How to learn programming: formal or informal learning?

I guess you want to learn programming. There are a lot of options out there. They can be of two types: formal or informal learning.

So which one is the best? If you keep reading, you will find out what are my thoughts about the topic.

Formal learning

According to this article in Wikipedia, “Formal learning is education normally delivered by trained teachers in a systematic intentional way within a school, higher education or university.”

In this case, you will have to follow a program, with specific goals to meet, and you will also have to write evaluations for you to pass each subject within your program and get a certificate. 

According to my experience, formal learning is mostly focused on foundations. Although the students can get practical experience, the main aim is that students must master the foundations.

What happens next is, when the students go to the industry, they need to be trained on the specific tools, procedures or practices. After this, they are able to have a good performance in their new job.

So far, what do you think? Is this for you? Do you think it is the best way for you to learn programming?

Now let’s see what is informal learning, so you get more information to think about what is best for you.

Informal learning

It will be right to say that informal learning is the learning experiences that are not formal. 

Learning from experience (also called empirical-learning) is an example of this type of learning. You do something and then you learn while doing it. 

This is usually done without a predefined path, learning outcomes or goals.

With this information, and the knowledge you have now, which one do you think is better for you to learn programming: formal or informal learning?

Despite your answer, I’ll give you my thoughts on the topic. I believe I earn the right to say something in this topic, considering my experience in both areas. 

Programming learning: formal or informal learning?

If you didn’t read my post about goals, I recommend you to read it here. From that post, you suppose to know by now why is so important to have SMART goals. They are valuable to keep you on track and not get distracted by the good and bad things that will cross your path every time.

Also, I mentioned here the importance of studying the fundamentals to be good at programming, to understand why things work. Also, how important is the study of algorithms in the process of learning programming.

After this, it might seem pretty obvious that the best way is to get formal training.

Does it mean the best or only way to learn programming is to go to a university? No, not at all.

In university curriculums, you will have to study different subjects, that belongs to several disciplines, for instance: Programming, Network Security, etc.

If you are only interested in one area, i.e. programming or database administrator, you don’t need to learn two or more topics. However, you can benefit a lot from a curriculum that can expand your job options (and usually your knowledge in the specific area).

There are many different businesses (bootcamps, online-learning, etc.) dedicated to teaching practical skills, like programming. You can choose (and pay for) just what you want to study, instead of a full curriculum. You can go to them and get the skills quicker (and at a lower cost), although you will have less general knowledge about other related areas.

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Happy learning!!!