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com/Become-a-Programmer

How to Become a Programmer

Six Methods: Web Programming Desktop Application Programming
Distributed Applications Programming Library/Platform/Framework/Core Programming
System Programming Programming Science

Becoming a programmer is a cumulative process that builds up your skills day

after day and year after year, and programming can be fun and rewarding
(mentally, spiritually and financially). This guide does not promise to give a
magically easy way to becoming a programmer, and the ordering of the steps
is not sacred, but you'll get a general outline of how to become a programmer
in one of the modern programming fields.

Steps

1 Take an introductory course in one (or all of them) of the following

disciplines:
Logic
Discrete mathematics
Programming language (preferable C++/ Java/ Python for beginners)

2 Learn database concepts such as tables, views/queries and procedures. You

can use any simple database package to do this, such as:
MS Access
DB V
Fox Pro
Paradox
MySQL is a good database to learn because it’s free, commonly used, and
databases are commonly accessed with SQL queries

3 Decide what type of programmer you want to be. Programmers generally fall
under one of the following categories:
Web programmer
Desktop application programmer
Operating system (OS) oriented programmer(tied to a single operating
system or set of operating systems)
Platform-independent programmer

Distributed applications programmer

Library/platform/framework/core programmer
System programmer
Kernel programmer
Driver programmer
Compiler programmer

Programming scientist

Learn the technologies and programming languages related to your programming

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4 field of choice. The following sections break down the tasks for different types of
programming.

Method 1 of 6: Web Programming

1 Know what Web programming entails. Web applications are software

components designed to work on top of the internet architecture. This means that
the applications are accessed through a web browser software such as Firefox or
Internet Explorer. Being built on top of the Internet architecture does not necessarily
require an active connection to the internet. It means that Web applications are built on
top of standard web technologies such as:
HTTP
FTP
POP3
SMTP
TCP
IP protocols
HTML
XML
Coldfusion
ASP
JSP
PHP
ASP.NET

2 Browse many diverse websites to learn about how they usually look. (Right
click, then click View Source or press F12.) Look for diversity in the type/content of
the website, not the quantity of websites visited. Generally, you will need to visit at least
one of each of the following types of websites:
Corporate presence sites (commercial corporations, not-for-profit
corporate/organizations, governmental organizations)
Web indexing engines (search engines, meta search sites, specialized search
engines, directories)
Data mining sites
Personal sites
Informational/encyclopedic pages (wikis, data sheets, technical specifications,
and manuals listing directories, blogs and journals, news and news agencies
sites, yellow pages, etc.)
Social sites (social portals, bookmarking sites, note-taking sites)
Collaborative sites (this includes other categories mentioned above, such as
wikis and blogs)

3 Learn at least one brainstorming technique/method and a software that is

used to implement that method. For example: brainstorming diagrams and MS
Visio.

4 Get familiar with website structuring. This is creating conceptual web diagrams,
site-maps, and navigation structures.

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5 Take a crash course on graphics design. Try to learn at least one graphics
editing/manipulation software package (optional, but strongly recommended)

6 Learn the basics of the internet infrastructure. This includes getting a basic
idea about:
Base Web services protocols (HTTP, FTP, SMTP, and POP3 or IMAP4)
Web server software (preferably, one for the platform you will be working on
mostly)
Web browsing software.
Email server and client software

7 Learn the HTML and CSS languages. You might also want to get the "What You
See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG)" software package for editing HTML.

8 Learn XML and XML related technologies, such as XSL and XPath (optional
but recommended).

9 Create simple static websites until you are familiar with and comfortable
around HTML.

10 Learn a client-side scripting language. Most users learn JavaScript. Some

learn VBScript, but this isn't compatible with most browsers.

11 Familiarize yourself with the client-side scripting language you learned.

Try to reach your potential using only that language. Only go to the next step
after you've at least become familiar with your client-side scripting language.

12 Learn at least one server-side programming language. If you choose to

restrict yourself to one server software, learn one of the programming
languages supported by that software. If not, learn at least one programming language
on each server software.

13 Create a pilot project for yourself after you finish learning the server-side
programming language.

14 Obtain your own website and start experimenting online within your own
page.

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Method 2 of 6: Desktop Application Programming

1 Know what you're getting into with desktop application programming. Most
desktop programmers write code for business solutions, so getting an idea about
businesses, their organizational and financial structure will be a big time-saver.

2 Learn about the different computer hardware architectures. An introductory

level course in digital circuits design and another in computer architecture is useful;
however, some see it as being advanced for a starting point, so reading two or three
tutorial articles (such as this one and this one) might suffice. Then you can go back to
this step later, after you learn your first programming language.

