e, Data structures, Algorithms are the hardest to understand, and not onlyprogramming, one should have a focus on Network and Databases too. Modern programming isnot just about a programming languages, instead we use internet and databases too on a dailybasis.Reply · Like · · Follow Post · May 25 at 4:34am4

Josh Lindsay · · Software Engineer at YahooInteresting, nothing worth doing is easy. I started out as an artist, and over the years, found myselfin engineering roles, on everything from games for the xbox, to video, web-dev, mobile, databasesext, and more recently animatronics ie robots. I think the trick is to fallow your curiosity, if you lackcuriosity, your learning progress will stagnate rendering you knowledge antiquated, as technologycontinues to evolve. Art on the other hand seems to have an enduring effect. For instance, all theillustrations I had created in Art school are cooler today then when I created it, because its 14years old now. Where as all the code I had written in the same time period is obsolete.http://blog.crazyreds.com/portfolio/Reply · Like · · Follow Post · May 25 at 8:28pm

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Austin Peterson · GBMF Lead RN-MGH at Mercy General HospitalNice perspectiveReply · Like · May 25 at 8:31pm

Ti Na · great respond and I agree in all aspects! But how did u get in gaming that quick? Istarted also more as an artist and I am so eager for game dev that I am at least thinkingto study sth in that direction? Can u advice a good way to effectively get 1st gameapps run because when I build my 1st one I got relatively fast stuck and thought that agame dev has to completely think different than an artist do?Reply · Like · May 26 at 3:17am

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Mark Ehle · Top Commenter · Western Michigan UniversityCuriosity is everything. It's impossible to keep up otherwise. Reply · Like · · May 26 at 1:09pm1

Jonathan Gros-Dubois · University of QueenslandI started programming intensively since I was 14 and it's only now (11 years later) that I feel like I'mon the cutting edge of my specific area of expertise. Some of the stuff I wrote 5 years ago wouldbe embarrassing for me to look at today - And maybe what I'm writing now will embarrass me 5years from now... My advice for anyone wanting to learn programming is to stay humble and not toshy away from learning the parts that you don't yet understand or don't think are necessary. Thatsaid, you don't have to be an expert in order to make a contribution - Some companies actuallyprefer dirty code that gets shipped out quickly over well structured code that takes months todevelop. Poorly structured code isn't always a bad thing - So, while you're still young, try to workfor companies that benefit from this 'quick and dirty' approach but don't get stuck there for toolong! Always try to move forward.Reply · Like · · Follow Post · May 25 at 7:01am3

The GigBearWhat are some companies that have this approach, out of curiosity?Reply · Like · May 25 at 9:26am

Jonathan Gros-Dubois · University of Queensland@The GigBear - Digital agencies which produce websites/web systems on behalf ofthird-party clients tend to favour 'getting the product out quickly' over 'getting the codestructure right'. I worked for an agency once (briefly) - We had to produce a website fora Coca Cola promotional campaign - They didn't put much focus on code qualitybecause the website was going to be dismantled in a few months anyway. In general,you will find that companies which produce systems on behalf of third-party clientstend to have lower code quality than companies that build their own stuff. It makessense - Think about it; they get more work/money whenever there is an issue with thesystem that needs to be fixed (so more issues = more money for the agency, thereforelower code quality is actually an advantage).Reply · Like · Edited · May 25 at 12:45pm

Ezra Taylor · Top CommenterJonathan, how do you become a better coder by writing bad code? Also, I have neverheard of a company that wants someone that writes bad code.Reply · Like · May 25 at 4:12pm

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Santiago Martín Zubieta Ortiz · Top CommenterI strongly believe that the entry barrier into programming is terribly hard. I had no problem with itbut I know a lot of people who did and who still have.

Concepts such as scopes, objects, functions (parameters, return values, recursivity), variables,assignment operators, flow control blocks, boolean arithmetic, polymorphism, inheritance, etc.

You get a hold on that and you can use almost any programming language (every one with theirstyles and specifics though) and then delve into more complex stuff (algorithms, frameworks, etc)but if you don't, you aren't getting anywhere.Reply · Like · · Follow Post · May 25 at 2:27am3

Larene DepopietProgramming languages are not the hard part. The difficulty today is that you have to learn verylarge complex frameworks if you do not want (cannot) write everything yourself. Javascript is nothard, JQuery is huge. Objective C is not hard, XCode/iOS library is, etc.Reply · Like · · Follow Post · May 25 at 8:22am3

Yordan Georgiev · · Helsinki, Finlandthe only profession in the world in which a man could be millions of times more productive thatanotherReply · Like · · Follow Post · May 25 at 6:16am

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Larene DepopietActually, a bad programmer has negative productivity, and there are other professionswhere this is true.Reply · Like · · May 25 at 8:15am3

Max Woolf · · Top Commenter · Carnegie Mellon University · 2,096 followersthis is so kray krayReply · Like · · Follow Post · May 25 at 3:08am

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David WhitneyRule #1: If you want someone to fail at something, tell them it's hard.

Learning to speak English or Chinese is hard, but billions of people have accomplished it. So islearning to write. So is learning to walk, and (surprise!) little children do it.

Do we tell these learners it's hard? No, we encourage them and praise their progress.

Love yourself and have the patience with yourself that you have with your children. Know that thereare tangible, lifelong benefits that come from learning this skill. Define "good enough" and allowyourself to stop there if you want to.

