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Learning to program is not some discrete event, some fixed point in time, where you could not do it before, and you can afterwards. It's a continuous process.

Learning to program is not some discrete event, some fixed point in time, where you could not do it before, and you can afterwards. It's a continuous process. Understanding the syntax is maybe the first step but this is easy. Understanding control statements like conditional code and loops, maybe recursion, is a next big step, if it's all completely novel to you. At this point, you probably already can program a lot of basic things, when you are persistent enough to work through all the errors. So at this stage, you might say you have learned to program. But then there is so much more, like all the relevant data structures, etc. I'm know coding since 25 years and still I feel that I'm far away from really having mastered it, although I feel very confident in most things. Currently I think I could definitely improve my architectural skills. And there are many other things where I lack knowledge, which could have been helpful in certain situations.

schwartzworld 4y ago
The same could be said about learning to read, and yet we use that term often. I would say a person has learned to read once they are good enough to figure out the pronunciation and definition of new words. You reach a minimum vocabulary set and using a dictionary or Google search becomes possible. I think you could apply the same standard to programming. You are always building your vocabulary and understanding, but anybody who has moved on from tutorials to actual building could be said to have "learned to program." The rest is just honing that skill.