5 Myths About Programming

Often I hear people say things like “I’m not a tech person” or “I just don’t get computers.” While there are indeed difficult areas of programming that require lots of knowledge to understand, we should in general have more faith in ourselves. Some of the popular areas of programming, for example websites, are easier than most people think. Below I will discuss 5 myths about programming commonly perpetuated by beginner programmers.

1. Making a website is difficult: This is not true at all. There are two ways to go about making a website that require minimal effort: either create a site on a website-making platform (like WordPress, Joomla, etc.) or use a template from online. Using a platform is marginally easier than the template method, but both should take less than a few hours to get up and running. In particular, using a template will show you how websites function, as you will need to do some basic server setup. If you’re interested in this, I have created an online course that takes you through the process of using a template to create your website. You can access the course here at a 25% discount.

2. The command-line is not useful: While someone just starting out with programming won’t need the command-line much, once you start creating more complicated projects, the command-line will become an important tool. Because of this, I recommend learning the command-line in parallel with learning programming, so that your skills in both advance at the same rate. In addition, the command-line is quite simple: basically you give the Terminal (Command Prompt for windows) some commands, and the Terminal executes those commands, hence the name “command”-line. I also have an online course for this here.

3. Your first computer language matters a lot: While I wouldn’t suggest an esoteric language like Erlang to be your first language, any of the top-10 languages are equally good. So don’t worry that you are learning Java while your friends are learning Python – in the end, if you end up going into software development, you’ll pick up all the important languages anyways.

4. Using Windows: I understand that Microsoft Windows has a long, storied history in the world of computers. However, for a beginning programmer, a Mac is simply superior. There are several reasons for this, but the most significant one is how much easier it is to use Mac’s Terminal over Windows’s Command Prompt. Also, the Mac is capable of running both iOS and Android programs, whereas Windows machines cannot run any iOS programs. Thus, if you are into app development, a Mac will open more opportunities for you.

5. Programming is only for the few: Programming isn’t like math, where the more advanced classes require more understanding. In contrast, programming doesn’t get any more difficult as you progress – there’s just always more stuff to learn. So don’t worry if you’ve never programmed before. Chances are, if you’re reading this, you are more than intelligent enough to start learning programming.

Wilson Wang is a student at the University of Chicago. He likes to make things.