One year of Programming…

Have you been looking to learn coding? I was, well, it started with wanting to understand technology better and spiralled into learning multiple platforms within the last year, here’s a look at my journey.

I started simple enough, watching tutorials on YouTube; and we all know how that can go! From all the videos I gathered a short list of what not to do when learning how to program;

• Don’t learn multiple languages
• Don’t give up to soon
• Don’t aim too high

I am never one to listen to all the rules… I got pulled in, one project lead to another and another, and along the way I would discover a new term and look it up and ended up learning more from there.

It all started at work when we utilized a SAP based system for data management and distribution of goods. As I started gaining knowledge of the system I began to research ways to make my job easier and become more efficient. I quickly learned that this system is really easily intertwined with Microsoft Excel.

My first attempt at programming was with VBA but I didn’t have a clue what I was reading, and it quickly became a monkey see, monkey do, trial and error type experience. From that point I was hooked!

I came across a piece of electronics called Arduino and received one for Christmas, much to my surprise it was a Kumon Starter kit I was super excited and immediately wanted to start playing.

Some great channels for Arduino that I found were Programming Electronics Academy, DroneBot Workshop, Paul Mcwarther, and Great Scott. All of these channels go in depth on the flow of the code and explain electronics in a way that makes sense.