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We asked 15,000 people how they're learning to program

medium.freecodecamp.com

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Re: We asked 15,000 people how they're learning to program

#51

Post by cgriswald »

MollyR wrote: post #23

It's funny. I'm seeing this, while I'm thinking about dropping out of this career. I don't want to be one of those girl dropout stats, but lately I'm feeling a desire to start a family. fwiw I just passed 32 and I don't know if I want to do programming/software engineering jobs anymore. I'm hoping its just a phase.

I had a little bit of a career, had a kid, and became a stay-at-home dad. After working from home for a bit, I ended up letting the career slide and ultimately end. Along the way I realized I didn't really care for it.

Now I'm back in school in an unrelated field and realizing that coding can be an asset in the field. I'm working on a personal coding project as a way to get back into things.

My physics prof believes that going to school for computer science is like going to school to learn all how a shovel works, while other majors (like physics) just learn how to use the shovel in order to accomplish their goals.

I don't entirely agree with him, but it made me realize it was never coding that I stopped liking. It was coding about stuff I didn't care about that had killed my interest. (Interest in playing with technology for the sake of playing with technology had faded for me.) Now when I code, it is because the code is a step (one I find fun, enjoyable, and usually relaxing) towards another goal.

So, it might not be a phase. It must just be you are craving more.

Re: We asked 15,000 people how they're learning to program

#52

Post by quincyla »

wc_cs wrote: post #35

> 58% have earned at least a 4-year college degree. In the UK (possibly other countries), you can get a Bachelor's degree in 3 years.

Thank you for pointing this out. I wrote this late at night and forgot about regional differences in degree duration. I've corrected this.

Re: We asked 15,000 people how they're learning to program

#53

Post by carsongross »

MollyR wrote: post #23

It's funny. I'm seeing this, while I'm thinking about dropping out of this career. I don't want to be one of those girl dropout stats, but lately I'm feeling a desire to start a family. fwiw I just passed 32 and I don't know if I want to do programming/software engineering jobs anymore. I'm hoping its just a phase.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this.

That you feel any conflict at all about being a mother is a testament to how sick our society has become.

Re: We asked 15,000 people how they're learning to program

#54

Post by kirrent »

cgriswald wrote: post #51
MollyR wrote: post #23

It's funny. I'm seeing this, while I'm thinking about dropping out of this career. I don't want to be one of those girl dropout stats, but lately I'm feeling a desire to start a family. fwiw I just passed 32 and I don't know if I want to do programming/software engineering jobs anymore. I'm hoping its just a phase.

I had a little bit of a career, had a kid, and became a stay-at-home dad. After working from home for a bit, I ended up letting the career slide and ultimately end. Along the way I realized I didn't really care for it. Now I'm back in school in an unrelated field and realizing that coding can be an asset in the field. I'm working on a personal coding project as a way to get back into things. My physics prof believes…

This parallels a lot of my experience. I moved into physics because I realised that I loved coding only when the problems and technologies interested me. While I found CS problem sets boring, being able to use my coding in physics was endlessly exciting. Even more than that though, being able to apply a CS mindset to physics problems when no-one else in the lab would was always fun in itself.

Re: We asked 15,000 people how they're learning to program

#56

Post by notsotrue »

hodwik wrote: post #46
marssaxman wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow. I've had what has felt to me like a varied and interesting career across the nearly-25 years I've been writing code for money, but with one small exception everything I've ever been paid for fits within this survey's "other" category. That's... an odd feeling.

Companies will eventually learn they'll need to accept Ruby/JS/Python in their stack to get this new swathe of cheap labor, and you'll see these devs slowly transition towards enterprise.

They already have, and I'm not cheaper because I'm currently focused on node.

Re: We asked 15,000 people how they're learning to program

#57

Post by bbcbasic »

leeoniya wrote: post #27
MollyR wrote: post #23

It's funny. I'm seeing this, while I'm thinking about dropping out of this career. I don't want to be one of those girl dropout stats, but lately I'm feeling a desire to start a family. fwiw I just passed 32 and I don't know if I want to do programming/software engineering jobs anymore. I'm hoping its just a phase.

Ironically, it's an ideal profession for staying home while raising kids :)

You can't be serious

Re: We asked 15,000 people how they're learning to program

#58

Post by hkmurakami »

santaclaus wrote: post #8

I was surprised to see no mention of game development as what drew one into coding. Half the cats I've worked with got bit by the programming bug initially wanting to make games.

The survey says that the median age of respondents was 27 and on average they started programming 11 months ago. They didn't give a standard deviation, but presumably there are not many who are in their early teens.

I say this because the cohort you describe will have started playing games at a younger age, and would have self selected itself out of this survey by venturing into small time game development on their own at an age younger than the survey respondent demographic.

Re: We asked 15,000 people how they're learning to program

#59

Post by sotojuan »

justinlardinois wrote: post #19

> Most of them are already applying for developer jobs, or will start applying within the next year. I think the possible answers for this question bias towards that conclusion. Out of the five options, four refer to a time frame between now and a year from now. Also, for the "Which learning resources have you found helpful?" I'm surprised that the official documentation for the language one is learning and "random t…

You'd be surprised as to how many people do not read the official documentation for the tools they use. They'll spend time on Google or Stack Overflow rather than a minute in the official docs—even when they're great (e.g. Rails guides).

Re: We asked 15,000 people how they're learning to program

#60

Post by sotojuan »

chlee wrote: post #22

On a tangential note. I've spoken to a few hiring managers who have expressed disappointment with some of the hires that they have made straight out of bootcamps (w/o prior CS knowledge or fundamentals). Specifically, the bootcamp graduate are smart, motivated, and know their specific toolsets well. However, they tend to struggle a bit if you place them outside their comfort zone. Is this a sentiment that others have…

I've heard the same thing about college graduates with minimal or no experience (no internships, for example).
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