Learning to code takes dedication. But honing your skills doesn't have to be a dreary grind. Here are 7 enjoyable ways to sharpen your programming abilities.
Choose a topic you love like travel, fashion or guitars. Build a stylish site on it from scratch using HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Bring your personal interests into coding.
Browse projects on GitHub you find useful. Contributing improvements to real-world open source software builds skills and community.
Hackathons challenge you to quickly build an app around themes like climate change and public transit. The competitive element pushes your abilities.
Many classic games come with tools to modify and write new code for them. Developing your own mod lets you playfully tinker with a professional codebase.
Find a group of programming pals to learn with. Bounce ideas off each other for apps to build. Motivate each other to keep making progress.
What's more fun than games? Create a simple mobile game app using Unity or Xcode. The visual feedback will keep you engaged as you code game logic, physics, UI, and sound effects.
The credit card-sized Raspberry Pi is a learning coder's dream. Build a mini robot from tutorials, program its movements, and expand capabilities as you advance.
Rather than doing repetitive exercises, use your passion projects, hobbies and competitions to drive your coding practice. Programming for enjoyment's sake keeps curiosity and creativity alive.