How to Become a Coder: Step-by-Step Guide

How do you think the IT sector works? These sites, the apps, and even the hardware systems? If you have wondered about this question, then I assure you that you’ll find your answers right here?

If you are a coder, you are someone who writes the commands that make things such as websites, apps, and more operate. Coders get paid $73,059 per year, and there are more benefits to this job as well. ?

Keep on reading this article to solve all your queries and understand how people become coders. ?️

Who is a Coder?

What is Coding? How does it control these programs? Let’s use an analogy to understand. Do you know how we have scripts for people in dramas to follow? They do everything as dictated by the script. Codes are the same.

What we code is what programs follow word by word. And as a coder, you are someone who writes these codes. ?

Another way to put it is that a coder is someone who can communicate with computers and software by using programming languages. You write codes in these languages. There are a lot of languages in the market right now, and each one serves a different purpose. ?️

Learning how to code is similar to learning languages. You have to practice regularly and keep on with it. Missing out on practice can lead to you forgetting this skill. Coders have to write tons of code for just one program.

This means that you have to be determined and hardworking if you want to take on this job. ?

How much can a Coder earn?

This profession is something that will make you work tirelessly and quite a lot. It is an IT job, and writing codes is not an easy job, trust me. But the salary makes up for this. For a lot of people, the salary is what encourages them to take up the job ?

You can trust the data I give you as these are up-to-date and have stats that tell you about the current salary trends. Becoming a Coder in Virginia, New Mexico, and Kansas guarantees the highest profits for you among all of the states in the US. You can earn up to $82,000 per year here. ?

Your salary would be made up of two constituent wages. The first is your base pay. This is the amount you would be paid directly by your employer. The average base pay for a Coder in July 2023 was $73,059. The other part of your salary is made up of the additional wages you might get paid.

These additional wages can be paid to you in the form of bonuses, commissions, overtime pay, or incentives.?

How to Become a Coder? (Tips)

The most important question in all of this is – how to become a coder. Worry not, for I have compiled all of the information I could find about this on the net. You will find about 4-5 steps below, which are what help people become coders. ?

Set your base right

There are a variety of STEM courses available during the schooling process. To enhance your foundation in engineering and IT, it is important for you to select the ones that will be valuable for you.

Try not to take any courses that don’t contribute to these fields in any way. This is merely because these can be burdening.

Making sure to do this will ensure that you get sufficient knowledge needed to set up a proper base for your upcoming bachelor’s degree. Some of the few STEM courses that will be helpful are Mathematics, science, and computer science. ✅

Finish your education

The most basic requirement to become a Coder right after your foundational courses is a bachelor’s degree. In order to succeed in this industry, you must select the degree/program that is most suitable for you.

You can get a 4-year degree in either Computer science or software engineering in the US. You don’t have to worry about these options and more information about them because I have covered colleges and programs below as well.

Upon completion of your bachelor’s program, obtaining a master’s is what you have to do next.?‍?

The self-taught route

A lot of people decide to learn Coding as a side hustle, and that’s completely alright. It’s a very good idea for earning passive income. And with the right steps, it is quite easy to become a professional coder as well.

Learning how to code is the very basis of becoming a coder. You can start learning by yourself when you are in school.

It would be good this way as this would help you get a headstart. Learning and practicing more will just help you become more used to Coding.

Some of the languages you should learn include Python, JavaScript, Golang, PHP, and SQL. Youtube offers a variety of educational videos that can help you with your queries and more learning issues related to Coding. ?

Time to get some experience

What you should do next is start working in internships or projects set up by other individuals. You can start your project too.

All that matters is that you get experience. If you get the opportunity to work under any professional, then it will reap a lot of benefits for you. Such a person would help by giving tips and advice.

Again, for this, you don’t need to have a proper degree in IT or Coding. You can get such opportunities just by being active and focusing on self-study. ?

Certifications are important

I have discussed some certifications below. You must get certificates for the smaller courses you do as these are proof of your work and learning experience.

If you are doing this all without getting a proper degree and just based on such courses, then it’s even more important to keep track of your certifications. ?

