Best way to sharpen coding skills?

Question

I am learning how to code in my late 20's and I wanted to know how to improve my coding skills beyond learning the syntax.I felt that there is a difference between optimizing for job interviews vs learning how to real build products. I need some advice from an experienced hacker. Should I focus on Side Projects or Solving problems on a website like https://hackerRank.com?What else do you reccomend, what did you do in your case to reach the skill level your at?

johncoltrane · Accepted Answer

I also learned to code in my 20s but it was by and for solving _real_ problems I _actually_ had and that's also how I sharpened my skills over the years.
I simply can't imagine wasting any amount of time solving "fizzbuzz" or whatever. Never did, never will.
> what did you do in your case to reach the skill level your at?
I worked in that field for over 20 years.

night-rider · Answer

You mentioned products so you need to have business logic baked in as the foundation, and marketing second. I&rsquo;ve even written programs that automate the marketing side of things. Learn Stripe, PayPal, etc before you even begin because if money&rsquo;s the main goal you need to optimise for that. Also as people often say: work on two or three side projects to hone your skills.

memorable · Answer

For me, I mostly do a lot of side projects and gain experiences from them. I also do solve problems, but it definitely wasn't my favor.