Question

What is the road map to become a successful programmer
How developers at facebook and google think and what do they learn in order to develop complex applications

Answer 1

you must have a goal at first on what do you want to achieve ,
programming its not like you where born knowing it ...so you must think before you come
up with a project and stick on it till you finish ,,,
some idea think like scientist ,,eg for the first time i went to the varsity i did physics because i wanted to transport current through signal , but now i just quit because im more into computer science ,so you to you should think about something that no one have ever think about ...chizzzzzz

Answer 2

There is no road map. Hate to burst your bubble, but very few things in life are very much like the yellow brick road.

If you want to become a successful Software Engineer, you need to love it, because sometimes it can be a real pain. There have been many nights where I've been staring at code that won't compile. I expect there will be many more. But I love problem solving, and I have developed a passion over the years for striving for good solutions to hard problems.

Beyond that, staying competitive in this industry is largely about keeping up with what new things other people are doing. Participate in open source projects on GitHub. Read Hacker News. Constantly challenge yourself by learning new programming languages.

Most of all, enjoy it. :)

Answer 3

@faramdawgnation -- from where i can start problem solving ....
i mean from where i can get problem solving questions

Answer 4

That's a very general question to be honest.
If first have to define "successful". What do you consider success? Is it money? fame? or both?
Or do you just like to work in a big company like facebook or google.
As faramdawgnation mentioned, there is no road to become a successful programmer.

You should first decide which field of computer programming best suits you. Desktop Developer? Web developer (Server side? Client side?)? Or something else?

So here is a brief advice I can give you:
1- Choose a programming language you are comfortable with.
2- Stick with it, get comfortable. It'll take months or even years for you to dig into a programming language really well and be able to solve different problems with it in a fast and efficient way.
3- Read books. Get your hands on textbooks in software engineering topics that interest you. Read them and try to learn new things everytime.
4- Practice! You don't need to start with a huge project at first time and expect it to be completed. Try to start step by step and work your way uphill.

If you like to practice some problem solving questions, you can try http://codingbat.com/

Good luck!

Answer 5

As said above, there is no real road map.
Just start programming. Try many languages and point out the differences, then choosen two languages you are comfortable with. Get deeper in the code, try new things, get bigger challenges - and be happy for every mistake you make because programming is mostly a learning trial and error procedure.

For example:
I learned python, perl, pascal, delphi (variant of turbo pascal), java and a bit of c and c++. After all these languages i decided to learn java first, because it was comfortable to me and i wanted to make complex programs without big ui's - just start the application, maybe with a command line parameter.
Right now i am really good with java because i programmed very different projects with this language - from simple calculus to complex semi-recursive method-hopping and i always got some errors. I learned the most because of the errors i caused.

Just start programming and never stop - that will make a good programmer out of you.

Answer 6

Since you asked this question, I hope you love this line....:D

If you want to become a great programmer (i think you mean the same by saying "successful"), here are some tips:

1. Start programming as early as possible!
2. Learn debugging (source level and assembly level)
3. Don't try to become expert in too many technologies. Just pick up 2-3 technologies, and stick to them. However, you should have knowledge of other adequate fields as well.
4. Be familiar with almost every popular methodology of programing (OOP, Functional etc)
5. Master atleast one platform API (Win32, POSIX etc)

and yeah, write a lot of code, but there should be something new in every program you write! Store them in some archieve - after one or two years you will have a descent "code library"

There is no fixed way to become great programmer......
If possible, work under guidance of a "great" programmer, and try to catch his way of thinking, tackling problems etc.