Coding Hacks I Wish I Knew as a Newbie: Emmanuel Kweyu

2021 saw a rise in demand for software programmers as the world fully embraced the digital era due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This demand spread across the globe like wildfire, in Kenya tech giants like Google, Microsoft, and Africa Development Centre set up offices, investing millions of dollars into hiring local talent. The demand for programmers shows no signs of slowing down as businesses continue to digitalize and new technologies emerge, as their need intensifies. According to a report by the World Economic Forum, it is estimated that by 2025, technological automation will also create around 97 million new job opportunities in predominantly technology-focused industries, further emphasizing the importance of programming skills.

So before you leap into this exciting world of 1s and 0s, it is important to seek insights from industry experts who have thrived in this field. We caught up with Mr. Emmaunel Kweyu, Deputy Director & e-Health Lead Researcher @iLabAfrica, who has been in the tech industry for over 30 years with a specialized interest in Healthcare. He has collaborated and worked on numerous projects like Cervical Cancer Screening, the Maternal and Child Health Clinic(MCH), and his most memorable project was the Kenya Ministry of Health COVID tracker.

As he reminisced about his years as a beginner programmer and shared some things he wished he had known back then and some advice for  young programmers who would like to advance their careers;

1. Take full advantage of the access to information

“Back in our youthful days, access to computers, the internet, tech expertise, and academic resources were limited which meant learning on the job. Nowadays, these resources are widely available to everyone. I would encourage the young people entering the tech industry to take advantage of the internet and capitalize on its large pool of information to learn as much as they can. YouTube channels like Learncode Academy, Treehouse, and Derek Banas among many others offer countless hours of guided tutorials. With so much knowledge at their fingertips, young programmers today have an abundance of learning options. 

2. Focus on a specific area before diversifying your skill.

The first step is to select which area of software development you would like to specialize in and then diversify your skills in that area so that you are a full stack. Software development is a compromise of different categories such as Backend Development, Application, and Front-end development to mention a few and all these categories require learning the programming languages involved. Specializing first ensures that you are centered on one path instead of pursuing anything and everything at the same time. 

3. Be adaptable. 

The tech industry is green and is constantly evolving and expanding, which demands innovation, creativity, and diversity so one can not afford to stick in one position like a dinosaur.  To thrive in this space, one must remain flexible and capitalize on opportunities as they arise.

4. Join  communities 

There is a plethora of online and physical communities filled with tech enthusiasts. Find one that matches your interests and interact, network, and learn from one another.’The best thing about online communities is that most of them are free and they provide mentorship and a supportive network to develop new skills, refine existing ones, and forge your path in the tech industry.  Consider joining Google Developer Groups, GitHub, The Hive Index, or StackOverflow to start building connections and advancing your career.

5. Expose yourself  to real-world problems 

As a beginner, we mainly worked on theoretical problems which were good at that time but they were foreign and not practical. The best thing you can do for yourself as a young developer is to immerse yourself in the real world to observe how systems work daily and how to improve them. Doing this enables you to think about solutions to problems they resonate with. @iLabAfrica’s education programmes have a firm belief in training students for real-world problems. I would also encourage them to participate in multiple hackathons so that they can apply their theoretical knowledge in a practical environment. Hackathons also build teamwork as they are collaborative efforts to bring your ideas to life and @ iLabAfrica hosts their hackathons to ensure that its students stay ahead of the competition.

“Tech is an ever-changing and ever-evolving landscape with loads of new opportunities to explore and challenges to face but once one is equipped with knowledge and guidance from people who have been in the industry then the journey is far less daunting.” – He concluded

Article written by: Ajuna Lindah