How to Survive Programming in College

Programming belongs to the most hated subjects of IT students. And I don't need to conduct a survey for proof. Sa loob ng two years kong pagiging IT instructor, pagsinghal pa lang ng mga studyante ko sa oras ng lab activities namin, alam ko na.

Well. Worry not!

Dahil likas akong mabait, bibigyan ko kayo ng mga tips para imbes na kamuhian ninyo ang programming, ay baka ma-in love pa kayo rito in the long run.

1. Master the basics.

There's a reason why your teachers keep on repeating the if-else and for loops topics in every subjects na meron kayo, kasi, fun fact: kakailanganin niyo talaga iyon sa software development. A lot of times, actually.

Your subjects are structured step-by-step. Usually, C++ basics lang muna, then Object-oriented programming concepts, Data Structures, and so on. Wala namang tangang magtuturo ng advance agad. Malamang by leveling process iyan. Kaya para makatagal ka sa college, kailangang basics pa lang ng programming, master mo na; dahil pustahan tayo, hindi mo talaga mage-gets ang mga susunod na topics niyan kapag simpleng if-else lang hindi mo pa alam.

The basics mostly include: handling input and output, decision structures (if-else), iterative structures (looping), arrays, functions, and classes and objects. Master those basics and for sure tataas ang tyansang makatagal ka pa sa susunod na mga subjects.

2. Solve everything yourself.

Aminin mo, kaya hindi ka natututo ay dahil puro ka silip sa katabi mo, tayo-tayo, kalabit-kalabit sa matalino sa inyong room. Myghad. Accept the fact that in order to solve a programming problem, you need to think. Unless, wala kang utak? Charot lang. Kid, not performing that step will lead you nowhere. Hindi ka matututo nang kakokopya lang. If you're given a hard programming problem, take a deep breath, and think! Reflect on the topics your teacher has taught you and find ways on how you're gonna form a solution out of it. Use your logic and creativity. For sure pagsasama-samahin niyo lang 'yung mga past lessons ninyo para i-solve iyon. Hindi ka naman pupwedeng pa-solve-in ng problems about Dynamic Programming or Hash Tables kung hindi pa naituturo sa inyo iyon. So, relax and think!

At utang na loob, i-solve mo nang sarili mo. Checking your seatmate's code is not just an act of cheating on your subject but also an act of cheating for your future. Kaya ka nag-aaral ay para ready ka sa future work mo. So do it on your own!

3. Analyze the errors also.

Error messages are not just there to stress the shit out of you. They're there to help you!

Aba'y mas mai-stress ka dapat kapag hindi gumagana ang program mo at hindi rin siya nagbibigay ng error messages. Mababaliw ka kahahanap kung saan ka nagkamali. Pero dahil mababait ang mga gumawa ng mga IDE natin, madali nang ma-point out kung saang line tayo nagkamali, kung ano nga ba ang pagkukulang natin or something.

Try to read the error statement at first. If masyadong malalim, then try at least find the fault first. Mamaya kasi, kulang ka lang pala ng semicolon sa taas, mali ka ng placing ng curly braces, kulang ang size ng iyong array, etc. If you've tried everything pero tuloy pa rin ang pagdami ng mga errors, then it's time to copy the error message and search that on the net. If you're currently on a lab activity, then kindly ask your teacher a relevant question. Swerte mo kung mabait ang teacher mo. Kung hindi, then it's time to pray. Charot!

4. Write a code every freaking day.

To be skillful in programming, you need to do your part. Write a code every freaking day. No matter how small. Kahit 100 lines of codes man iyan, as long as you're making it a habit, then you're doing it right. Huwag kang umasa lang sa pa-assignment o pa-project ni teacher dahil ang mangyayari niyan ay kikilos ka lang kapag inuutusan. Remember, you'll be dealing with lots of projects in the future. Whether freelance o utos ni project manager. The only way you could handle that stress is to immerse yourself in coding ngayon pa lang and accept that you'll breathe coding in every part of your life. In that way, semi-colons will no longer smother you in your sleep. Ye-hay!

5. Be an expert in one language.

Sa dinami-rami na ng programming language na nag-eexist, I know you'll be stressed on thinking na kailangan mo silang aralin isa-isa para maka-catch up. No! It shouldn't be that way.

Kahit isang language lang na i-expert mo, sapat na. Fun fact: though they may be different in syntax, may similarities pa rin sila sa coding structure. Each of them has their own way of handling decisions, iterations, recursions, ganern. The first programming language I've learned is Java. And knowing that there are a lot of languages sa mga susunod pang college years, akala ko'y katapusan ko na. Doon ako nagkakamali. 'Pagkat kapag natuto ka na ng isa, magiging madali na rin ang pag-aaral ng ibang language like C++, VB.NET, Python, and so on.

Isang expert programming language lang, I swear, maning-mani mo na iyong iba.


That ends the tips I have for now. The rest, maybe sa ibang blog post naman. Well, I do hope reading this blog can help you in gaining confidence sa College days ninyo, and make sure na sa paggawa ng thesis ninyo ay pare-parehas kayong may skills sa programming or that once you've graduated, you may apply these skills in your job. God bless you guys!