Ask HN: How do I find a mentor? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How do I find a mentor?

#51

Post by devmonk » Wed, Sep 22, 2010, 11:53 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #5

If I were you I'd try to use my cross domain knowledge (a pilot!) to position myself in a niche where there are few competitors, I have a hard time imagining there would be a lot of people that can call themselves programmer/pilot (though on HN for sure we have a few). That seems to be your unique selling point, so try to get as much traction there by recycling your old skills for as much as they're worth. As for men…

I know two programmers that have pilot's licenses, but I don't know any pilots that have programmer's licenses. ;)

Re: Ask HN: How do I find a mentor?

#52

Post by devmonk » Thu, Sep 23, 2010, 12:11 AM UTC

Decide what you want to program before finding a mentor, even though some mentors might help you find a language to specialize in rather than just teaching you a small part of what they know and how they think.

If you want to be more involved in web side of things and getting dynamic website stuff (forms, etc. etc.) done quickly, go the PhP or Ruby on Rails route.

If you want to have a job almost anywhere, do Java. With Java you could be doing anything from server-side, embedded code in chips, to Android apps, to web applications (dynamic websites).

If you want to have a job with almost as good of a chance as knowing Java, learn C#/.Net. You can cover the Microsoft side of the virtual world.

If you like utility, crazy looking slashes and text manipulation, learn Perl.

Want to write software that runs a lot of the faster stuff, operating systems, things that allow Java, Ruby, C#, Perl, etc. to run, software that runs devices, etc., learn C and C++.

There are many more options as well. Try to choose something that fits where you want to be, not just something easy.

I agree with those who say you should find a programming job that showcases your pilot's knowledge. That will provide you with the greatest chance of success. Find out the type of programming that Boeing, etc. need, and do that. Odds are, it is C/C++ or Java. Or check out Flight sim companies. These two might be interesting: http://www.prepar3d.com/ or http://www.cascadegamefoundry.com/

Re: Ask HN: How do I find a mentor?

#53

Post by arohann » Thu, Sep 23, 2010, 12:33 AM UTC

The main thing to know is that if you've not dome much regular programming before, it will be fairly hard. Do not give up, it gets easier with practice. Keep at it. Look at some recent open source projects and go through the code. Set yourself some programming tasks and complete them. Do this regularly. All the best.

Re: Ask HN: How do I find a mentor?

#54

Post by mipnix » Thu, Sep 23, 2010, 4:21 AM UTC

Aegean wrote: post #49

Don't learn C++ as a starter language. C++ and Java are languages that have been mostly evolved from C. C was designed as a convenience tool to replace stack based assembler programming, which is what existed before any of these languages were available. So if you learn C++ first, you will have hard time understanding why there classes, why there is protection, why there are member fields, why inheritence ... the why…

Too late. Already went through data structures in C++. It's what I am most comfortable with right now, which is not saying much.

I don't understand what actually happens at the kernel level but the language makes sense to me for some reason.

My professor thought I was insane when I signed up for C++, Java and VB.Net all in the same semester and all with no prior programming experience.

I started the Google pyhton tutorial.

Thanks.

Re: Ask HN: How do I find a mentor?

#55

Post by mipnix » Thu, Sep 23, 2010, 4:35 AM UTC

devmonk wrote: post #52

Decide what you want to program before finding a mentor, even though some mentors might help you find a language to specialize in rather than just teaching you a small part of what they know and how they think. If you want to be more involved in web side of things and getting dynamic website stuff (forms, etc. etc.) done quickly, go the PhP or Ruby on Rails route. If you want to have a job almost anywhere, do Java. W…

C++ and Java is where I started, because I didn't know any better. I then pursued C++ because it is what they use in the master's program to which I was accepted.

Thanks for the links. I would love to learn what is involved in graphics programming.

Re: Ask HN: How do I find a mentor?

#56

Post by mipnix » Thu, Sep 23, 2010, 4:39 AM UTC

2mur wrote: post #43

mipnix wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I now have a goal. Thank you. ...Now what?

It's definitely been done before [1] but I think that it is a good app to start and then iterate with features while you're learning android. [1] http://androidforums.com/application-requests/25519-airline-...

Great link. Thanks.

Re: Ask HN: How do I find a mentor?

#57

Post by mipnix » Thu, Sep 23, 2010, 4:52 AM UTC

seasoup wrote: post #44

Now that you've done some basic programming in C++ and Java, you are in a little bit better position to figure out what kind of programming you want to be doing. The C family is a language used in corporations for programming applications that we use all the time. Objective C is what it used on iPhone/iPad/iWhatever applications. C is also big in the video game industry. Java is also used by corporations to develop a…

Thank you. Helps indeed.

The breakdown is what I have been looking for. Part of my problem is I was so shell shocked from losing my job, I felt I had to know all the languages and all their frameworks in order to have a chance in the market.

Thanks again.

Re: Ask HN: How do I find a mentor?

#58

Post by mipnix » Thu, Sep 23, 2010, 4:55 AM UTC

arohann wrote: post #53

The main thing to know is that if you've not dome much regular programming before, it will be fairly hard. Do not give up, it gets easier with practice. Keep at it. Look at some recent open source projects and go through the code. Set yourself some programming tasks and complete them. Do this regularly. All the best.

I'm nothing if not bull headed.

Thank you.

Re: Ask HN: How do I find a mentor?

#59

Post by mipnix » Thu, Sep 23, 2010, 5:00 AM UTC

iampims wrote: post #38

mipnix wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have an account but just have no idea what I am doing. I am taking a Linux class right now to try and figure it all out.

Github hosts open source software. You can browse through all kind of projects written in a wide variety of languages. One way of approaching this, would be to pick one language, read about it, and then look for other projects on Github written in that language. That'll teach you a lot. Let's say for instance, that you've heard about Python, and would like to learn a bit about that language. You can start by Google's…

Thank you kindly.

Re: Ask HN: How do I find a mentor?

#60

Post by mipnix » Thu, Sep 23, 2010, 5:10 AM UTC

Aegean wrote: post #49

Don't learn C++ as a starter language. C++ and Java are languages that have been mostly evolved from C. C was designed as a convenience tool to replace stack based assembler programming, which is what existed before any of these languages were available. So if you learn C++ first, you will have hard time understanding why there classes, why there is protection, why there are member fields, why inheritence ... the why…

Wow. Great essay. Thanks.

Too late about the C++ Java thing though...