The ‘learn to code’ algorithm: An easy inclusive recipe for beginners learning on the web

Less lies, more empathy please…

This learning to code trend conceals a lot of nuances. There is hard and easy content, and there is the hard or the easy way to learn. When the dominant narrative is that computer programming is easy, people are often talking about the easy way to learn the easy part. The opposite can be said for those who say it’s hard or that it must come naturally. I am a newbie who struggled in the beginning, but successfully managed to learn the basics. I am now deep diving into more advanced newbie topics such as algorithms and data structures.

The 3 biggest issues with programming advice that people give is:

1. Advice is not empathetic — programmers forget that they were once civilians too.
2. The advice often lists too many resources without giving the newcomer a method to prioritize — what’s the point of overwhelming people.
3. Advice often does not consider that people have different cognitive strengths, weaknesses and life circumstances. This requires different kinds of resources that accommodate different situations — the curse of knowledge and privilege makes people forget how they learned to code in the first place.

We don’t need another list of ’30 resources to help you learn to programme in language x’. While those are helpful, what we need a simple recipe that newbies can use and adjust.

This is a simple 4 step 'learn to code' recipe:

1. Know your cognitive preferences and learning style.
2. Try and switch between various learning resources till you find a good fit.
3. Go to the gym and practice micro-problem solving before switching to macro-problem solving.
4. When you have learned the basics and begin to specialize, repeat step 1–3 , and adjust this recipe.