What you got going for you right now is assets and momentum. You got a place to live, you got a brain that still works, and if you play your cards right, you'll be living phat. So what you want to do, travel to Alpha Centauri? Or make a million dollars? Or invent machine based intelligence? Or fall in love and have kids and have a normal life? Or dream about the day that machines take over and humans are obsolete? Or try to invent a way to contact aliens? I'm just trying to point out that you can do the mundane and banal things that everybody can relate to, or you can do things that seem astronomically impossible. It's your life, it's up to you and your limited cranium size and capacity. You can chase fairy tales or dollar bills. I don't recommend both. The truth, life is really ducking short and your gonna make mistakes. Pretty soon you'll be thirty and you've already made ninety percent of your life choices, and then you're just steering the ship. Right now you're just trying to leave port and pick a good direction to sail. Don't forget what you are: limited. You gotta pick.
Ask HN: What is the best way to spend my time as a 17-year-old who can code?
111–120 of 199 posts
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to spend my time as a 17-year-old who can code?
#112The best thing you can do , IMO, is to spend a large portion of your time getting better at what you are already good at. Practice every day, whether its writing code or skateboarding or whatever it is that is your craft. Become aware of your weaknesses, but don't spend too much time improving them, just enough to know when they might become vulnerabilities. That will allow you to avoid situations where they may affect you negatively.
You're going to have to scrape by for a bit to earn the right to a good job, so be humble and try to work you way up from something that may seem below your talents. If your quality of work shows that you are competent and hard-working, doors will eventually open up for you. Don't ever act entitled; always turn the other cheek. Be consistent and persistent. Good luck!
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to spend my time as a 17-year-old who can code?
#113At 17 I wasn't a good listener. I could listen to role models or people I deemed "above me" but not not else. If you become a good listener, who can understand people's problems, their fears, motivations, strengths, feelings, and emotions, you'll be years above and permanently above many of your peers. But it takes serious effort.
Do not undervalue skill sets outside of coding. We have hundreds of universities pumping out coders right now. Be someone else who can also code.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to spend my time as a 17-year-old who can code?
#114I 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…
I read the subject line and essentially the same reply popped into my head. :-) I won't disagree that the most important thing is to enjoy life, meet people who have real problems that need solving, and to build relationships that could last a lifetime. That said, I spent a lot of time on the computer when I was 17 (and 18, 19, ....). I still draw upon that experience today. Sometimes, when I solve a problem or fix a…
Never, I mean NEVER, intern for free. You will almost certainly be the equivalent of 'drink run boy' and learn nothing. If you are willing to work for free, find a volunteer group where everyone is unpaid. That has its own problems but at least it's sane. BTW, 'non-profit' is not the same as volunteer.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to spend my time as a 17-year-old who can code?
#115If it’s within your ability to financially, I would absolutely recommend college. Make sure and attend a top 20 CS university if possible. Like other posters recommend, take advantage of both learning and social opportunities.
I would also highly recommend you avoid listening to bullshit life advice encouraging you to “live” by being crazy, partying, traveling, learning instruments, or anything else that seems like it belongs in a shitty coming of age movie. I have been at my happiest when I am doing what I love (coding and creating). I have also found that putting effort into quality relationships has been worth the effort.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to spend my time as a 17-year-old who can code?
#116I 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…
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Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to spend my time as a 17-year-old who can code?
#117[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to spend my time as a 17-year-old who can code?
#118Find something meaningful and pursue it relentlessly.
Here is my story, I'm 25 and have successfully raised VC funding for an Open Source database. I also took an odd route to life, I found the woman of my dreams, bought a house together, married her, and started having kids. This may sound boring, but because we are young, we can live life fully and do crazy things - backpacking through Europe (specifically, Cinque Terre), visiting Africa, discovering house parties in Canada, doing a 30 day road trip up and down the West Coast, illegally but safely climbing radio towers, or doing rock climbing.
Never worry about society, live life fully, always give and love to people (Open Source is very important in this way). Trail blaze your own route in life, and people will come to you as the authority and want to pay you. Shoot high, so that way if you fail, at least you land on Everest. If you do what everybody else does, you won't have leverage. If you do what other people do, you won't discover something new.
So as a result: Never take advice from other people, especially me. Choose your own, and own it, this will be your most important skill in life. And especially never listen to haters.
And I can tell you are already doing it well ;) you are on top of HackerNews building your personal brand. Keep doing that, unfortunately, cleverness like that goes a lot further for career improvement than actually being incrementally better at coding. :/ Keep networking!
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to spend my time as a 17-year-old who can code?
#119I 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…
Wish I could downvote this twice.
This post builds on the Hollywood portrayal that’s widespread and assumes what’s fun and fulfilling is basically beer, weed, and recklessly driving, etc.
I assume if a 17 year old finds doing these all the time fun enough, they would not need any helpful advice in execution.
To the OP: if you don’t like becoming an average older person, avoid following average older people’s advice. Think for yourself.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to spend my time as a 17-year-old who can code?
#120I 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…
My gut reaction was to say something like this before even clicking the comments, but I think it can be better said like this: It's great that you can code well at 17, but don't let that be the only thing about you. Have hobbies that don't involve the computer, or do so tengentially. Play music. Read books. Travel. Cook. Do something with your life that doesn't involve staring at the same screen all the time, which is to say that you can still do stuff on or near your computer, but don't make it the focal point. I really like music, and I really like computers, so finding passions that mix those (like creating music on the computer, or learning my way around MIDI) is where I want to spend some time blending those passions.