I will never learn to program. Simple tips on how to build a training plan and move step by step towards the goal

At school we studied according to the school curriculum, at the university - according to the university curriculum. At our first job, our colleagues helped us. But in online education, everything is not so simple. Even if you are preparing to take a full-fledged online course, and not study only from books and tutorials, creating a training plan can be difficult: you need to determine the final goal, come up with a schedule, and monitor progress. And if in traditional education this is often done by the teacher, then in online learning this role must be taken on by the student. In this text we will talk about why a curriculum is needed and give some tips on how to draw it up correctly.

Why do you need a training plan?

Harvard Business School graduates were asked whether they had written goals and a plan to achieve them: 84% had no goals at all, 13% had written goals but no specific plans, and 3% wrote down goals and specific plans to achieve them. After 10 years, the 3% of the class who had goals and plans written down earned ten times more than 97% of their classmates. Obviously, writing down our goals helps us more clearly understand what we really want and develop an effective plan to realize these goals. Here are some more reasons why a curriculum is needed:

1. Helps to break a large task (master Java programming) into smaller ones. For example, learn the general syntax of the language; understand classes, objects and exception handling; learn to work with files and input/output streams; master multithreading, get acquainted with collections; basics of web development, popular frameworks.
2. Helps create a convenient schedule: every day for 4 hours; 2 hours on weekdays and 6 on weekends; only on weekends, only on weekdays.
3. Helps track progress: you can compare your progress as you progress with what you did at the beginning. You can also compare what you have already learned with the planned milestones and understand whether you need to strengthen your learning schedule.
4. The training plan is motivating. The feeling of victory from completing an item on your to-do list encourages you to study further.

How to make a study plan?

Find motivation

This is the first and key thing to do when creating a training plan. Subsequent success in learning depends on motivation. If you understand that the desire to learn is imposed by other people, then your training will not last long. To get to the bottom of this, you can answer a few questions: Do I enjoy learning this? Would you like to do this business professionally?

Determine your level of knowledge

If you have learned a programming language before, then there is no point in starting from the basics. Therefore, it is worth remembering everything you have learned and trying to realize what level you are at. Determining your level of knowledge will help you create the right list of learning resources and a map of “white spots”. If you studied programming at a university and learned the theory, then you can focus on learning the language and practicing the acquired knowledge. If you have not dealt with programming before, then it is worth including books on theory for beginners in your training program .

Formulate a goal

To achieve success, the goal must be as specific as possible. For example, the goal “learn a programming language” is vague. It’s better to phrase it this way: “learn Java and find a job as a junior in a product company.” Such a specific goal will be better motivating.

Choose one of the training plans

There are two main ways to plan training - they can be used separately or combined. The first plan is goal-based . In this case, there is no strict reference to dates; the plan is more focused on achieving results. The second is a time-based plan . In this case, there is a deadline. For example, learn Java Core in 6 months. When choosing one of the plans, you should take into account your characteristics. If you realize that you are bad with discipline, then perhaps you should choose the second plan. Do you understand that we tend to miss deadlines? Try to rationally calculate how much time, given your workload and knowledge, you will need to master and consolidate new material. The study “How long does it take to learn Java ,” which we conducted among graduates, can help with this .

Break your goal down into small steps

It is advisable to take the most specific steps with exact deadlines up to the final goal. By taking small steps, you will avoid the pressure of the final goal (which may seem unrealistic at first), but small daily actions are within your power. This is the so-called “small victories strategy” - it is more often used for team work, but it is also suitable for individual work. Its main principles: clear goals, autonomy, resources, time, support (for example, from a mentor - ed.). This advice also includes drawing up a daily schedule that will include your training. It is advisable to work at the same time of day: then the schedule will become a habit. Here's what a JavaRush user writes about his schedule: “The main thing is weekly progress. After two weeks of rest, it’s already difficult to return, and not everyone can write every day for several months in a row. Give yourself a limit of hours for the week - for example, 15. You can code for 1.5 hours every weekday and another 3-4 hours on both weekends, or you can take a couple of evenings off, but the “weekend limit” will increase. This way, the schedule will be flexible, but regular.” Example of a training plan (road map)

Make a list of sources for learning

The list of resources can be single, or it can be supplemented or changed in the process. For example, to learn Java, these could be:

1. JavaRush course.

   We use the course to get the necessary minimum of theory and focus on writing code.

2. Books:
   • "Head First Java, Learning Java", Kathy Sierra, Bert Bates;
   • "Java. A Beginner's Guide", Herbert Schildt;
   • "Java. The Complete Guide", Herbert Schildt;
   • "Java. The Professional's Library", Kay S. Horstmann, Gary Cornell.
3. Tutorials on YouTube (there are many options - choose the format for presenting information that is closer to you);
4. Consultations with a mentor/familiar developer. This point is needed for those for whom it is important to receive a “live explanation”, and not to figure everything out on their own.

Track progress

Tools to track your progress will help you stick to your original plan. The second advantage is motivation, because small successes on the way to a big goal allow you not to burn out ahead of time. To track progress, you can create a document in Excel, a paper diary, or use special applications and plugins such as Trello, Google Keep, Degreed, Diigo, Maketime.

Praise yourself

It is advisable to include incentives for achieved results in the training plan. It could be anything: new sneakers or a delicious dish. It's better if it's something you don't treat yourself to every day. You can also praise yourself verbally. It is known that positive reinforcement of any action helps to develop a habit, including the habit of learning programming.

How to stick to your study plan?

Let's say you've already come up with a training plan. But the question arises: how to adhere to it. JavaRush has several solutions that will help with this:

Course structure

The entire training course is divided into 4 blocks - quests: Java Syntax, Java Core, Java Multithreading and Java Collections. Each quest consists of 10 levels, and each level contains 10-15 lectures and 20-30 practical problems. This structure helps students gradually move towards their intended goal. If necessary, you can always return to solved problems and lectures and review them again.

Kicks chart

Of course, it will be the program , not the person, who will kick you, but even in front of it you may feel ashamed for missing classes. You can manually program the kick manager for the required days of school - it will remind you when it is necessary. You can choose reminders for every day or weekends. And if suddenly you need to urgently rest, you can use the “Forget to study” button.

Achievements for solving problems

For each solved problem you receive a reward - several units of black matter. Matter is necessary in order to move on - to open the next levels and lectures. Well, for larger achievements, such as solving 10 problems per day, a continuous series of daily classes, solving all quest problems, actively helping other users complete the course, you receive special achievements that form your final rating among all students of the course. Well, who among us doesn’t like getting achievements? This is a great motivation to move on :)