3 Learn an entry-level (kids') programming language. Don't be shy to learn such

a language just because you're older than being called a "kid". An example of
these programming languages can be Scratch. These programming languages can ease
up the pain in learning your first programming language tremendously. However, this
step is optional. It can also be done before the preceding step.

4 Get an introduction to the procedural, object oriented, and functional

programming paradigms.

5 Take an introductory course in one of the procedural programming

languages. No matter what language you choose later to be your language of
choice, it will require procedural programming at some level. Also, procedural
programming is reported by most programmers to be the easiest to use as a starting
point to get the idea of programming in general.

6 Learn at least one advanced modeling technique such as UML or ORM.

7 Start writing some small console or console-like applications. You can make
use of common small exercises in programming languages books. For this, choose
a tool for writing programs in the programming language you are writing in.

8 Take a more advanced course in your chosen programming language. Make

sure you understand the following concepts well and that you can apply them with
relative ease before going forward:
Inputting and outputting information to users of a program.
The logical flow and the execution flow of programs in procedural languages.
Declaring, assigning and comparing variables.
Branching programming constructs such as if..then..else and
select/switch..case.
Looping constructs such as while..do, do..while/until, for..next.
Your programming language syntax for creating and calling procedures and
functions.
Data types and manipulating them.
User defined data types (records/structs/units) and their use.
If your language supports overloading functions, understand it.
The memory accessing methods of your language of choice (pointers, peeking,
etc.)

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If your language supports operators overloading, understand it.

If your language supports delegates/function pointers, understand it

9 Apply the advanced techniques you've learned.

Object-oriented paradigm.

10 Take an introductory course in at least one more programming language

in another programming paradigm. It is recommended to learn one
programming language of each paradigm, and most advanced programmers do,
however, you usually start with one, work for a while applying your knowledge and
practicing it, then learn the other later on, after you already had a real-life experience in
programming. Try one of the following language areas:
Logic programming paradigm.
Functional programming paradigm.

11 Try to compare the two programming languages you learned so far.

Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each one. Usually this is done by:
Taking simple samples of your early work in the first programming language and
re-write it using the second programming language.
Creating a new project and try implementing it using both languages.
Sometimes, depending on your choice of project and languages, you might not
be able to implement the project in one of the languages!
Writing a cheat-sheet or summary-table comparisons between similar constructs
in the two languages and features unique to each of the languages.
Try finding ways to mimic features that is unique to one of the two languages
using the other language.

12 Learn visual programming concepts using one of the languages you

learned. Almost all programming languages have versions/libraries that support
visual programming and others supporting console or console-like programming. This
can be accomplished by:
Get an introduction to event-driven programming. Most visual programming
relies in some level on events and events handling (using the programming
language you choose).
Try as much desktop software as you can and understand what the software
does. Most software development companies offer beta-testing versions of their
products which you can use to test the software. Keep up-to-date on user
interface advancements.
Read some articles or tutorials on graphical user interfaces.

13 Start applying your knowledge on small software projects you design. Try
applying your programming expertise on problems you face in your day-to-day
life. For example, write programs that rename files in mass, compares text files visually,
copies the names of files in a directory to memory/text file, and things like that. Keep it
simple at first.

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14 Create a virtual graduation project. Complete this to the end, applying the
techniques of visual programming you learned so far.

15 Widen your understanding of the visual framework/library/package you

learned before by taking advanced courses, paying extra attention to
detail and learning more tips and tricks for your framework from online resources.

16 Search for other packages/libraries of visual elements for your

programming languages and learn them.

17 Take a course in graphics (not graphics design). It will be very helpful for
programmers wanting to write appealing user-interface elements.

18 Become a games programmer (optional). Game programming is considered,

in most of its parts, desktop programming. If you intend to become a games
programmer, you will need to learn more about game programming after you finish these
steps. A graphics course is a must for game programmers and the second language of
choice in the preceding steps should be a logic/functional programming language
(preferably Prolog or Lisp).

Method 3 of 6: Distributed Applications Programming

1 Tackle distributed applications programming.Distributed application

programming is considered by many to be one of the hardest to learn and requires
diverse knowledge in computer and communication technologies.

2 Take a speed introduction to telephony systems and their hardware. This step
is optional. However, it is very useful in understanding network topologies.

3 Familiarize yourself with networking hardware architectures and devices

such as hubs, switches and routers.

