Educative Community Spotlight: How 3 developers learned to code

Anyone can learn to code#

At Educative, we believe that anyone can learn to code. However, it can be daunting to figure out how to begin. We recently spoke with a few of our community contributors at our free dev encyclopedia, Educative Answers, to hear about how they learned to code and when their love for coding was sparked. Read through some of our contributors’ responses to learn about how their love for coding was sparked. 

Meet our community!#

Learn to Code Q&A#

When did you first take an interest in coding?

Akande: I began coding and writing in January of 2022. Shortly before this, I had started studying at the University Of Ilorin, Nigeria. However, I couldn’t take many classes because all the lecturers went on strike soon after I started. The strike was brought on because their union was not being paid adequately by the government. Although we don’t know when schooling will resume, it was one of the reasons I started to learn to code on my own.

Gopi: I wanted to get a job which led me to apply to many electronic companies such as Broadcom, Samsung R & D, and others. However, none of these companies returned my emails. This disappointed me because I was about to finish my bachelor's degree. Then, the Computer Science Corporation (CSC) short-listed me based on my GPA and called me for an interview as 1 of the 2,500 students called to appear for the interviews. After five rounds of interviews, I finally received a job offer for the role of Java Software Developer at DXC Technology.

Tesleem: I first took an interest in coding about halfway through university where I was studying Microbiology. One of my friends was always working on the computer and I got curious. I asked him to show me what he was doing and he sent me HTML tutorials. I tried out some of these tutorials and found them so interesting that I never looked back. Writing code has been so fascinating to me – I love seeing the result in my browser.

What was your path to learning to code?

Akande: I started to code at a place called Dignity Technology, Oyo Nigeria. My tutor used W3school as the basis. I then ventured onto the internet and chose to follow freeCodeCamp’s path. Along the way, I made many mistakes and wrote code that didn’t follow any design patterns. One time I broke a product and my colleagues had to help me fix it. I have learned a lot from my seniors.

Gopi: I learned to code at 18 and worked as a freelance engineer throughout my bachelor years. As a freelancer, I worked on writing microprocessors code on the boards, Custom made ChipSet, and MatLab Simulations. One time, I worked on a Zigbee transmitter and receiver project where I made two vehicles talk to each other using Zigbee protocol. I coded the entire project myself

Tesleem: I learned coding from online resources with guidance from senior colleagues, friends, and connections. I used multiple online resources such as Educative, Youtube, and w3schools. Whenever I get stuck, I would consult search engines or ask friends and mentors.

What aspects of coding are the most exciting for you?

Akande: My favorite part of coding is problem-solving. Whenever I come across a problem, I investigate it by breaking it down into smaller sets or portions. I then research these sets, which enables me to dig deeper and acquire an understanding of other domains related to the problem. This process opens a gateway for endless knowledge and information and has allowed me to polish my coding skills in other domains and grow as a technical writer.

Gopi: I enjoy the entire process from brainstorming ideas with a team, working on the system design, talking to the production team, and putting everything together into code from the API designs and UML diagrams. 

Tesleem: The aspect of coding I find most exciting is when you get to see your code bear tangible fruits that solve problems. One of my goals is to become so good at coding that I can mentor up-and-coming developers.

What goals do you have for yourself? Do you have a specific role that you are working towards?

Akande: My passion, ever since I was a kid, was to work behind computers. I saw websites as a mystery and wanted to know how they were built. I have always found Frontend development fascinating as the front end is what you see as a user. It caught my interest because I love to give users the best view. I want to build amazing interfaces for users and solve problems that users face when surfing the internet.

Gopi: I want to become a Java champion and am trying my best to support the community by creating on various tech platforms and my website. I am also starting to work on open-source projects to reach this goal. You can check out Gopi's website at https://ggorantala.dev.

Tesleem: No specific role, but it would be nice to be a team lead

Check out some of their Answers#

• How to use regular expression for string comparison in JavaScript by Akande Olalekan Toheeb

• How to reverse the letters in a string in Java by Gopi Gorantala

• What is IOS swift type in a Dictionary? by Tesleem Amuda

Want to write on Educative Answers?#

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