The quintessential beginning to every programmer’s journey.

Just for context, a “Hello, World!” is a computer program that displays the text “Hello, World!”. It’s a very small program that is often used to illustrate the basic syntax of a programming language.

It represents how simple it is to take off. Meant to avoid scaring you from trying and delving deeper.

Is it really such a good start?.

function start() {
    return "hello world!";
}

At the start of anything new, you begin at square one. The thing is, you get to decide what’s your square one.

I believe there should be more people trying new things instead of following paved roads.

In the past, I have been asked on tips on how to start learning a new language/tool/framework, and I have always blindly pointed directly at some of the many awesome resources available today.

Sure, tutorials, quizzes and examples will fill your neurons with useful information, but most of these people came through the other side with a surprising lack of interest… What was wrong?.

The issue might be going only as far as the directions take you.

Motivation is the key to keep learning, and one of the best ways to stay motivated is to set your own goals and work towards them.

Programming is usually driven by problems; you, me, and everybody else has them, and trying to solve a problem that matters to you is one of the best ways to apply your new found knowledge or find out that you need new tools to tackle them.

Next time you want to learn something, consider making your first step to pick a goal. Something small, achievable, but meaningful to you.

And most importantly, don’t stop at hello world.