4 Take a course in networking protocols and essentials. You need a good

understanding of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model, Ethernet, IP,
TCP, UDP and HTTP before you start programming distributed applications.

5 Learn the XML language and familiarize yourself with it.

6 Start by learning a shell scripting language. For Windows-based programming,

that would be any script that works with Windows Scripting Host. For Linux-based
programming, Bash scripts and Perl will be sufficient. JavaScript is strongly

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recommended for this in both platforms for the following reasons:

It is supported by almost any scripting host in any operating system (Windows
Scripting Host supports JavaScript by default, most Linux distributions has a
package for JavaScript scripting console support).
It is considered to be easier to learn by many developers.
It has an ALGOL derived syntax which familiarizes you with much more other
programming languages when you need to choose a second programming
language (C, C++, C#, Java and J# all have ALGOL derived syntax).
By learning JavaScript, you familiarize yourself with client-side scripting of web
pages which is a bonus side-effect!

7 Apply only procedural programming using your scripting language of choice

at first. Later, you can use more advanced programming techniques and
paradigms according to your scripting language and what it supports. All scripting
languages have some procedural programming aspects at some level.

8 Use the scripting language you learned to write scripts that perform
communications between machines. Learn what is necessary for doing that.
Simple communications will suffice.

9 Make a transfer to a desktop scripting/programming language. Preferably, one

that is a multi-paradigm language such as Python. Take a simple introduction to
that second language. Java is considered by most programmers to be the language of
choice for many reasons. However, C# is gaining momentum fast in this field. Java and
C# are preferred for the following reasons:
They are object oriented programming languages which shields programmers in
large teams from implementation details as they both supports components
(units of code, pre-compiled, that perform a certain task and can be used in
other programs).
They support event-driven programming, as well as OO and procedural
programming at some level.
The framework that the language is built upon is distributed by nature (in the
case of Java).
The availability of many ready-made packages that deal with networking, both
as open-source code and framework built-in packages; this makes it easier for
programmers to build upon the work of others.

10 Concentrate more on the core features of the language, especially those

supporting networking. Pay less attention to user-interface elements such as
outputting, window design and techniques, and user-interface elements.

11 Take a course on distributed applications design and architectures. This

can be done using books, online tutorials or academic courses. However,
understanding the architecture of distributed applications and its concepts is necessary.

12 Learn about building serviced components and services using your

programming language of choice.

Learn one or more of the following technologies. It is recommended that you get at

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13 least an introduction to all of them. Most distributed application programmers do

not stop at one or two programming languages, but learn at least one
programming language on each operating system. That is because if you want your
application to be "distributed", you should provide a version of it at least for each major
operating system.
Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA)
Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)
Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX)
Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM)
.NET Remoting
XML Web Services

Method 4 of 6: Library/Platform/Framework/Core Programming

1 Know what core programming is. Core programmers are merely advanced
programmers who made the transfer from programming applications to
programming code units to be used by other programmers.

2 Learn a programming language that supports building reusable

components/packages, if you have not done so already.

3 Take an advanced course in UML and ORM. Most library developers use one or
both of them.

4 Take a course in software engineering.

5 Learn at least modular, component-based, object-oriented, and event-driven

programming techniques and concepts. The more programming paradigms and
languages you cover, the more successful you become as a library/package
programmer.

6 Learn more about the different operating systems and programming

frameworks supported by these operating systems.

7 Focus your learning efforts on platform-independent frameworks,

programming languages and technologies.

8 If the programming languages you learned so far have ANSI/ISO/IEEE/W3C

standard versions, master the standards. Try to use standard code whenever
possible.

Try to mimic simple, already established libraries, especially open-source ones.

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9 This is useful during the early phase of becoming a library/package programmer.

Start with simple packages like units conversion and intermediate scientific
calculations packages. If you are a college student, make use of your non-programming
courses by trying to implement their equations and scientific core as libraries.

10 Search for and try open-source packages in your field of programming.

First download binaries/executables of the package. Try to use it and find its
strong and weak points. After you've done that, download the source and try to figure out
how it was done. Try to recreate those libraries or parts of them. At first, do that after
you've seen the code and later before you see the code. At later phases, try improving
those libraries.

11 Learn the different approaches used to distribute and deploy components

to programmers.
Usually, library/package programmers tend to think recursively and/or iteratively
of all problems they are presented with. Try to think of each problem as a
collection of smaller problems (a sequence of simpler tasks) or as a repeated
process of reducing the problem's scope to smaller scopes and then piling those
scopes upon each other.
Library/package programmers tend to generalize. That is, when presented with
a simple specific problem, they usually think of a more general problem and try
to solve that general problem which will automatically solve the smaller one.

