True confidence comes from struggling through a problem you have no idea how to solve, and discovering a solution on your own. Other students will reach for more tutorials, trying to obtain more domain-specific knowledge in search of a “full understanding.” Unfortunately, tutorials will only take you so far, and true confidence isn’t found in tutorials or guides. As you’re wrapping up the tutorial phase, you’ll notice you’re able to write code at a much more rapid pace.Īt this point, some people feel confident– like they’re ready to ditch the training wheels and start building things without structured guidance– and will happily dive into the deep end. Over time, you’ll develop the skill to debug errors and pay better attention to small details, and you’ll be able to make progress much quicker. At first, you’ll find it challenging to follow instructions and error messages will happen frequently. In the tutorial phase, you will follow instruction. Over time, you’ll learn to ask for help less frequently by double-checking your code and conducting smart Google searches. Initially, you will probably ask for help on each error message you see.By learning from each of your errors, the next time you make the same mistake, you’ll be able to fix it much faster. Don’t just fix the error and be done with it understand what is wrong with the code you’re fixing. You should learn from each error message that you resolve.But after you’ve seen hundreds of error messages (and you will see hundreds!), you will be able to pinpoint the problem’s location and the relevant details you need in order to fix it. The first time you see an error message, it will take you a while to decode what it actually means. Over time, you will learn how to read error messages and extract the relevant details of the problem quickly.The only difference is, the more experience you have dealing with error messages, the less time you’ll need to spend trying to fix them. The fact of the matter is, error messages are just a part of programming: they are seen by inexperienced and very experienced developers alike. Dealing with error messages and problems in this phase teaches you one of the most important skills of programming within a safe environment: being detail-oriented.ĭebugging error messages is incredibly important. Seeing error messages is a frustrating experience at first, but it’s a crucial step in the learning process. Even the most minor typos and misspellings will result in error messages or bugs. Paying close attention to detail is important when going through materials like documentation or tutorials. For students starting out, the most important skill to acquire is attention to detail. ![]() Over time, you’ll begin to recognize patterns and eventually, the things that initially seemed confusing and foreign will become second nature. Once you master certain tasks, the broad strokes of how the pieces fit together will start to become apparent. The first step to becoming a self-sufficient developer is learning how to do specific tasks. Domain-specific knowledge encompasses the protocols unique to a certain programming environment. This information is called domain-specific knowledge. Examples include: knowing how to write a loop in ruby or how to extract something from a database using Ruby on Rails. When you start out learning to code, there’s a lot of information that you don’t know yet. The Tutorial Phase (3-8 weeks of serious coding) We believe that being able to problem solve on your own is an invaluable skill, and this method of teaching will take you much further than simply learning how to build a set of apps. Although we do teach these skills and more, our primary goal is to accelerate students past the inflection point so they gain the ability to solve any problem they encounter. It can be a frustrating experience, but once it’s behind you, it is incredibly empowering.Īt Firehose, our goal isn’t just to teach you Ruby, how to build web applications, or how to write tests. Building up to the inflection point is the process of becoming self-sufficient in programming, to the point where you no longer need any hand-holding. At Firehose, we like to call this the inflection point of coding. After this phase, the way you operate as a developer will be dramatically different. When you learn to code, there is a moment when everything begins to change.
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