Specializations for Coders

There are more specializations you can do to secure a certain field to set your footing in it. Attaining a degree plays a crucial role in the journey of becoming a Coder, but a specialization helps you become a master in the field of your choice. These will help you focus on a certain set of skills and hone them to perfection.⤵️

Software Coder

People who make codes for computer software and maintain them as well are known as Software Coders. These codes are made to carry out the operations in this software, design them, and implement them as a whole.

They are also known as software developers. They also format these whenever they find any mistakes or faults in them. ?

Hardware Coder

Hardware coders are people who write codes that are used to operate hardware systems. They make all sorts of files required to implement these and hence, write dialog instructions so that the user interface of these systems can communicate with the users.

For example – they can make codes that can switch on your computer or switch it off.?

Computer and network security coder

These are coders who make codes that help them find and recognize potential threats to the security systems on the computer and network. These threats will ultimately become detrimental for the users as everything is on the internet nowadays.

Viruses can easily make it into your computer or network and then risk your privacy. ?

Web Coder

Web coders are coders who are quite in demand right now. With the advent of technology, people have started relying heavily on the net to carry out almost task they have.

With Coding becoming available on the net as well – through cloud computing and other platforms – coders have started working as web coders. They have to write codes that control the working of web platforms. ?

App Coder

This specialization is also in high demand. App coders have to write codes to make apps. Apps are something that everyone uses. Hence, there are going to be a lot of job opportunities for you if you specialize in this field. ?

Top Coding Courses in the United States

With the invention and advent of online learning platforms, there’s a lot of increase in the amount of resources you can find online. ?

How to Learn Coding Faster: Object-Oriented Programming in Python

Skillshare is a platform known for its credibility and the diverse range of courses it offers. It has this course about Coding which is going to be helpful for students. Your teacher for this course is Alvin Wan. Wan is a research scientist. You will find that the course has 18 sections for you to cover, which all include more audio-visual content.

The course goes on for approximately 2 hours if you decide to finish it in one day ⌚

The course is the best for beginners because it is a good plan to start learning how to code. This is recommended because many times, people don’t understand where to start or how to learn, but this will introduce them to core concepts.

Coding for Beginners: An Easy Introduction

This course is available on Coursera, one of the most well-known educational platforms other than Udemy and Skillshare. It is offered by IBM in collaboration with Coursera and has a four-month schedule.

It is designed in the form of a guided project. You will have to give two hours out of your time every day until you finally finish this project.

The course is a good option for those who want to learn with hands-on experience. It is made specifically for beginners. You would be required to create and execute programs. You would also be able to write programs and understand more of such programming concepts. ?

100 Days of Code: The Complete Python Pro Bootcamp for 2023

Offered by Udemy, this course is taught by Dr. Angela Yu, who has taught students as well as employees in this field. She is the lead instructor at London App Brewery, and this course is a bestseller when it comes to coding courses on Udemy right now.

There are 101 sections in this course, which are divided into 624 lectures. These lectures are further divided into more content which will take you approximately 59 hours to finish. So, it would be better if you make a regular schedule to follow and finish this course on time.

This course is suitable for beginners who have just started learning about Python. It has topics such as literals, variables, control flow, statements, loops, hangman, and more. ⌨️

Computer Science: Algorithms, Theory, and Machines

Coursera, being the diverse platform that it is, offers one more course for coding enthusiasts to finish and learn from. This one is taught by Robert Sedgewick and Kevin Wayne. They have established themselves as professors in this field and teach at Princeton University.

As I mentioned, the course is made up of more audio-visual content, which will go on for a duration of 10 weeks. There’s a schedule which will help you finish it in this time period. If you have to finish it in one go, the duration is approximately 20 hours. ☁️

The reviews for this course are very promising, and the instructors teach with great detail. The topics include sorting, setting tables, theory of computing, etc.

Clean Code

Another bestseller from Udemy, this course is for when you get a hold of the basics and are ready to learn with more detail and expertise. The instructor for this course is Maximilian Schwarzmüller, who is an AWS-certified professional web developer as well as a teacher.

He has found Academind, an online learning platform that strives to help its students with topics in IT. The course is divided into eight sections which are further divided into 95 lectures. It would take you approximately 7 hours to finish this course.

The course is all about code structures, naming, sorting, data containers, and more such topics. ?