Method 5 of 6: System Programming

1 Understand what system programming entails. System Programmers deal with

the science of programming not the specific implementations of it. Do not tie
yourself to a specific platform.

2 Follow the first three steps for Desktop Applications Programmers.

3 Take an introductory course in Linear Algebra.

4 Take a course in Calculus.

5 Take a course in Logic and/or Discrete Mathematics.

6 Introduce yourself to different bare operating systems. This can be done by:

Getting an idea on how operating systems are installed.

Learning how to install different operating systems on one PC (optional, but
recommended).
Installing more than one operating system. Do not install any helping packages
on the systems; instead, use the bare functionalities provided by the operating

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systems.

7 Take a course (or alternatively, read books) on computer hardware

architecture.

8 Develop an understanding of the different computer hardware platforms.

9 Get an introductory familiarization with the assembly language of the

hardware platform/operating system of choice. You will later learn the assembly
of other platforms/systems.

10 Learn the ANSI C and C++ languages, along with the concepts of
procedural programming.

11 Understand and practice C/C++ standard libraries on the platform of

choice. Pay particular attention to Standard Template Library (STL) and maybe
Active Template Library (ATL).

12 Search online resources, books and courses to get an understanding of

the C-flavor of your specific platform.

13 Practice creating advanced code with C and C++.

14 Learn more advanced Assembly.

15 Take a course in operating systems design.

16 Find and read documentations of your specific platform of choice. This will
be easier if you choose a Unix-based operating system. Understand the system
you will be working with later very well.

17 Practice your acquired knowledge. First create small system utilities. It is

usually useful to:
Trying to recreate small tools that are already there on your system.
Trying to port utilities available in other operating systems to yours.

18 Learn languages in the most helpful order. This is the only place where the
first programming language matters. Learn ANSI C first, not C++, not C#, not

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Java and not D. Then learn C++.

Restricting the first language to C and C alone is because systems
programming requires that the programmer be familiar with the following
concepts:
Real and full compilation of source code.
Low-level object output files.
Linking binaries.
Low-level machine-language/assembly programming. The C language
is said to be a disguised/easier to learn assembly by some. It also
supports inserting assembly language code in code whenever you
please and it is only procedural (like assembly).

Method 6 of 6: Programming Science

1 Know what a programming scientist does. Programming scientists are very

advanced programmers who, instead of working on developing applications, work
on developing computing technologies such as encryption, programming languages and
data mining algorithms. This level is seldom achieved without academic study and
dedication.

2 Accumulate the scientific knowledge equivalent to a four-year degree in

computer science. This can be done either by:
Taking an actual academic degree (which is what usually happens).
Getting the courses' outlines for such a degree from one of the modern
universities and taking the courses either by self-study or as separate courses.
This could be achieved theoretically, but the recommended path is the first.

3 Decide a field of specialty. The more specific, the better. This depends on your
preferences. However, here is a list of some of the major topics in computer
programming science:
Algorithm design (searching, sorting, encryption, decryption and error detection
in communications are some examples)
Programming languages/compiler design/optimization
Artificial intelligence fields (pattern recognition, speech recognition, natural
language processing, neural networks)
Robotics
Scientific programming
Supercomputing
Computer aided design/modeling (CAD/CAM)
Virtual reality
Computer graphics (Computer graphics is usually wrongly confused with
graphical design or graphical user interface design. Computer graphics is the
field of studying how to represent and manipulate graphics in computer
systems.)

4 Consider getting a higher academic degree. You might wish to pursue a

master's degree or a doctorate.

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5 Learn the technologies and programming languages related to your

programming field of choice.

We could really use your help!

Can you tell us about Can you tell us about Can you tell us about Can you tell us about
Dating and Doing Family Life? Showing Love?
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Tips

No matter what type of programming you want to try or what level you
want to be at, consider taking classes at school or your local
community college. Don't be intimidated by terms such as "Computer
Science." Any class you can get into without any prerequisites should
focus on teaching the fundamentals of programming, but check with the
instructor or a counselor beforehand to make sure it is what you are
looking for, as classes like "Computer Literacy" may focus more on
becoming familiar with office applications and the like.

Article Info

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In other languages:
Article
中文: 成为一名程序员, Русский: стать программистом, Português: Se Tornar um
Programador, Español: convertirte en un programador, Français: devenir un
programmeur, Bahasa Indonesia: Menjadi Seorang Programer, Deutsch: Ein
Programmierer werden, Nederlands: Een programmeur worden

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