Try to get work experience. Don't stay longer then half a year at the first five employments, you can always go back! Then get a degree! Don't work while in school, spend your free time getting to know people and get a good network.
Ask HN: What is the best way to spend my time as a 17-year-old who can code?
81–90 of 199 posts
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to spend my time as a 17-year-old who can code?
#82You are 17. The chance that you can code is high, that you can code with quality and without super vision is low.
Whatever you do, go to a somehow bigger company, make an internship and work besides school or whatever you do with 17.
I was in your age, i thought i'm really good, i was not bad and a quick learner but still had to learn a lot. And yes i wrote code in c++, Java, Javascript and PHP at that age and there is still a good way to go for you.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to spend my time as a 17-year-old who can code?
#83Well, I think you're doing very well with coding so far.
Generally, in a CS major you will get accounted with many great things that are the baseline of computation, I really enjoyed my time in university with intense math discussions, really good friends and lots of new experiences.
But math passion started to peak at my last semesters when knowledge started to get denser and denser. And because I decided that I wanted to work in private sector instead of academics, I knew that that knowledge in very different areas of computation will irrevocably start to fade away. I don't regret having done my major though!
Enter real life work... Well, the real thing about real life work is that you have to manage a lot of non technical issues, namely coworkers, lead tech(s) planification, discussions about what to do next, what to do with inherited mess, resolutions in those regards, etc. Being practical before being correct. And then, balance practicality with correctness through simplifying.
I started to learning how to code in 2006 but I had a part time job in web development in 2010 and roughly I could say that I have used many different technologies since then. In every team you'll be working, you always need to handle those issues (at least in my limited experience).
Now a little bit of non-requested advice: 1. Don't worry too much about tech stacks, they change over time, at varying frequencies, but a rule I have seen is that almost no library or framework endures a lot of years without major adjustments or complete overhauls. 2. In CS major I learned a few tricks about the foundations of now-a-days flashy features of new tech stacks so don't let them blind you. Experiment with due diligence (I mean, new tech inherits a lot of risk in adoption, so test thoroughly and mindfully). 3. Balance practicality with correctness (again).
Lastly, let's talk about passion. I left this point intentionally as the last thing to talk about because it's something very important to me that I started to reflect intensively lately (I'm 27 btw). CS and computation in general is a whole world by itself, you can do thing for the very sake of doing that, solving math problems, coding new features, read HN for the sole intent and joy of knowing more. But that's not the only way to view this regards. CS and computations in a wider view is just a tool for something else. A tool for creating art, creating experiences with games, creating music, preparing trips around the world, exploring worlds far apart, learning different cultures and languages, helping people in need and so on and so for. So at the end, my last non-requested advice is to experiment life in different places, with different people. I'm very passionate about languages and linguistics in general so I can say firmly that easily I could spend a decade on working something related to language / linguitics. Take deadmau5, he did CS and was passionate about doing music. Take Paul Graham, he knew was passionate about CS and art, but later in his life he turned into an enterpreneur and created Y Combinator. Take solo-devs of indie games, they enjoy computation but are passionate with games. At this age, explore as many areas as you can and hit your passion right away, even if that mean to spend some years in the finding. I recommend to you reading the conception of DuckDuckGo by Gabriel Weinberg [1].
Have a nice journey.
[1] DuckDuckGo: The Solopreneur That Is Beating Google at Its Game - https://fourweekmba.com/duckduckgo-vs-google/
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to spend my time as a 17-year-old who can code?
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
I hate the notion that once you become an adult it's too late to enjoy yourself. Everything you suggested he do can also be done as an adult. Quite frankly, some people just aren't interested in doing stupid typical teenage stuff. I could code at 17, but I focused on school until I graduated. Then I got a job doing freelance game development when I was 18. Paid better than stacking shelves at the local grocery store…
The time and energy cost of being social rises massively as you grow older. It's hard to make close friends in your 30s, very hard in your 40s and older. Those early friendships and social contacts are extremely useful in later adulthood. Be it support, advice, whatever. They're also a great gateway into meeting more people in an unguarded setting, like a dinner party. It's easy to make friends when you have friends,…
> Quite frankly, some people just aren't interested in doing stupid typical teenage stuff.
