3 Reasons Why Coding is so Hard and What can you do to make it easier

You want to be the next software developer and earn big bucks, you think ah anybody can be a coder, can’t be that difficult. Well coding ‘seems’ to be hard, but anyone can essentially learn to code, provided you put in the effort and have a good foundation. You’ve obviously heard rumors of how hard programming is since you were young, like it was reserved for the smart kids. But what these people don’t realize is that there’s no such thing as an ‘instant coder’. It takes a lot of time and practice to get good at coding. If you assumed you’d be able to write programs for Amazon or facebook after only a week – or even a couple of months– hence because of your expectations, you’re finding it hard.  But some people don’t realize is that there’s no such thing as an ‘instant coder’.  Here are the 3 Reasons Why Coding is so Hard and What can you do to make it easier
 

The 3 Reasons Why Coding is so Difficult

When you learn to Code, its similar to learning a new Language

 
All in all programing languages such as Python, C++, Java, these are just three languages that are the most popular programming languages worldwide. And There are about 697 more to be exact (Wikipedia, – 700 programming languages, including esoteric coding languages). In turn to learning a foreign language can be difficult in itself. But learning a new coding language is nearly the same. Each language that we speak to each other as humans. In turn whether is xhosa or zula, has similarities and the logic is more or less the same. The same applies to python and java – one has less code and a different syntax. But essentially they have both the same logic – loops, if statements, arrays etc.

As you might know, learning to code is not as straight-forward as it seems. And that’s why so many developers give up in the beginning or even not starting at all. Too many devs compare coding to other qualifications, where you learn alot of theory, do some test and then you are qualified and land your dream job. That’s not how it works for coders, you might study a qualification in Information systems, pick java and then when you get an internship or job, and code in Delphi! Throughout your developer career you will learn different frameworks, languages and tools. – Some will be hard, others will be easier. As a recommendation you should essentially choose your area of niche.
 

Learning to Code can be Time-Consuming Task

 
Many aspiring developers walk away from a bootcamp or course, saying that coding is a to difficult or “Coding is hard”.  Aspiring coders often have the mindset that coding is reserved for the nerds or clever people. People that are good at maths.  This is not the case, programming requires practice and dedication and putting in the hours. In turn attend a coding bootcamp or a short course, this is a made easier by teaming you up with a 1 on 1 expert. As compared to most careers, programming requires continuous learning, you will continue to learn once in the job space.

see our article on 6 beginner tips for Learning how to code
 

Coding Confidence vs Competence

 
The below graph illustrates the theory that your confidence is highly in tune with your happiness and then where the point of where your confidence and capabilities match, this is the best fit (sweet spot) where you’re officially job ready! Hypothesis by Erik Trautman

Source – Thinkful.com

1. The Hand Holding Honeymoon –  The “Learn to Code”  world has evolved and showed you that coding doesn’t have to be difficult. Tools like Codecademy and Treehouse start at the basics to learn to code and also to become become a hands on software developer. In turn you learn basic code, but you feel good about it
2. The Cliff of Confusion is the hard realization that it’s a lot harder when the hand-holding ends and it feels like you can’t actually do anything noteworthy on your own yet. Your primary challenges are constant debugging (code not working) and not knowing how to solve problems
3. The Desert of Despair is when it feels like you going around in circles, and you think to your self “coding is not for me”
4. The Upswing of Awesome is when you’ve finally found away to pull through. In turn you have been coding for hours and now understand the logic of how to build applications. You gain confidence because your code appears to work. Thus your code runs, now you feel accomplished and you feel a sense of achievement. Now what does a real developer job entail?

This article outlined why coding is considered hard, School of IT provides great 1 on 1 mentorship in coding bootcamps or coding courses. Thus if you are interested in a fulfilling tech career in Software Development. Then look no further, at School of IT’s coding bootcamps, python courses or our popular Software Development courses start from the basics to advanced. All these short courses you can do in under 3-6 months and get internationally accredited and recognized. In turn kick-start your tech career as an expert developer!