How I Started Programming With Only a Phone

Сергей — Sat, 14 Mar 2026 17:35:07 +0000

"I didn't start for money. I started because I was curious."

The Beginning

At first, I didn't start programming for money, trends, or because people say it's the "job of the future".

I started because I was a curious person.

I was always asking questions like:

How does this work?
How can someone build something like this?
How could I create my own version?

The problem was that I didn't have internet access for a long time. Because of that, I had never written a single line of code. I didn't even know what programming really looked like.

When I finally got internet access — everything changed.

I started searching about everything:

What is programming?
How do websites work?
Where should I start?

My First Confusion: The Web

The first thing that confused me was the web.

I had many questions that might sound simple now:

Does Google own all websites?
What comes first: Google or the website?
Do I need to pay Google to create a website?
If I build my own website, will it appear on Google search?

I also didn't understand basic concepts like:

Concept	What I Thought	Reality
IP addresses	Just numbers for computers	Unique identifiers for devices on a network
DNS	No idea	Translates domain names to IP addresses
HTML	Magic	A markup language for structuring web pages
Servers	Something huge and expensive	A computer that serves files/data

I couldn't even tell the difference between a browser and a search engine.

My First Steps

After watching YouTube videos about programming and its different fields, I decided to start with web development.

HTML → CSS → JavaScript

HTML — When I learned it, I felt like a genius.

CSS — At first it looked complicated, but after practicing, I understood the basics.

JavaScript — For some reason, it felt natural to me. I enjoyed solving problems with it, and I felt like my mindset fit this field.

The Real Challenge

The real challenge started when I moved to frameworks like React.

You might think learning frameworks is normal for beginners. But there was a big problem:

I only had a mobile phone.

Trying to work with tools like:

React
Next.js
Node.js / Express.js
Git / GitHub

…on a phone is extremely difficult.

There were many problems:

Managing dependencies
Handling binary files
Using Git
Running servers

But somehow — I managed to make it work.

My Secret Tool: Termux

The tool that made this possible was Termux.

It's basically a Linux terminal environment for Android. With it, you can install many development tools and use the command line just like on a Linux system.

It helped me:

✅ Run servers
✅ Manage Git
✅ Build projects

Still, working like this often felt like playing football in the sea — everything works, but it's much harder than it should be.

Apps I Used on Android

For Beginners

Tool	Purpose
Acode	Writing code
Termux	CLI tools and Git
Browser	Documentation and tutorials

For Advanced Use

Inside Termux, you can build a simple development environment:

echo "Updating packages..."
pkg update -y
pkg upgrade -y

echo "Installing basic development tools..."
pkg install -y \
  git \
  nodejs \
  neovim \
  curl \
  wget

echo "Installing pnpm..."
npm install -g pnpm

echo "Creating workspace..."
mkdir -p ~/projects

echo "Setup complete."

With plugins for syntax highlighting and autocomplete, Termux becomes a surprisingly capable IDE.

What I Would Do Differently

If I could go back, I would learn C and problem solving earlier.

Understanding algorithms and data structures builds strong foundations.

That said, web development is still a great starting point:

HTML / CSS / JS
       ↓
  Algorithms
       ↓
 Data Structures
       ↓
 Problem Solving

One Important Advice

Let AI teach you — not replace you.

Try not to depend on AI when you are just starting.

If AI writes all the code for you, you won't really understand what is happening.

But once you become intermediate and understand the code yourself, AI can become a powerful tool.

Stay Curious

The most important thing is to keep asking questions:

How does this work?
How can I build my own version?
How can I improve it?

That curiosity is the real energy behind learning programming.

I also wrote more about my journey and how I chose this field on my GitHub:

📎 github.com/krnl0xsns1nk/krnl0xsns1nk/myJourney.md

Written with curiosity, persistence, and a phone.

Forem: Сергей