I've created a time machine but it broke so now I can only talk

Figuratively about time travel and if I were to travel back in time and tell my younger self five things

I wish I knew when I was him. This is what that would be

Thing number 1, there is no secret sauce to learning how to code

I remember emailing people around my age or maybe even

Older trying to figure out how they learned how to code like I thought it was some secret some giant secret

That you either had it or you didn't. I didn't understand that you actually had to learn and learn and learn and learn

Until I could actually get to being a mediocre programmer

I thought I was going to be able to figure out how to be a programmer overnight

That's kind of, in all honesty, when I was younger, that's kind of how I thought it worked

I was trying to figure out that secret sauce something that would make it easy to get to that success. That's

Not true with anything in life. Nothing will.. there... There's not gonna be any secret sauce

Unless you're some type of chef

Something I did a lot when I was first learning programming was jumping from language to language

And I just kind of learned the basics of each language, but never really excelled in any of those languages. Advice number two

That would have to be "specialize"

It's okay to understand other tools and other languages, but

Specialize in what you want to do. If it's iOS development, specialize in Swift and the tools that you use in order to create iOS Applications

If you want to do Java enterprise applications, learn the tools in the language for that

specialize, specialize, specialize, because once you get to that level of

"Look, I'm pretty good at Java development." Then you can jump over to Swift development or C++ or Python.

Just focus on one language, one toolset, one type of

Application that you're working on, and see that through until you get to a level that is competent

And you know more than just the basics; something that you actually understand what's going on, instead of just writing code.

Tip number 3, "Use Google." I get this question asked all the time

It's like "do programmers in that professional field," whether whatever your title may be

"Do they use things like Stack Overflow and tutorials online to kind of help them out with a particular problem?"

The answer is yes. Use Google to figure out

What bug you're trying to fix, what problem you're trying to solve. If you're having a syntax problem

You run into a bug or you can't figure out how to implement a particular feature in an app

Google it. Try to figure out how to do it

Otherwise, what are you gonna do? Just sit on your hands and hope that it gets done on its own

There's really no other alternative. Everyone thinks that programmers just type on their keyboard and boom

There's a giant application right there in front of you know

No. They use whatever resources that is that they have at hand, whether that be a book or Google.

All right. We're going to take a quick intermission. That is a candy intermission

I'm not sure if I've told you guys this before, but I think I have a little problem

I'm harshly, slightly, maybe

Incredibly addicted to candy. I just have the biggest sweet.

While I eat this candy, I want to talk about today's sponsor

They've been a sponsor on this channel before. They love what we're doing over here

And they wanted to support what we're doing, and I think they're a very good product

And of course I only bring on very good products to be sponsors on my channel, and that is "Skillshare.com"

I know most of you already know what "Skillshare.com" is, so, and you kind of know how things go in this channel with "Skillshare.com," they'd like to give y'all

two months for free for the first 500 of y'all that signup

The link right now is down on the top of the description

So make sure you click on that, get those two months for free

That's my gift to ya'll, Skillshare's gift to y'all really, so make sure you do that

Be quick first 500, but for the few of you who don't know what "Skillshare.com" is

That's okay, cause I'm gonna go over it right now.

"Skillshare," to be honest with you, is one of the most affordable online learning communities where they have a lot of different

genres of video courses on their site that you pay a monthly fee of 10 to

15 dollars per month on average, depending if you get the annual plan or the monthly plan respectively

And the genres on their website include things like business, technology, design,

So technology would include programming of course, and design would include user interface and user experience design

Which, as you see in some of my Adobe XD videos,

but they go in a lot more depth on Skillshare than I do on my youtube channel. And what I mainly use "Skillshare.com" for

Is their business, their marketing, their videography, and their photography.

I like to take a lot of those courses because that really helps me up my youtube game

Right now my camera is kind of broken back there

So I'm recording on my webcam

But I am getting a new camera just for you guys to know that

But they do help you out in many different ways on "Skillshare.com," and considering you can get two months free

Can't really beat that. So for the folks over "Skillshare," this one's for you. Thank you

This is actually how I eat, nerds. I have a problem, I know.

Alright. Now that I'm getting the sugar-high going, let's get into tip number four and that is

"Programming is problem-solving not typing code." Think of languages as tools in your tool-belt

But you need to figure out how to solve the problem at hand

Using your programming language. So don't think of programming as just typing code, think of programming as critical thinking

Deconstructing a problem in order to formulate a solution

That is programming the sooner you realize that the better you'll be.

And the way I want to finish off this video is

Very much intentional, because I want this to be the thing that you take away from this video and start doing right now

Tip number five is "Just build it." Stop reading stuff online

Stop watching YouTube videos, just Build IT.

If you find a problem in an application that you want to build, then start building that.

If the first thing you need to figure out how to do is set up a landing page for a website, look how to set up a landing page for a website.

If you're building an iOS application, and you need to figure out how to do login and sign up, look up how to do login and sign up

Don't try to find a whole entire application just follow through the tutorial, figure out what you want in your particular application

Build a foundation for the application, and then start adding in what you need as a part of that application.

If you don't know where to start, well, then you need to learn the basics of that tool set, that programming language and that.

But if you've already built a small-scale iOS application for example

Step it up a little bit

Step it up to the application that you have in your head

After all you probably didn't get into iOS development, or whatever type of development you're going after just to learn it.

Most of you all probably have an idea in your head that you want to create

So once you have created two or three small apps like a little calculator app or what have you

Work on that dream app if you will. Start working on that

Even if you don't know how to do it

So if you just like I said if you don't know how to implement a particular feature

Then you can find some type of

Advice or tutorial online, and then you suit it to your needs

You make it work for you

JUST BUILD IT

That is gonna be the best way to learn. If you're one of those few people who don't have an app idea in your head

That you want to create that's okay

Don't worry about that

Create a small app following some type of tutorial and then start adding your own custom features into it

Imagine you have a game like "Flappy Bird," what are a few other things that you can add into "Flappy Bird" like coins or different lives

Or leaderboards. I don't know what "Flappy Bird" had, maybe it did have all this stuff, but maybe you can add in some little Mario

Plant-eaters that come out of those pipes that flappy bird has to go through or something like that, you know what I mean?

So just add in some type of feature

If you don't have an idea already in your head. Third time's a charm. JUST BUILD IT

Stop looking. Stop reading. Build it. Alright guys. That's all I have for you

If you are new here and you like the content that you see on this channel

Go back look on my channel to see if you actually like the content make sure you hit that subscribe button

remember the first 500 of y'all that sign up using the link in the

Description get two months of "Skillshare" for free. That does three things

That gives you free "Skillshare." Free knowledge if you will.

It helps me, because the more people who interact with that link down there and sign up for "Skillshare"

The more likely "Skillshare" will continue to support the channel. And three it helps "Skillshare," because they want you on their platform

It's a win-win all around that's kind of why I do these things. If you have any questions, like always, leave them down below

I read every single comment that comes on this channel. I will answer every single question that warrants an answer

Have a good one. Peace. Didn't wanna hit the mic there

And I can't turn off the camera from that way