Ask HN: It's 2015 and I still can't program

Then do it.

Of course, you don't know how to do it. That's the point. Your project goal will guide you to learn the things you need to know in order to accomplish it.

When you succeed, pat yourself on the back, then pick a new, harder goal and repeat.

Also try to find a local support group and/or a mentor.

1. Build a website using Node.JS. It has login, connects to a postgres database, user can register, receive confirmation emails, login, do something that's persisted (e.g. creating a shopping list and come back and see it's still there.). Hire a graphics designer to give you a minimal design that looks decent, and make your website conform perfectly to his design. Put the site online with a domain name, using AWS EC2. Make it a site someone can legitimately use. Spend $50 on Adwords so some one signs up and uses it to get your first few users, make sure you have analytics installed, later you can tell your clients people really used your site and you can prove it to them. Use Google to find all the information you need, every step of the way.

2. Once you've done the above, maybe months later, ask yourself, now that you know what you know, would you build it much differently? If yes, then rebuild it to incorporate what you know. Repeat until the answer is "I would do it a little differently but not much more than that."

3. Months later again, scour upwork.com or freelancer.com or your university's job board. Find jobs with the technologies you learnt with Node.JS & your choice of database. Take whatever job you can get at whatever price offered (even if it's $5 or $10). Do everything you can to make your clients happy. Grab testimonials. Once you finished up job - ask yourself, did you learn a lot with the project? If yes, raise your asking rate by 25 to 50% and find your next one.

4. When your rate gets up to $100, it's time for you to take your testimonials, and portfolio, and look for a full time job. Optionally you can also take any intern full time positions on the way to $100.

5. Two or three years later from (1.) if your salary has 6 digits then congratulations you've followed the plan to the tee.

The whole process can take two years or more. I followed these steps, except I used Django instead of Node.JS. Django was new and all the rage in 2010. In 2015 it's Node.JS so I changed the formula to that.

Good luck.

It's as if you tried to acquire fluency in ancient Greek by jumping right into reading Aristotle.

The point of entry is always very difficult, for any skill, and learning curve is most often steep and frustrating.

My advice - find someone who lives near by, someone whom you could call at any moment, and discuss your little project with him/her. Choose language/technology, and start working through some tutorials with your project in mind. Your friend should help you downsize your ambitions and limit the scope of the project to something you can actually execute.

You should be done with the basics in about 3 months (that means - no GUI). After that - try to limit the scope of your project so that you think you can make it in the next 3 months. (We know it will take you at least 6-9 months, but still, try to be on the schedule). Only then you will understand what it actually means to be a software developer.

(please note: software engineering is much more than you think when you're just starting to learn computer programming. Coding is not just giving instructions to computer to perform simple calculations. There are design patterns, team work, efficiency, doing things on time, math, frameworks, keeping up with super-crazy pace is which everything changes, there is network issues, and mobile devices, security, scalability, and much more. In short - it's a really complex trade and only few people will be able to do it).