Many people don’t know the difference between coder vs. programmer. Nowadays, many people take the journey of programming, and as much as it pleases me, only a few of them happen to choose the right path. One of the most common mistakes is that people want to learn only for a month and get a high salary job with a lot of bonuses. I do not say that it is impossible; maybe you are a gifted person, and learning a programming language is a piece of cake for you.
However, the problem here is that you can’t only learn a programming language and call yourself a programmer. Chances are, you may not even get a job. Most people do not know the differences between a coder and a programmer, and as I try to explain in this article, you can at most become a coder during your first month; You should spend the rest of your time on turning yourself into a programmer. You may not have heard the term “coder” before, but I am sure you will get the idea. Also to learn the differences between coder vs programmer we should first understand the those terms; Let’s get to understand those terms better.
Who is the Coder?
Inside the scopes of this topic, coding is about a state of mind and knowledge combined. You are inside that state when you already know some basic coding, and maybe you have tried a few programming languages. You are only concerned about your knowledge and coding skills during this, as you are a novice. However, there are more things to worry about; We will study a few of them, but let us explore programmers.
Who is the Programmer?
Programmers know how to get the job done in the most efficient way possible. In contrast to coders, programmers have experience. Make no mistake; programmers have worked hard to gain experience. Another essential element of being a programmer is that besides being an experienced coder, they also have extensive knowledge in computations, good practices, application architectures, design patterns, etc. To acquire those skills, you have to be passionate about the job you do, read books, study as much as possible. These all take time, and as time passes, the more your hands are full with programming, the more unknown subjects will be discovered. In addition, there are a set of handy tools that programmers use, such as Git, code editors, IDEs, etc.
Why do I Need to Know These Things?
Now that you know the major differences between coder vs. programmer, let’s start with the coding part. If you want your applications to work adequately, you need to write your code in the same way. For this, there are tones of good practices and conventions. In addition, they also ensure that your code is as clean as possible and improve readability and the general look of your code.Software architecture can also be compelling in terms of efficiency. During the development of software architecture, you define the whole workflow of your application, and if the logic is good, you may end up having excellent functionality. However, there are plenty of architectures, and you may need to study a few of them to make the best choice for your particular situation.
Doubt the Correctness
Also, remember that all the software architectures are designed based on the creators’ ideas, and it is okay to doubt their correctness. However, if you only question others’ work, you are not evolving as a developer unless you have solid grounds for criticizing their methods. Needless to say, the experience you gain will help you deal with problems faster. It is like other habits; it becomes a part of you if you do it often enough. This is also one of the differences between coder vs. programmer.
What Can I Do as a Novice to Choose the Right Path?
Do not ever stop learning. Learn new technologies, read new books, and study as many examples as possible. I strongly suggest you start digging into any piece of code you approach, maybe remove a few lines, see what happens. Try to smash the code with everything you have got, and see what happens. I know this sounds ridiculous at first, but try to do that one time, and I promise you will see what I meant. Also, try to study debugging and logging tools simultaneously.
Advice From My Experience
From my experience, mixing these two will help you become more productive than any of them separately. You only have to understand which one is the priority for your current situation, and the other one will automatically become a helper. It is also important to study new techniques as you grow. Learning new ways of solutions takes your thinking out of the box. Learn the basic data structures and algorithms. You might also practice some coding problems. The good thing is that most of the websites offer you opportunities to see the best solutions to the problem you just solved, so do not hesitate to take a look.
Where to Start?
Don’t worry. You have already started your journey the right way, and all you need to do is continue studying. First, study coding as much as you can, and try a few basic problems. If that is okay with you, you could go deeper in your problem-solving sessions, but do not forget to read about theory too. In order to get the job done, you need to understand almost everything in your area. To do that, you need both practice and theory. So, choose a pleasant article, book, or video lesson, and stick to it. Study everything possible in the material at hand, and I promise that questions will arise. All you need to do is get yourself out of your comfort zone and start searching for answers where you can.
Take a Break
Do not forget to take a break whenever you are in trouble. Remember, only the best programmers can pick the right time to stop. If you are someone like me, then you are in trouble. I want to study everything I can, and I actually try to answer the questions “How?” and “Why?” for every topic I see. It is hard, and even if you get a few answers, that is just a new beginning. It never ends. So do not overkill yourself, and as I said, whenever you are stuck, just stop it and do something else. Believe me, that way, the answers come to you, not the other way around. You can actually google the topic about resting during problem-solving sessions, and I guarantee you will find it very interesting.
Learn to Google
And before I forget, learn how to google. It is very beneficial for you to know how to search for answers. You will get there sooner or later, don’t worry. When these all points more or less become a reality, it is time to build an application. At first, you will find yourself in a lot of trouble, but as time passes, you will get to a point when you can make sense of the things in front of you. When that happens, it means you can get to studying git and the coding patterns/architectures in parallel.
The Logic of Multitasking
As you might have noticed, I try to convince you to study things in parallel. And please note that I did mention that the tactic worked for a few of my acquaintances and me, but it might not be the right way for you, so please consider another path if it seems a wrong decision. However, I would suggest taking a shot and see what happens in the next few months.
Anyway, the best feature this solution offers is that you will not get bored in the middle of your road. Instead, you have an opportunity to fly back and forth between the topics you chose. It goes without saying that the best thing for self-taught people is that they choose the topic for themselves. Of course, it would be easier if a mentor could guide you through the steps. So here I am, doing my best to show you the most efficient path I designed for myself during my career.
As time goes on, I am sure you will find the path that is correct for you. As the main parts of this article were bits of advice about how to be a programmer or a coder, I am sure you will understand more about the difference between coder vs. programmer during your journey.