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I self-learned to code at 30

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Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#4
This part stood out to me:

> Every weekday - 1 hour post work

> Every weekend - 4 hours on Saturday and Sunday each

> Done over 4.5 months, so total = 234 hours

As an almost-40-year-old that has minor coding experience (but wants to do / learn more) I find that time is the component that's the most difficult to overcome. I have a wife, a 5 year old, a house... all of which require time. Getting 4 hours _per day_ on a Saturday / Sunday combination to be able to focus is nearly impossible for me unless I wanted to completely forgo spending time with my wife and son (and even then it might not be possible due to responsibilities as a parent / home owner).

On the flip side of this discussion: his breakdown and explanation of the walls you hit and the feeling of excitement an elation when you pass them really stuck out to me as something not often talked about enough. Learning is a commitment and requires dedication. The author did (IMO) an amazing job talking about his experience with that and how he worked to overcome those obstacles.

Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#5
Learning from YT videos, the kind you get by searching “learn programming” is IMO not a good idea. These videos are engineered for ad revenue and engagement metrics.

Maybe be watch one or two to get a gist of how things come together but please buy a good book on the topic. Even better, take a college course in Coursera or EDx.

Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#6

This part stood out to me: > Every weekday - 1 hour post work > Every weekend - 4 hours on Saturday and Sunday each > Done over 4.5 months, so total = 234 hours As an almost-40-year-old that has minor coding experience (but wants to do / learn more) I find that time is the component that's the most difficult to overcome. I have a wife, a 5 year old, a house... all of which require time. Getting 4 hours _per day_ on a…

Very similar experience here too: I'm not a full time dev, which is probably even worse,as I have to switch between very different contexts throughout the day, which is draining. After work I have two options,either forgo time with family,which isn't sustainable,or try to work late evenings/nights on a side project. It kills every drop of motivation that is left there when trying to debug that code at 1am. Weekends are the same: I can't tell my family I'll be going through some code for 5 hours,while you sit there and keep yourselves busy.

Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#7
I have a slightly cynical view about this sort of thing, and assume that most might have some counter-arguments for why my cynicism is misguided.

I get that the point of the post is to encourage others, but proclaiming to have "learned how to code" feels misleading because there is no real finish line for it. This is an open-ended skill, there is no such thing as being done with it, same with most other skills. Maybe you can claim that you self-learned how to do a Rubik's cube, but I have been learning how to code for 15 years and with each day I feel like there's so much more that I don't know.

Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#8

Learning from YT videos, the kind you get by searching “learn programming” is IMO not a good idea. These videos are engineered for ad revenue and engagement metrics. Maybe be watch one or two to get a gist of how things come together but please buy a good book on the topic. Even better, take a college course in Coursera or EDx.

He called JSON, Git, and CSV 'languages' so...

I have the feeling he didn't learn programming but was able to copy/paste a small project together.

Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#9
post #7

I have a slightly cynical view about this sort of thing, and assume that most might have some counter-arguments for why my cynicism is misguided. I get that the point of the post is to encourage others, but proclaiming to have "learned how to code" feels misleading because there is no real finish line for it. This is an open-ended skill, there is no such thing as being done with it, same with most other skills. Maybe…

There is a point where a person can move from honestly describing their capability as "I don't know how to implement an application" up to "I can implement an application". Sure, learning never ends, but reaching this first hurdle is the thing we are discussing here, I think.

Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#10
One thing I've noticed as a self-taught programmer is that concepts get really, really fancy names for simple things and it kinda acts as a barrier.

That said one of the hardest part s of programming on a team so far has been making names that make sense, so, some sympathy there.

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