Where are you based?
I'm based in France.
Ask HN: Self-taught webdev with lots of free time. What should I learn?
191–200 of 326 posts
Re: Ask HN: Self-taught webdev with lots of free time. What should I learn?
#192Earlier quoted context omitted.
As a seasoned TypeScript backend/fullstack developer I don't understand - why is it such a bad tool, and if it is because of the tool and not the concept, it seems possible it will be fixed in the future - why is it a bad habit; I consider the boilerplate CRUD code I write to be a bad habit that I should've automated years ago, and that's exactly what PostgREST does - why can't you learn the basics of API services an…
It's a bad habit because of separation of concerns.
You're not forced to write your app code in the DB as SQL procedures, you can also write TS or whatever else and use it next to PostgREST.
Re: Ask HN: Self-taught webdev with lots of free time. What should I learn?
#193How about getting back to the basics? You know, taking some maths classes, CS fundamentals, algorithms, data structures, that kind of stuff. It is timeless, and if you are self-taught, I can guarantee you that you have massive holes in your knowledge. Also, might sound off topic, but learning a new language (not programming, human) could be an amazing step forward, in ways you cannot even imagine now.
> and if you are self-taught, I can guarantee you that you have massive holes in your knowledge Just curious, why is being self taught a guarantee for having massive holes ? Can you give some likely examples ?
My best guesses for likely examples:
- Pointers and understanding how operating systems address/access memory at a low level.
- Hashing (This one may seem a little insulting but I have seen otherwise good developers confuse hashing with encrypting and it seems like an easy mistake to make if you haven't worked specifically with either concept)
- Binary math, logic, and encoding.
- The OSI model.
- Parallel programming, the program counter, and how operating systems execute/switch programs.
I would not count these as "massive" holes and it is also likely that these concepts would be discovered by a self-taught developer especially if she has looked for material from college-level CS courses.
None of this stuff is necessary to make great software but having this knowledge can help make other things easier to learn or understand. It's like the difference between knowing how to use common git commands and understanding how trees of objects are used to form a chain of commits.
Re: Ask HN: Self-taught webdev with lots of free time. What should I learn?
#194Update your skills, php is hard to market, learn python or rails, that would have high roi
PHP is used a lot in France where I'm based, so that probably differs a bit from the US market.
Re: Ask HN: Self-taught webdev with lots of free time. What should I learn?
#195You could learn python/machine learning. https://www.coursera.org/learn/machine-learning There are a bunch of guides like the coursera course I mentioned and on youtube there is the official tensorflow channel also! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0rqucBdTuFTjJiefW5t-IQ
I second this. With Webdev + Machine Learning skills, you could build interesting products.
I give you an example from my life. I build PredictSalary (https://predictsalary.com), a browser extension to predict salary range from job opportunities which don't disclose salary range.
A browser extension is basically a bunch of JS files injected to web pages. If you know webdev (frontend), you are set to build a browser extension. All you need to learn are machine learning and deep learning. You don't need to dive deep (unless you want to). In my case, basically I just use basic regression to predict salary range.
Re: Ask HN: Self-taught webdev with lots of free time. What should I learn?
#196There's another thread at the moment about touch typing. I think that's only 'meh' useful. Instead, how about spending time on getting all the hotkey combos of your favourite IDE or editor into your muscle memory?
If it has a presentation mode, then also learning how to use any of the features of that would be a nice plus.
Re: Ask HN: Self-taught webdev with lots of free time. What should I learn?
#197Please learn how to actually make money off web development and let me know how you do it. I've noticed a huge disconnect between what people think a web dev can/should make and what I've been able to get from it.
It looks like you're in Ecuador, and that makes it a lot tougher.
1. Are you an agency or a solo developer? If it's just you or you and a friend or two, you might get a better response building up your personal brand rather than representing yourself as an agency.
2. I can't judge your technical chops, but I can see that you have room to grow in UI design. I like this youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/DesignCourse, but there are tons of design resources available.
3. You might need to focus more on sales. Is there a small business you like that doesn't have an online store? Call them, email them, go visit them in person- try to make a sale. You could offer the work in exchange for products at first- once they are happily selling online, they will tell other business owners, and you can get more referrals and raise your prices.
Re: Ask HN: Self-taught webdev with lots of free time. What should I learn?
#198Learn C. Then maybe one of the newer systems languages like rust, zig, D, nim, etc. If you’re bored with CRUD, there’s a whole other (bigger) world to explore when you get a little closer to the metal. It’s tremendously empowering and fun as hell to get you’re hands dirty a bit, so to speak. You’ll also become a better and more employable programmer as a nice side effect.
Second this. I used C for the first few exercises of the 2019 Advent of Code and it was SUPER fun. Granted, things that could been a single line of Ruby or Crystal took a few hours for me to cobble together in C, but my level and depth of understanding went WAY up. Totally worthwhile.
Re: Ask HN: Self-taught webdev with lots of free time. What should I learn?
#199Honestly, in terms of employment you don't need to learn anything at all. Your skillset (which is quite similar to mine) is highly in demand. What you'll probably find is that you can specialise in any of the areas you already have skills in simply by advertising yourself differently. However, it's always good to learn more. I have a couple of suggestions: 1. Rust. The Rust book is an excellent introduction to lower-…
> 1. Rust.
Here they come! Right on cue.
Re: Ask HN: Self-taught webdev with lots of free time. What should I learn?
#200What are your goals in life?
Job-wise I'd love to find something more technical and less business/project oriented. I find myself not really caring about the end product but I love focusing on how things work. I've often been the only one enjoying debugging since it's more of a brain teaser than a business/product focus. Also the build/deploy part of dev interests me a lot. Also gotta get to a scratch golf handicap, but that's outside scope.
I really understand, I love tackling the hard problems. I'm working on a fully remote freelance project at the moment and we could really use some decent react.js experience. We're processing large amounts of data in deck.gl and we're really pushing the envelope. Can I contact you somehow?