Pro programmer from the russia

How to be a programmer in steps?

1). Set a goal what you wish to program..

2). Make your program just work. (don't worry think much how messy your coding is.)

3). Fix all bugs you can find and do tests on each part to make sure no more bugs exist.

4). Finally start from scratch and re-write your program in a clean matter, this will be fast don't worry because you already did this once ;).

4). And always ask StackOverflow for advise on parts you are unsure.