How to Learn Programming Fast: Best Brain Hacks for Success

We will go step by step to make you more productive!

1. Think Slower and You’ll Learn Faster
2. Don’t Let Confidence Trick You into Forgetting Things
3. Don’t Let Future Decisions Stop You from Progressing Now
4. Find Time to Code Using the Facebook Trick
5. Approach Practice with the Right Mindset
6. Write Complex Code in Plain Language First

In the end, obviously - A Conclusion

This one sounds counter-intuitive, so let me tell you a story to understand it correctly.

One of my friend was confused once about a certain feature of JavaScript. I asked him to walk me through what he knew and then explain which part was confusing. As he went through the piece of code, I noticed that he was rushing.

I said, “Hold on!”. “Slow down, Calm down! and walk me through line by line.”

My friend proceeded to give me an overall summary of what was the requirement and what was happening in the code.

I stopped him again. “You’re still rushing. Try again, but this time, I want you to literally go through each line of this and tell me what exactly is happening in each and every line of code.”

This time, my friend was better able to explain what was going on in the code. The key was that he had taken the time to step through each piece of it instead of trying to understand all of it at once.

In cases like this, thinking slower actually makes you learn faster.

Sometimes developers can fix the issues by themselves while explaining the issue to someone else! It happened many times to me! So think slowly, go line by line and fix issues easily. Work is a never-ending process! So No hurry, no worry!

Understanding a concept quickly can be one of the most damaging things to your progress in learning JavaScript. Let me tell you another story! Because anybody can learn anything faster with the story, remember your childhood moment? Your parents told you stories to make you feel comfortable with concepts actually.

When you read something and it makes sense, it can be tempting to move on to the next thing immediately. Maybe you’ll understand the next thing and then move on again. But soon, you’ll arrive at a point where you realize you’ve forgotten some of the previous things you’ve learned, so you need to go back.

You give the previous concepts a quick glance to refresh your memory and then move on again. But now you’ve forgotten something else. You keep repeating this back-and-forth dance until you get to a point where you realize you’re completely lost. You get discouraged, take a break, and then when you try to come back, you’ve forgotten most of the things.

It reminds me of a couple of lines from the 3-Idiots movie,

Confusion hi confusion hai solution kuchh pata nahi..Solution jo mila to sala question kya tha pata nahi..

English translation of above Hindi lines:

There is a total confusion, No-one knows the solution…Bloody.. when I found the solution, I even forgot the question…

Fortunately, there’s a simple two-step cure for this problem:

1. Limit the amount of stuff you learn at one time.
2. Practice for real — actually, write code. Be practical more!

When you learn a new concept, make sure to try it out, play with it, get comfortable with it, and even combine it with other concepts, but don't mix up the things! It’s so important to actually type out the code in any examples you are following because that’s what helps you absorb it. Also, limiting the amount you learn at one time will help you retain the material, for the simple reason that it’s easier to remember fewer things.

This process feels like it takes longer than just reading through things and moving quickly, but it actually takes much less time because you won’t need to backtrack as much. I learned this the hard way on several occasions.

For many people learning JavaScript, one of the first questions they ask is which framework to use (We have different varieties of javascript frameworks available; for example, Angular, Vuejs, react, etc.). But if you haven’t gotten comfortable with raw JavaScript, this is the wrong question to be asking. You’ll spend all of your time researching different frameworks and but still, you can’t move forward, you will come back to the same place again from where did you start researching!

One way to help get out of the indecision trap is to have a road map for what you need to learn. For example, to become a front-end developer, your road map might look like this:

Learn HTML CSS Javascript jQuery Hosting on a server WordPress/CMS Github Maybe a new framework, etc.

Breaking it down further, you can make a functional web page with just HTML and CSS. Seeing the individual steps laid out like this, it becomes easier to see what to focus on now so you don’t waste time worrying about things that should come later.

One of the most common problems people have is that they can’t find the time to code. Often, the same people will spend hours on sites like Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia, or Reddit. Whether or not this describes you, there are still lessons to be learned here.

I’ve definitely had times when I only meant to look at Facebook for a while, but I ended up staying on there for hours. How does that happen? “It happens precisely” because I didn’t intend to go on there for long. Getting started on something is the hardest part, so by keeping the initial commitment small, I find it much easier to jump in. If someone had asked me if I was prepared to spend hours on Facebook, I’d say no because I don’t have that much time actually. However, I’m much more receptive to the idea of just checking one thing quickly, and that’s how I get sucked in.

The good news is that you can use this same psychology to your advantage when learning to code. Don’t try to commit or over-commit to several hours of coding because then you’ll never find the time. Just tell yourself you’re going to try some code for three minutes. Trust me, You’ll never struggle to find time again.

Many people see the practice as something boring and repetitive, so they’ll often skip it or try to take shortcuts. Use of shorthand is legal but shortcuts may put you in trouble! — Always remember that!

If you try to shortcut your JavaScript practice, you’ll actually end up taking longer to learn it. But how do you make practice more exciting so you’ll actually achieve it?

Try this mindset shift:

What if you learned a new JavaScript concept and you weren’t allowed to try it? How would you feel? Personally, I’d be kind of annoyed, especially after taking the time to understand it. It would be like a kid getting a new toy and not being allowed to play with it.

When you learn something new in JavaScript, try treating it like a new toy, a new car, a new pair of shoes, or whatever it is that you’d have fun trying out. Then don’t practice like you’re working, practice like you’re playing. It will give you some joy in what you do at least! Do something cool with your new skills. Surprise yourself. Show your friends.

With a more playful mindset, you’ll learn much faster, you’ll remember stuff longer, and you’ll have more fun. Learning with fun will 100% teach you every concept faster.

If a piece of code is going to be complicated or unfamiliar, write it out in plain language first, Get some paper and pen and write down the logic that you actually want to develop! That way, you can figure out what you want the code to do before you actually have to write it.

Here are two benefits to this approach:

1. Your code will be easier and faster to write because you won’t have to constantly stop and think about how you want it to behave.
2. You’ll catch bugs before they happen because you’ll have a clearer idea of what the code should do.

We’ve gone over a bunch of ways to learn JavaScript faster, but you can apply many of these tips to other skills as well, It’s not only limited to Javascript. Okay! Here’s a recap of what we’ve covered:

• Slow down, take baby steps, and you’ll learn faster.
• Make practice fun by treating new skills like toys.
• Find time to code by only making tiny commitments the way you would with sites like Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia, or other social media.
• Stop worrying about future decisions and dive in. Just do it!

So how do you approach learning? Do you have any tips or tricks that I need to cover up here? Or maybe you think it’s all baloney and the only way forward is to put in twelve hours a day or do the 9–5 job. Either way, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.