But don't tell yourself it's hard unless you like failure.Reply · Like · · Follow Post · May 27 at 4:08pm2

Nimmitha Vidyathilaka · Algonquin College"If you want someone to fail at something, tell them it's hard." Totally agree. When I was in twenties I and one of my friends wanted learn computing from the bestcomputer school in my home country. First both of us had to take an IQ test. We did itwell. Then we had an interview with the "God" of the school. He has a PhD inMathematics. He gave me a simple equation to solve. It is eight grade math question.When I took the pencil to solve the problem, I accidentally drop the pencil. He thought Iam nervous. Then he told me "This course going to be very hard for you". I solve theequation and got accepted to this super duper school. My friend took little while tosolve the equation and he also got a negative comment from the "God" of the school. Imet one of my teachers in high school and told him the story. He advice me to not totake the "God" guys comment seriously. I did not attend the super duper school. Wentto US and get a Computer Degree from the US. But, my friend thought he is not goodenough to take the course change his career path.

If I believed the "God" guys comment I am not a computer programmer now. Reply · Like · June 16 at 1:35am

Karl CoelhoThe thing is, once you know one programming language well, it's super simple to learn others,

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The thing is, once you know one programming language well, it's super simple to learn others,because they pretty all follow the same principles and paradigms. My point, exactly. Learning tocode, for the first time, will definitely be hard... there's nothing else to it.

p.s. I'm 15 and I am a programmer , I feel proud of myself for crossing the barrier. ^_^Reply · Like · · Follow Post · May 25 at 12:19pm2

Jason Joyner · · Top Commenter · IPFWI've found languages are easy after the second one. Once you learn one that' great,and learning the second language you keep comparing to the first language. by thethird language you realize you can't do that and it's easy from there.Reply · Like · May 26 at 7:27pm

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Se Ba Sti An · RWTH Aachen Universitywhat kind of bullshit is this? bitch, please ... written by a guy that has no clue about softwareengineering. People that call themselves programmer after teaching themselves "how to code thesummer after college" are like mechanical engineers after wrenching on their 50ccm mopedReply · Like · · Follow Post · May 25 at 4:48pm2

Matt Miklic · · Top Commenter · Designer at Automattic"He"?Reply · Like · May 26 at 9:59pm

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Nathan Loofbourrow · Works at DreamWorks AnimationWhat questions to Google and what code to copy-paste? Why, back in my day we didn't have yourfancy Googles and Stack Overflows....Reply · Like · · Follow Post · May 25 at 4:25pm2

Se Ba Sti An · RWTH Aachen Universityand that's way I can't take this article neither the author serious, he/she can callhis/herself officially script kiddie.Reply · Like · May 25 at 5:11pm

John G Moore Jr · Top CommenterSe Ba Sti An Yeah, but he got paid (sold out to WordPress), so "$cript kiddie" got $kills,lol.Reply · Like · May 26 at 1:33am

Cory Logan · San Francisco, CaliforniaThis is incredibly true. Great perspective you've got.Reply · Like · · Follow Post · May 25 at 4:12pm2

Ulf Byskov · Software Consultant at Teamit OyMy two step take on programming.1. Understanding the environment (the problem) in which programming is used is often difficult.You must understand not only the problem but also the desired solution including its limitationsand side effects.2. Fixing the problem by applying programming is not that hard if you did the first stepsuccessfully.Reply · Like · · Follow Post · May 26 at 7:40am1

Henri Walker · Top Commenter · Atlanta, GeorgiaLike anything it depends on your passion, I taught myself c sharp and now program for my countygovernment. Learning to program was easy for me because it is something I have always wantedto do. Yes you will get stuck and frustrated sometime; but you will feel that way with just abouteverything that you do. I agree programming isn't for everyone, so if you are doing it just becauseyou think that someone will offer you 4 billion for your code, programming is not for you. You haveto have a love for coding. At the same time I must say that just because it is not easy you shouldnot fear programming. I think it is fun.Reply · Like · · Follow Post · May 25 at 2:53pm1

Thijs De Paepe · PHP Developer at WijsStart slow, iterate over every step, redo your steps in a different way, build something you can findmany tutorials of, look at the diff between tutorial A and tutorial B with similar project, challengeyourself by adding more advanced code, if it's to hard take a step back, split it up in more steps,make an analysis before you start with something big/new, always thing about what you need andwhat your result needs to be. Start with a language with a simple learning curve that can be asadvanced as you can handle, ones you know a language you know the basics, learning a second

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advanced as you can handle, ones you know a language you know the basics, learning a secondone is much easier.Reply · Like · · Follow Post · May 25 at 12:37pm1

Anthony M. Sanders · Top CommenterNo, it is a question of stubornness, I am more stuborn than the lousey computer. It may drive menuts, but I usually out last it. If my code doesn't work the one way, I will find another trick thatdoes. No stupid, two-bit hunk of plastic and circuitry is going to out last me. Most of the time. And speaking of time, the three days I spend chasing one stinking bug is more than made up forby the times that I try something and it works the first time. I forget all struggles basking in theglory of a small programming victory.Another bug? Oh, no you don't!Reply · Like · · Follow Post · May 25 at 2:41pm1

Vijay Thirugnanam · Top CommenterLearning to code: a) Understanding the various stacks of algorithms (+ data structures) and designpatterns. b) Understanding the features available in the chosen programming language anddevelopment platform c) Pick up an interesting domain / area to code. My 2 cents as aprogrammer.Reply · Like · · Follow Post · May 26 at 8:07am1

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