Taking on the web development world can be intimidating especially if you’re new to the industry. There are coders are self-taught and don’t have a degree so getting a full-time position can be very scary.
The truth is no matter how experienced you are, nerves and self-doubt can have devastating effects on your work or even during the interview. Many coders want to be more confident. Here are tips on how you can build self-confidence as a coder.
Practice Makes Perfect
One of the easiest ways to build self-confidence is through practice. You can only go so far with online tutorials so the next best thing you can do is to create something of your own. In many professional settings, there is no need to reinvent the wheel but it can be great learning experience.
Build in PHP or create a plugin through JavaScript. This will help you get an idea of how these things work so that you can gain confidence in pre-packed applications and plugins for your job.
Launch It
Now that you have created something, launch it. You now have knowledge based and you’ve practiced so it’s now time for the world to see it.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a website, app or plugin. Seeing people use something you’ve created in the real world is a big confidence booster. Yes, there might be bad feedback or perhaps you might need to fix some bugs but everything is a learning experience. As they say, fail fast and fail often.
Contribute on Github
Join Github and contribute as often as you can. Contributing projects on this open source site can help you gain confidence and experience. It is also a good tool for learning and getting feedback.
Contribution does not need to be a code. You can help modify a wiki or edit/update a documentation. This shows that you understand coding and know how to use it.
Teach
At some point, a colleague will ask for help regarding a project. Teaching somebody or being asked to troubleshoot somebody else’s work can be very intimidating. However, they probably won’t be approaching you if they thought that you didn’t know what to do.
Teaching can be a very good learning experience and great confidence booster. You might not solve problems immediately but it’s such a good feeling not only to help but also to right things.
Talk To Everyone
Talk to your colleagues or join groups on social media and talk about your experiences. Most of the time, you will find that other coders and developers have feelings of inadequacy too. However, the point of talking to other coders and developers is to learn from each other’s experiences and to find a sense of camaraderie. Knowing that there are other developers out there who feel the same way you do can help you move forward in your career and gain self-confidence.
Did you suffer from lack of coding confidence too? What did you do to increase your coding confidence? Tell us by leaving your comments below.
