When I started learning how to program, as a beginner, it felt very overwhelming. There is so much information and concepts to learn and it was too much to remember. As a result, I had to learn how to learn. What I mean by that is that I had to learn about myself, I had to figure out what helps me understand concepts the fastest. So I wanted to share what I discovered. There are different types of learning styles. As a programmer, we will never stop learning. There are always going to be new concepts and ideas to improve on so learning how to learn is vital to being a great programmer. So I'm going to share a list of different ways I approach learning.

LEARN BY SEEING

As a visual learner, you quickly learn when you can see how something works. For instance, learning the for...loop. Rather than reading about it, you'll probably benefit by seeing how it works.

for(let i = 0; i < 3;  i++  ){}
        i = 0; 0 < 3; i = i+1 //0 + 1  
        i = 1; 1 < 3; i = i+1 //1 + 1
        i = 2; 2 < 3; i = i+1 //2 + 1
        i = 3; 3 < 3;//at this point 3 is not let than 3 so it leaves 
                     //the loop

Google has a debugger you can use. There are many ways to fire your debugger so here is an article that can show you how to take advantage of this great feature. Trust me, it's worth learning about it!

LEARN BY HEARING

As an auditory learner, you can quickly learn by having someone explain the concept and have a chance to ask questions where you might be confused. You can watch YouTube videos, attend live classes, and even try to explain the concept to others! Once you feel like you understand, you can test your knowledge by explaining it to someone else and this will let you know if there are any gaps in your knowledge. However, if you're an introvert, like me, that isn't always preferred. So what I do is I explain it to my dog (she loves to sit there and listen lol). These are all different forms of the rubber duck technique and although it might feel weird at first, trust me it'll be worth it if you are an auditory learner. This will also help you be able to explain things clearly when an interviewer wants to know if you understand how javascript works, or why is it better to use 'let' rather than 'var.'

LEARN BY READING/WRITING

As a reader/writer learner, going through a boot camp flex course, you can rewrite tough concepts in your own words as you're reading the lessons. You can google a word you don't understand and use a simpler word that means the same thing. Writing blogs about tough concepts and reading up on different articles that talk about those topics can go a long way. Sometimes it takes a different way to explain the same thing for it to make sense and click and we are very fortunate to live in an era of information.

LEARN BY DOING

Code, code, code, and write more code. I can say that after writing so much code, things just started to come together. I was so hard on myself when I couldn't remember the syntax but after writing it over and over again it eventually stuck and I don't feel the need to look up the basics as much. Granted, I feel like as a programmer you will always have to look up code but the basics will stick the more you write.

LEARN BY DOING THEM ALL

If you're someone like me, you can probably benefit by doing all of the different ways to learn. I constantly go through each one until it sticks. Depending on the concept sometimes I need to see how it works, other times a simple explanation helps, other times I need to watch a video and hear someone explain it, and sometimes I need to talk it out with my dog. Knowing yourself and learning how you best learn things can make learning a hard concept easier and faster. My biggest takeaway from learning is not being so hard on myself if I can't remember. An easy Google search about it and doing an overview of it every day helps keep it fresh in your mind.

In conclusion, there are different ways to learn, you can learn by seeing, hearing, reading/writing, and doing and sometimes it takes doing all of them to really drive the concept home and fully understand what you're trying to learn. Try different methods and be consciously aware of which one helps you get it the fastest and stick to it. Learning something new can be intimidating but once you know what helps you it becomes second nature and before you know it you'll be full of knowledge but still feel like you have much more to learn at the same time. Stay humble, stay focused, and keep learning!

Here is an image of the different types of learning that was shared by a great instructor at Flatiron School.