Top Coding Schools in the World

There are a lot of offline schools and universities where you can find your ideal coding degree. However, you would not find a bachelor’s in Coding right off the bat.

Even that is based on the specializations you want to go for. So, take your time and choose the right one for yourself. The topmost ones are listed below. ?

Nanyang Technological University

Nanyang Technological University is the university that ranks the highest in Singapore to appear in the list of the top global universities. Their computer science program for undergrads is worth the hype as it ranks quite on the charts for top university courses.

This university has been on the top lists since it was established and ranked super high in almost every subject they teach.

Plus, they are working together with the Imperial College in London, and together, they have a very well-reputed medical school. NTU offers all kinds of subjects like art, science, and even law. ➕

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is located in London, UK, and was founded in the 11th century, making it the oldest educational institution in the UK. It holds rank three on ‘the best global universities for engineering and technology list.

The university does have a main campus and is divided/scattered in the city center. About 40% of the student population comprises international students.

It also offers three-year undergraduate programs in computer science, engineering science, and computer science with philosophy. You can also choose to do a four-year integrated master’s program in these subjects. ?

Stanford University

Stanford University was started way back in 1885. And this makes it one of the oldest universities in the US. Stanford is in this place called Stanford (the university is named after the place it is situated in).

If you’re into Coding and want to become a coder, they’ve got about nine different courses you can take. One of these courses is the computer science postgraduate program. ?

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is one of the oldest educational institutions in the UK and one of the largest as well. It operates 31 colleges under it. The university ranks second on the list of the best engineering and technology schools and operates ten schools and colleges under it.

It has a plethora of courses and programs and holds a reputation for being one of the best in all the courses it offers. Founded in 1209, the university’s education plan boasts excellence and credibility. It offers an undergraduate program in computer science only. ?

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The last college we are going to talk about is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT for short. It’s located in Massachusetts, and it’s a really great place to get your degree.

MIT was founded way back in 1861, and if you’re looking for a degree in computer science, this is the best option on the list as of now. Their teaching programs are one of a kind and promise excellence. Most of the courses they offer are focused on engineering and science.

If you get into MIT successfully, worry and uncertainty about job opportunities in the future become a thing of the past. This is because of the fact that MIT has the employment rate n the world according to current stats. ?‍?

Where to find Coding opportunities online?

Some of the sources on the net can help you in ways you can’t imagine. Given below are some job sites which will help you search for jobs more easily. ?

UpWork

Nowadays, a new way of working has started becoming more and more popular these days. It’s called freelancing, and people all around the world are in favor of it because it gives them so much freedom.

This is because when you freelance, you only have to correspond with the person who hired you. You can even have another job while freelancing.

Upwork is a freelancing platform that used to be called Elance-oDesk. It’s based in California, USA. Upwork offers lots of job opportunities for both people who are looking for work and people who are looking to hire others. ?

Fiverr

Another such freelancing site is Fiverr. It is an Israeli MNC dedicated to helping people all over the globe market their freelance services. Similar to UpWork, a lot of people choose Fiverr as a means of finding freelancers and selling their freelancing services as well.

Coding is a job that allows you to find remote jobs from any corner of the world easily. All you need is a good setup, coding knowledge, and a good internet connection. The signups to these platforms are free. You can be a coder in America and work for companies based abroad easily. ?

Indeed

Indeed is a website that offers a lot of job opportunities from all around the world. Indeed was founded in November 2004 and offers up-to-date features.

You just enter your preferences, and it will find the best options for you. You can find part-time jobs, full-time jobs, and even remote jobs as long as you fill in the right filters.

Just make an account for yourself, start using the filters, and fill them according to what you’re looking for in your dream job, and it will show you the best opportunities from the internet. Indeed can help you a lot as long as you utilize its resources correctly.

It is one of the most active platforms on the net, so make sure you are active on it too. ✔️

Conclusion

Becoming a coder is a very sought-after ambition nowadays. Almost every kid who is interested in IT wants to become a professional coder because of the vast amount of benefits this job provides.

You can work from anywhere you want as long as you have the equipment, Your job is in-demand, and you get paid fairly enough. This is more than enough reasoning for why you should become a coder.?