Taking a decision to learn how to code is a huge leap for anybody. It entails understanding technology in a new way, mastering new language and tools, learning how to think logically, and becoming more adaptive and responsive to problem-solving. You will learn valuable skills, improve your career options, and even develop your personal life.

As much as the benefits of learning to code are indisputable, the truth is that the progress itself (and no doubt, it’s a long process) is challenging and could be sometimes frustrating. As a beginner to programming, at first, you are earnest and enthusiastic, paying attention to your first tutorials and seeking out ‘beginner’s recipes’ from websites. As you pass the initial stages and begin dealing with variables, loops, and functions, the abstract nature of what you’re doing i.e not being readily able to see how your work is being executed in the front end, can be frustrating, particularly if you’re a highly visual person. You may at this point become a little anxious about whether you really can do it and may take a few days off to ‘clear your head’. For some, a few days translate to a few weeks and a few months. When and if you eventually get back, you may feel too detached from the context of programming for it to hold any strong attraction for you anymore and you might quit altogether.

Most beginners often undergo similar experiences as illustrated above. However, once you learn how to overcome certain challenges which are highlighted below, you will enjoy the learning experience much more, make progress faster, become more enduring when faced with future difficulties and become more independent when writing your own code. These challenges are:

Your motivation, and its sustainability, is a very important factor in all learning processes. Most beginners learn programming just for the sake of it or because they heard a career in it pays well. Even for those who simply just like the idea, when things get tough and the learning experience becomes hard and painful, they often are sorely tempted to give up. Instead, learn programming because you want to solve a problem or improve your life. Aspire to build/improve apps that will help people and increase efficiency.

Not Planning Your Learning Process

After knowing why you want to learn to code and whether that motivation is sustainable, choose the correct tools and resources to help you achieve your aim. Lots of beginners say, ‘I don’t know which programming language I should learn first’. Well that’s because they do not really know why they want to learn to code. Nowadays, JavaSxript is used to build any type of project, from simple web and mobile apps to advanced hardware projects. If you’re still unsure of which language to learn, ask an experienced programmer for advice. Also bear in mind that most of the knowledge learned from one programming language is transferable so at this stage, you run little risk of wasting your time.

Not Knowing How To Approach A Task

Sometimes you may not know where to start and may be unable to solve a task properly. This may be because you don’t really have a firm understanding of the theory of a language, how an API or library works, how the system works or even the programming paradigms. It is best to read the theory again and find someone to explain it well to you. The task might be too big and needs to be broken down into smaller tasks, but you didn’t understand this because you overlooked certain concepts.

Impatience With Debugging

The most common problem for programmers of all experience levels is when they solve a task and it doesn’t work because there’s a bug in the code. Debugging is one of the most important skills a programmer must learn. However, lots of beginners get overwhelmed and lose motivation here. They feel that too much time is spent debuggng code. Nonetheless, they must see it as am opportunity to improve their programming abilities and fix their misconceptions. It helps to ask ‘Why Did I make this mistake and how can I prevent myself from making the same mistake in the future?’

Not Understanding Preferred Solutions

In your learning process, you’ll consult a lot of resource materials: books, courses, tutorials, developer communities, etc. It is easy to take a solution to a problem proffered on any of these platforms. It’s trustworthy, it works, but do you understand the thought process behind it and how the concept fits into the bigger picture? You should learn from it and apply it yourself the next time you face a similar problem. Good programming practices include forming good habits to help you get unstuck from any kind of coding problem.

How Do You Deal With These Challenges?

Be patient. Programming is an in-demand skill but you won’t master it in a few months, never mind that some training courses promise you will. It takes time (years) to internalize and understand code. You must continuously apply and improve your skills to become any good.

Take a break when you need it. All experts were once beginners. No one was born a coder. When it gets frustrating and overwhelming, Amanda Bates, a senior developer says ‘Don’t lose hope. Walk away a bit, relax, and come back with a fresher perspective’.

Be disciplined. Motivation is fleeting but discipline is more reliable. Some days, you may not be in the mood to get things done and that’s perfectly normal. But try to get in an hour or two of work. It will help you get more closer to your goal.

Don’t Give Up. This is the whole essence of this article. You’ll want to quit more than once, but dig in and don’t give up. Use the problems you experience as ladder rungs to ascend to greater skills as a developer. Get support from other coders and experts in online communities.

