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Ask HN: Self-taught webdev with lots of free time. What should I learn?

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Re: Ask HN: Self-taught webdev with lots of free time. What should I learn?

#41

Post by thatcodingdude »

bashwizard wrote: post #30
thatcodingdude wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This and the servers/linux stuff is the most interesting part of my job. I do have my doubts about being able to get into it since I suppose you really have to master low level dev (which I don't) and I don't think I can get a job as self-taught in this field.

Why not try it out by start messing around with it and get a feel for it? But to answer your question: no, you don't. You already have more than enough prerequisites for an easier transition. https://pentesterlab.com https://portswigger.net/web-security Have fun! Edit: I'm completely self-taught and I've been working in the field for a few years. No dev or even IT background prior to getting into network pentesting a…

Neat, thanks for the advice. Pentesting got a spot on mr. learning list's wild ride.

Re: Ask HN: Self-taught webdev with lots of free time. What should I learn?

#43

Post by andai »

haspok wrote: post #35

How about getting back to the basics? You know, taking some maths classes, CS fundamentals, algorithms, data structures, that kind of stuff. It is timeless, and if you are self-taught, I can guarantee you that you have massive holes in your knowledge. Also, might sound off topic, but learning a new language (not programming, human) could be an amazing step forward, in ways you cannot even imagine now.

Re: human languages

I recently discovered that it is possible to learn Latin by listening to it. I struggle getting through written material so I had given up on my dream of learning Latin, until I found out there's audiobooks [0] and even YouTube channels where people speak it! [1]

[0]: Lingua Latina per se illustrata by Hans Ørberg, also available in audio -- this one's entirely in Latin, yet I could understand the first few chapters very well just from knowing English and some Spanish

[1]: Luke Ranieri on YouTube https://youtu.be/j7hd799IznU

He also has Skype lessons and conversations, super cool!

Re: Ask HN: Self-taught webdev with lots of free time. What should I learn?

#45

Post by andai »

brian_herman wrote: post #6

You could learn python/machine learning. https://www.coursera.org/learn/machine-learning There are a bunch of guides like the coursera course I mentioned and on youtube there is the official tensorflow channel also! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0rqucBdTuFTjJiefW5t-IQ

I also highly recommend ML, not for the experience (though it may certainly come in useful) but because it's surprisingly entertaining.

Last year I had a lot of fun playing with GPT-2 on Google Colab (you can run it yourself on a decent GPU tho). My friend and I were trying to generate the funniest possible output to make each other laugh -- as an aside, this might be the only category where GPT-2 beats GPT-3 hands down :)

Python is also a joy in its own right. xkcd said about Python "programming is fun again!" and that has certainly been my experience.

Re: Ask HN: Self-taught webdev with lots of free time. What should I learn?

#47

Post by mesaframe »

I read this book. https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Data-Intensive-Applications...

And it was really enlightening. I would heavily recommend it. It starts off by teaching different types of implementations of different parts of DBMS. Then goes on to teaching about how distributed systems deal with various problems.

Re: Ask HN: Self-taught webdev with lots of free time. What should I learn?

#49

Post by sohamsankaran »

Starting an independent project or two in an area you haven't played in before might be both fun and useful. I have a somewhat long list of ideas I don't have the time to do if you're looking for inspiration -- feel free to email me if you want 'em (soham at soh dot am).
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