What are the most effective training methods for game programmers?

Regarding the topic of learning through online courses, I highly recommend Udemy for various areas of game development. Of course, there are other fantastic platforms, such as Domestika for visual arts professionals, which is also fantastic!

Based on my own experience, the very first step I learned about game programming was when I took some online courses. Many of my seniors told me that online courses is the fastest way to learn, especially for implementation. Well the downside are, sometimes as a self studied learner, you have to filter based on your current skills as it may be a big stone that could make your study phase stuck and no progress at all. Also I advise that in order for a huge and deep understanding, while you studied through these courses, you should expirementing outside the materials so you know why the instructor code this way or make the implementation in particular ways

Following youtube tutorials to a tee is a great start, it will improve your motivation if you actually manage to build (even just by copy-pasting) something playable.

For those who recognize reading as an essential tool in game development, I have some suggestions that can greatly enrich your journey. "Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design" by Scott Rogers, "The Game Production Handbook" by Heather Maxwell Chandler, and "Game Design Workshop" by Tracy Fullerton are works that provide distinct perspectives on game development in incredibly enriching ways.

I would recommend The art of game design by Jesse Schell it a nice book that provides a broad view of what game development is all about

Game Jam is one way it propel you to learn new skills quickly and the time limit allows you to make important decisions faster

Programming is engineering, finding practical ways to solve various problems. While game development is an exercise in collaboration. There's no better place to develop both of these skills than the chaotic world of game jams, which require you to push both problem solving and collaboration to its absolute limits.

Mentorship will also help alot what might cost you hours to figure out will take minutes when you have a mentor If you can get one it worth it

One of the most effective ways of improving in any skill (as well as one of the most dreaded ways), is receiving feedback from others. That feedback can be used to see what areas you've done well and what areas you need to improve, and is the fastest way to find areas you're weak in.

I am from the game design and programming field, and a practice that I often carry out is the analysis of challenges faced by me and my team, as well as the solutions adopted. I enjoy examining the decisions made throughout the process, with the testing and evaluation stage of what has been built being a particularly crucial aspect. I like using online tools to document this, such as Notion, Gitbook, and Miro, which provide a good variety of features to explore different ways of recording information.

I have always seen this training method to be finicky, despite it being the main method that I employ myself. It heavily depends on the type of person that you are and your ability to self-evaluate. Though an incredibly powerful way of improving your own skills, it should definitely be paired with another training method, ideally having some form of mentor, but gaining feedback and participating in game jams are also very good ways of supporting this training method.