I waited a couple of years to have the prerequisites in place to be able to take this level of programming in college. With the continued development and interest rising in Blockchain technology in recent years, I see no better time then now to begin learning about object-oriented programming languages—in my case C++.

In this Steemit Exclusive, I will be providing an in-depth look at what I'm learning in this class, what personal challenges I am facing, code snippets, and the philosophy becoming a programmer. Whether you are interested in game development, or applications that run on a blockchain, this is a skill necessary to develop. Although I might not be able to make you into a coder, I want to share some of what I'm learning with others!

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A Challenge Like No Other

I attend Post University's online accelerated program, which means that instead of having a course over the span of a semester, I get 8 weeks before my classes change. I was not expecting such a large workload for my first week of school—it blew my mind.

My classmates and myself were assigned 80 pages of reading, 3 discussions, and 4 additional programming assignments for our first week. After actually going through each part of the homework, it was discovered that I needed to write 7 miniature applications and debug one in the compiler of my choice. I'm using Visual Studio 11 Express.

What it Takes

I don't know about you, but this is a lot of information to absorb and memorize... in a week's time. This is the type of field I signed up for though. Programming in general is not a career where you can receive "on-site training", rather you need to know everything like the back of your hand. "Practice practice practice" has found a new meaning in my life.

I can now see why we're given a high amount of homework—I no longer have to look up how to write certain statements. I apply everything I learn over and over, dedicating my long-term memory towards getting it down.

Ed from Cowboy Bebop | Pintrest

Programming Common Misconceptions

I had made many assumptions on how programming works when coming into this class, many of which were incorrect and uninformed. I would like to clear some of these up for anyone that's ever thought; "Hey, I want to become a programmer," but like myself thought it was too difficult to learn.

• Adopting the mentality of working smarter.
  It's a programmer's job to be able to make an application that serves the intended functions, using the least amount of code possible. This isn't to be lazy, but to efficiently solve problems, without creating (many) more in the process.

• One programmer doesn't write everything.
  Larger programs and applications typically have a team of developers that each write individual modules (parts) that get put into the main application later on. A person is usually assigned to write a single feature, not the whole thing. Because of this, it's unlikely that someone will take another person's code and rewrite it "their way" for the sake of doing so. People and businesses don't have time for that.

• A lot of programming is about styling.
  No, this is not to "flex" on others. Aside from Language Syntax, a lot of how a code is presented is styled to make it easier to read, and understand where specific functions are. You're already using syntax here when you use Markdown on Steemit! You follow certain language rules to format your posts properly, this is just a little bit different.

Another thing to keep in mind, is that workplaces and teams will normally prefer a certain style / way over another of writing code, to keep a program consistent throughout. That way, when debugging and changes need to be made, it becomes easier to identify what in particular needs to be changed.

One of my friends left me this comment on my other social media. It doesn't work like this. Programmers need to learn the different ways of writing expressions so that they can be read and understood by others, although a person's style can sometimes be a personal preference for an application that they are making in a solo effort.

Fry from Futurama | Bildergebnis für

The "Copy/Paste" Myth

Good programs and functions are recycled often even in other programs! There appears to be a stigma about "copy/pasted" code which is heavily misunderstood. When a smaller program/module is written clearly, and is useful, it's common to reuse it later on somewhere else. This way, the same function doesn't have to be written again everytime that a program is made that uses it.

There are even many "pre-written" header files a programmer can add that are pre-packaged with compilers so that a programmer can focus on their project without the need to worry about hardware or basic functions (like I/O from a user's input, arithmetic, all the way up to speech engines).

Less Scary Then I Thought it Was

The best way that I can relate learning programming is akin to learning a foreign language, then writing a book with other people that makes it look like it was written by a single author. If you can learn a second language, you can learn to be a programmer!

Sora and Shiro from No Game No Life | Giphy

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Remember!

• You'll need a lot of continuous practice to develop this skill to a second-nature degree.
• You can have a preference but know the different ways to write the same thing, so you can work with others.
• Your own code's scope is usually NOT the entirety of the program, so you can focus where you need to.
• Copy/paste is okay and encouraged, just don't steal someone's custom work and say it's yours. Having a solid and working foundation is a good thing.

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Coming up Next!

I will be covering my understanding (and not just the definition of) some programming terminology. I will also be providing some real-world counterparts and visualizations to help explain what different parts of a program are like. I believe that everything can be explained in a way that anyone else can understand!

Let me know what you think about this article in the comments below! :D

Thank you @bollutech for this art!