How long will it take you to learn how to code?

Last year kept us at home for extended periods of time, leaving more and more people eager to grow their skills with online resources. The benefits are clear, and the outcomes profound. Not only is e-learning affordable, but it is also flexible and easily personalised. The most popular amongst learners have been technical skills, with many interested in spending their free time learning the basics of how to code. 

What everyone wants to know before they begin a programme is how long it would take to complete. For those interested in learning how to code, it is important to understand that acquiring knowledge on the fundamentals depends on willpower and the desired end goal. 

More often than not, individuals begin the learning process to join a field that boasts a high salary, however, it has been proven that for this purpose, motivation will dwindle down quite quickly. 

What many new learners fail to realise is that learning how to code is an ongoing process that will continue even when you’ve acquired the salary of your dreams. Meaning, if you do possess a passion for the practice or the traits of a lifelong learner, you will definitely succeed in acquiring the skills of a professional programmer. 

So how long will it take to grasp the basics? The short answer is three months.

As mentioned above, this is all depending on your personal passion. It also depends on your preferred programming language and acumen.

Getting comfortable with the basics of coding could even take up to six months. 

Are the benefits worth it? 100%. Coding is a skill you’ll have for life and limits do not exist.

When it comes to what can be automated by putting together lines of code in the right programming languages and frameworks, the opportunities for innovation are endless. 

The main requirement, simply put, is the ability to learn and memorise the concepts. The beginning process requires learning basic languages such as Python, Java, C++, and HTML. It is important to remember that the world of programming is fast-paced and that the world of skilled-programmers frequently evolves at a rapid pace. 

A good example is the video games that were popular in the 80s and 90s compared to the graphics-intensive video games that are run on high-tech, advanced gaming consoles. The advancement in the level of coding that led to such leaps may be hard to comprehend, but once you begin practicing, it will all make sense. 

Today, everything is quicker, even more user-friendly than before, and far more impressive. With that being said, who knows what technological advancement has in store for us in the decades to come?

One thing we know for sure is that being a part of the process will be extremely rewarding in more ways than one. 

Coding is a core skill required across a number of sectors such as IT, data analytics, research, and engineering. Python developers earn average annual salaries of about US$72,500, Java developers earn around US$79,000 each year. Experts in Kotlin, another general-purpose programming language, earn an average of US$136,000 a year, with the potential to earn up to US$171,500.

Apart from being a lucrative career option as the world moves toward automation and computation, programmers are not only limited to being employees. These individuals typically go on to start their own successful businesses. Some popular examples are Mark Zuckerberg with Facebook, Bill Gates with Microsoft, and Steve Wozniak with Apple.

While these tech powerhouses were all young and gifted coders, there are many examples of tech leaders who did not have preternatural programming talents as teenagers, yet still rose to astonishing heights. 

Kevin Systrom, the founder of Instagram, made headlines in 2012 when he sold the platform to Facebook for US$1 billion in cash and stock. Unlike Zuckerberg, Gates, and Wozniak, Systrom was not exposed to any kind of formal programming training. Instead, while working full-time, he spent his nights teaching himself the basics, a decision that was obviously paid off. 

Systrom’s story proves that dedicating the time to acquire new knowledge will never be a bad idea, especially if you plan to do so by learning how to code. Additionally, with the growing demand for programmers, there’s never been a better time to get started.