During your Computer Science and Engineering course, you will study several programming languages. Starting from C in your first semester, your syllabus will take you through C++ in the second term, Java and Python in your second year, Kotlin, Swift, and so on in the subsequent years, based on your preference. As a student, it is never an easy task to master a programming language each semester.
In general, a student should master two to three languages to the core and have proper knowledge about the rest to develop a successful career. While I have talked about how to learn a new programming language in one of my previous posts, here, we will talk about how to master the one you already know the basics.
Since we are here to gain insights on how to go through the in-depth knowledge of a programming language, I have kept certain assumptions in my mind:
- You are already familiar with the programming language you want to master and can write simple codes to solve easy problems.
- You have already selected your IDE and installed all the necessary plugins and add-ons that make coding more comfortable.
- You are well-versed with various data structures and algorithms in which although, you might not be a pro, but know your way out.
With enough context, let’s now get to the core of the article.
- Code in that language all day.
Let’s suppose you want to pursue a career in Data Science. For that, you must master Python. However, you are well-versed in C++, and Python is a relatively new language for you. In that case, partially abandon C++ to the point you aren’t forgetting what you’ve learned and treat Python as your only language to solve any programming problem that crosses your path.
Naturally, you will face tremendous problems, for which you will search the internet, and read more and more about it. Eventually, a time will come when you will have enough knowledge to decide whether you want to solve the problem using C++ or Python, not depending on what you know but on what you want.
- Stick to the Best Course.
Pick any language you want, new or old, and I will bet my last penny that at least one of the others has released a course on it on the internet. Spend time online, search which one’s the best suited for you, attend demo classes if the tutorial is a paid one, view multiple lectures if it’s free, and choose one out. Stick to it and if you are unclear about a topic, see other free videos of it on the internet and get back to the original course.
Hence, you will be able to cover all the topics sequentially at the same time, filling yourself with a sense of satisfaction as you see yourself approaching the final video in the course.
- Make sure you are clear about why you want to be a master in that language.
Suppose you want to master C++, be clear why you want to do so. You might want to be a game developer, a software developer, an OS engineer, a Cloud Engineer, and many more. Choose the one of your interest and keep it as your final goal of learning C++: motivation will follow, and you will never be off your tracks.