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TV is a home appliance that keeps serving us over long periods. But most of us take our TVs for granted. We also expect that it would continue to serve us nonstop without any maintenance. 

You might wonder if it is that necessary to maintain your TV, I mean it is just a TV, isn't it?

Well, maintaining a TV will not just save you from last-minute expensive repairs but also help extend the life of your TV. 

Some of us often end up ignoring some of the most important things to do like, keeping the TV and its surroundings free from dust, as dust can leave the screen damaged. These things might seem unimportant, but they go a long way in ensuring that your TV gives you the best performance for a very long time.

LED TVs do provide the brightest and beautiful pictures. It is a high-cost investment that no one wants to replace it in a few years. As we all know, prevention is better than cure. Therefore, the following few tips to maintain your LED TV set will save you the cost of repairing and replacing new parts and most importantly, will extend the life of your LED TV. 

1. Ensure your LED TV is well Ventilated.

It is best to use your TV in an open space without humidity so that it cools by itself when you turn off your television. Its ventilation system can be found behind the screen, to protect your TV from overheating, ensure that the rear of the TV is fixed at least 2 to 6 inches away from the wall and the sides of the TV have over 4 inches of ventilation space.

If you have the TV placed in a compact cabinet, replace it with a more spacious cabinet or consider mounting your TV on the wall. For ventilation, you can also place a standing fan close to the TV. This is so that when you are using it, the internal circuit would not heat as much, thereby increasing the lifespan. 

2. Install a Voltage Regulator

It is highly recommended that you always use a quality electrical surge suppression device or battery-based uninterruptible power supply (UPS) on the electrical power to the TV to protect it from electrical power issues. Seeing as we are living in a country where unstable electricity is the norm, it would be best if to keep all your electronic devices safe most especially your TV.

3. Temperature and Humidity Check. 

A Product lifetime can be shortened when it is used under conditions of high temperature and humidity. And so it is highly recommended to use the product at room temperature and humidity to maintain its optimum performance. When exposed to the drastic fluctuation of temperature (hot to cold or cold to hot), the product may be affected.

It is advisable not to use Televisions in places where the temperature is high. If you do so, then there's a high chance that it would damage faster. Also, never keep the TV at very low temperatures and high humidity. It is ideal to utilize your TV in an open space without humidity so it cools independently from anyone else when you switch off your TV.

4. Turn off your LED TV regularly.

When not in use or sleep mode, power your LED TV off, straight from the plugboard. This will save power and more importantly, it will help to extend your TV lifespan. If you are doing something else while using your TV in the background or even if you sleep while watching something, this gradually tends to become a habit. 

The lifecycle of a television set is about 65,000 hours. Some people think it is okay to leave their displays open to provide background noise; they believe that 65,000 hours is a long time to burn through. However, what they don’t know is that leaving their TVs for 3 hours could equate to about 1,000 hours per year. This means that their LED TVs would probably not going to last long. 

5. Adjust your LED TV brightness.

Adjusting the brightness settings to the maximum level at all times can also reduce the lifespan of your TV in the long run. You need to note that LED TVs have white lights or sometimes RGB lights and these lights might dim over time. When they start to dim, it is the signal of an upcoming end of a lifespan. 

It is therefore advisable to lower the brightness of your TV. Generally, it is seen that most LED TVs are normally adjusted to their highest setting. This adversely affects their longevity as with full brightness, they would surely use up their longevity. And so, by lowering the brightness level, you can to some extent ensure they last longer.

6. Keep your LED TV and its surroundings super clean. 

It is recommended to dust the TV area every day, as dust can leave the TV screen damaged. You should also get good quality products that are meant for cleaning your TV sets. Sometimes, dust accumulates on the screen, affecting visibility. While dusting, ensure to use a microfiber cloth, they are very effective for dusting as well as cleaning objects and TV sets.

A dusty environment has a chance to induce a short circuit. That can cause non-recoverable damage to the screen of the TV. So always keep the television in dust-free and clean surroundings. Also, Plasma, LCD, and LED TV’s are delicate to static electricity. So it is crucial to use only anti-static cleaners and cloths. 

Cheers to Longlasting Electronics use!!