Thank you.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to spend my time as a 17-year-old who can code?
#85Getting a degree is highly recommended IF you have no clue what you want to do. If you want to program, then program... intern, take on freelance projects for non profits to build a portfolio. Do NOT spend 100k on an education that may not have the most "modern" concepts of software engineering put into their professors. Best advice is to have fun! No matter what, enjoy your life... you only get one. And make sure you are always challenging yourself when you code. Try to use your own imagination to create an app, allowing problems to arise so you can learn how to fix them. If it's too easy, you'll know. And good luck!
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to spend my time as a 17-year-old who can code?
#86I would tell you to enjoy your life fist.
Seeing you code I can tell you can code but you probably cannot code anything big. Learn code patterns and software engineer. You need to learn how to design the architecture of your programs and things like integration and testing. This is why jobs ask for a CS degree. Coding is easy, solve problems is hard.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to spend my time as a 17-year-old who can code?
#87If I could go back and have the agility of mind that I had when I was 17, I'd get my head wrapped around system internals and how to find vulnerabilities.
It's something I understand as an adult coder, but it's not my normal way of thinking and I think that kind of a switch changes you.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to spend my time as a 17-year-old who can code?
#88I was in exactly your situation 3 months ago. I'm also 17 and can code okay-ish I threw my resume out there and eventually landed a paid internship. I realized that I don't want to code for other people. The cool part about coding for me was that I could make anything I wanted, but when you're working you're stuck implementing someone else's vision. My advice is to hire yourself. Start selling apps or whatever, but d…
General advice:
- Writing code that works is only the first step.
- Writing code that works and is written in such a way that other people can understand it and maintain it takes a lot longer.
- Treat "yourself in 6 months" as another person because you WILL NOT remember why you wrote it the way you did. This goes way beyond just writing good comments and documentation.
- Coding for your self is how you get hooked. Coding for other people is how you get booked (paid). These are NOT mutually exclusive and there is a delicate balance.
On the subject of getting hired:
- Writing code that works is the bare minimum. It will make you hire-able but it won't get you hired. At least 50% of the other people applying for the job can probably code better than you.
- There is ALWAYS somebody better than you and that's okay :)
- I'd much rather have someone whose code isn't as good but is better in a team. Again, there is a balance.
- Good interviewers will look for people who can work in a team. Frankly, this only comes from experience working with other people. Contributing to OSS is a great way to show you can work with others' code.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to spend my time as a 17-year-old who can code?
#89To be 17 again! My teens were a blast. I have a 486 and a PowerPC 6100. I worked a whole Summer to buy Metrowerks Codewarrior for $700 not realizing there was an education discount for $99. :-(
I was into C++ and C. I didn't rely on any toolkits. I wrote my own GUI (Windows, buttons, Sprites, event handling, renderer, physics and threading (although threading was a complete failure). I tried to re-create the Legend Of Zelda with just my own tools.
I still have all of this code from back then even. I should dust it off.
My advice: really learn your language, exploit it, learn another one. Try to write the same project in 2 different languages. Don't settle for what the OS has to offer. Try and create your own classes of functionality. Eat good, get outside, enjoy your friends and get ready for college.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to spend my time as a 17-year-old who can code?
#90I was 17 once. I could code once. What's the best way to spend your time? Basking in the sun. Finding a scam to score some schnapps or beer or weed. Telling somebody you love them, and just going for it. Recklessly driving a car at a high rate of speed down an old country road. Learn how to play a bass guitar. Spend your waning hours getting your hands dirty while there's still time, and before the world judges you t…
High school through college is probably the time in your life when the opportunity cost of picking up new skills and having interesting experiences is the lowest.