Ask different programmers how they have learned to program, and there will be different answers.
Some will point to their university degree; others would show some certifications of coding boot camps. There would also be people who say they could learn a language thanks to their natural curiosity and tech-savviness.
In fact, how long it takes to learn a coding language largely depends on how you choose to learn it.
You can take intensive coding courses for 1-3 months or study at higher educational institutions for years.
Therefore, let’s agree there is no one size fits all answer to the question “How long does it take to learn a coding language?“.
However, there are some factors you should consider if you want to learn a language possibly faster. This blog post is about those factors, so let’s discuss the fastest way to learn to code below.
Which language do you need to learn?
First of all, you should answer what and why you want to learn. Career Karma says there are around 700 programming languages globally, and it’s only natural that you will need different time and resources to learn different programming languages.
We suggest you first determine the purpose and the scope of the projects you want to conduct. This will help you choose the programming languages that are mostly used for your desired result.
Our guide on the most popular programming languages might help you figure it out better.
Which skills do you need to develop?
Coding is not only a set of practical knowledge but also a mindset. To become a pro programmer, you need to develop your hard and soft skills equally.
Hard skills
- You need to learn an algorithm of your chosen language, meaning you should understand the steps you need to perform a specific action.
- You also need to master functions or blocks of reusable code. Each function helps you to perform a single related action.
- Last but not least, you need to be good at numbers. That’s essential as you will be working with tons of data and need to do some computations to receive the desired result.
Soft skills
- Programmers should be able to cooperate with project managers and other team members and communicate the results of their work to non-programmer stakeholders of the project. Therefore, communication and presentation skills are a must.
- Problem-solving is another critical skill for a programmer. Even if the programming languages have an in-built logic, the programmer still hints at how a certain task should be solved.
- Finally, a good programmer should have excellent attention to detail. Even a tiny mistake in one sign or number can result in the program’s error. So, a programmer needs to be attentive and patient both to avoid such mistakes and edit the code afterward.
How long does it take to learn a coding language?
Once again, let’s state that the speed of learning a programming language is highly individual. It depends on the learner’s skills, speed of grasping new information, and other similar factors.
However, to give you some insight, let’s divide the time you need to acquire a new language into the following three ranges:
- short courses (1-6 months)
- traditional higher education (2-4 years)
Let’s discuss which option can best suit you.
Spend 2-4 years on acquiring a university degree in programming
Most universities offer bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in computer science. Those programs are usually expensive. However, they grant students fundamental support in learning a language in exchange for the high cost. Besides just learning a language, students also receive support from career services, associations, social groups, and clubs.
However, university programs usually have a pre-selected language to teach. And though you have the freedom to choose some elective courses, most languages will be mandatory.
So, if you want to have a broad understanding of programming and learn several programming languages at once, university degrees are a great choice.
However, if you want to focus on one programming language for a specific project, we have a better recommendation for you.
Take some 1-6 months intensive courses for your chosen language
Instead of spending extra time and money on learning several languages and ending up using only one of them in your job, it’s better to choose a programming language and take a separate course for it. This is a significantly cost-savvy option, as the courses are short and tied up to a specific language.
If you are sure which language you need to learn, we recommend choosing WildLearner’s FREE intensive courses. The courses combine theoretical and practical parts and give the learner a comprehensive experience of what can be done using a specific programming language.
Once you register for a course, you acquire all the lessons at once. So, you are free to organize your learning schedule and adjust it to your busy schedule.
You can explore our pool of programming lessons now. Happy learning!
