The following is a good way for programmers to learn a new language.
Think about what to make while reading the tutorial
When reading a tutorial for a new language, read it while thinking about a specific program, and if you think you can write the program, stop reading and write the program. When you complete the part that you can write with the current tutorial, go back to where you stopped reading and read it again. Of course, read while keeping in mind the next part of the program you are going to write.
For example, you read the tutorial with a specific program in mind, such as ‘Create a task list’ or ‘Count the number of words’. By setting a goal like this and reading the tutorial, you will actively read with questions like ‘How can I write a loop in this language?’ and ‘How can I output?’.
This way of reading is called active reading. Active reading refers to reading with specific questions or purposes. In education, it is said that actively reading has a positive effect on understanding and memory compared to passively reading.
SQ3R Reading Method
Among these active reading methods, the most representative method is the SQ3R (Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review) Reading Method. SQ3R is a method first introduced by American educational psychologist Robinson (Francis P. Robinson) in Effective Study (1946).
The SQ3R reading method progresses through the following stages.
- Survey
Surveying is to quickly look over the entire book and the contents of each chapter before reading the book, and to grasp the relationship between the main concepts. Surveying is progressed in the following way.
- Remember the main title of the chapter you are going to study.
- Quickly read the introduction, overview, and learning objectives of that chapter.
- Pay attention to the subheadings and the titles of the figures.
- Look for clues that show important concepts, such as bold text, italic text, and underlined parts.
- Read the chapter summary by section.
- Look at the list of key concepts.
- Question
Questioning is to ask questions based on the overview of the chapter. The method of questioning is as follows.
- Ask questions about the definition of the concept mentioned in the title: What is ⚪︎⚪︎?
- Ask questions about the characteristics of the concept: What are the characteristics of ⚪︎⚪︎?
- Ask questions about the relationship between concepts: What is the relationship between ⚪︎⚪︎ and △△?
- Ask questions using the expression of the title: Title - The necessity of ⚪︎⚪︎ → Question - What is the necessity of ⚪︎⚪︎?
- Ask questions about your background knowledge: How much do I know about ⚪︎⚪︎?
Questioning is to ask questions while reading the book. It is also a good idea to write down the questions you asked while reading the book and check them during the study.
- Read
Reading is the process of reading the text based on steps 1 and 2 to find answers to the questions you asked. By reading the book to find answers to the questions, you can remember the content longer after reading the book, which is very helpful for memorizing the content more accurately, especially for exam preparation.
- Recite
Reciting is an important process to prevent forgetting the content you read. Reciting is a way to check how well you understand the content by writing it down yourself. Reciting is progressed in the following way.
- Look at the questions you made yourself.
- Recite or write down your answer to the question without looking at the book.
- Write the answer as completely as possible, and you can write it in the form of an overview, diagram, figure, or formula to help understanding.
- Compare the answer with the book or notes.
- Review
Reviewing is to regularly and occasionally memorize what you have learned. Reviewing is a very effective method, especially for preparing for exams. Reviewing is progressed in the following way.
- Read the text and notes you have written again.
- Memorize the difficult parts by making flashcards or other methods.
- Test the reviewed content to check how well you memorized it.
- Make an index and concept map of what you have learned.
Read the source code of the standard library when studying
To write good code, you need to read good code. The standard library is usually written by the person who invented the language or people who follow the style of the language. Therefore, the standard library is composed of the most language-specific codes, and you can learn the culture and style of the language through these codes.
Following this culture and style may not bring any functional differences to the program, but it can reduce the cost of writing and maintaining the program.
Add the function you need to other people’s code while studying
You can try to add the function you need to the open-source code written in the language you are studying. By modifying the code you are using, you can get feedback from people who are good at the language and interact with the open-source community.
Become an expert by effectively extracting expertise
You can learn from experts and do what they do. You can quickly improve your expertise by extracting the expertise of the experts around you and applying it. When asking experts for expertise, you should induce them to talk about specific events. If you ask experts, ‘What is the secret to learning a programming language quickly?’, you will not get a very useful answer. Experts tend to give general answers or theoretical answers that are different from their actual behavior.
At this time, using cognitive task analysis can extract the expertise of experts.
When using cognitive task analysis to ask experts for their expertise, you should get them to talk about specific events - what was the last language they learned, what they did differently during their time to learn that language, etc. - to identify their implicit decision-making and situational judgments.
If you want to be good at something, observing and interviewing someone who is already good at it will be a great help.
Completed
Done! We’ve seen the learning methods that programmers can use. If you are learning a new language or trying to become a programmer, please refer to this post and study.
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