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I self-learned to code at 30

kaapi.team

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Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#21

Post by notenoughhorses »

beaconstudios wrote: post #12

I suspect that most of what is coding (ie, logic) is pretty intuitive, and only obfuscated by environmental factors like learning syntax, obscure jargon, and especially learning to execute code in your head. However, it's been a long time since I learned to code myself and my own learning experience is lost to the mists of time, so I'd really love to hear from people who are either learning right now or have recently…

I tried to learn to self code for a few years, but kept hitting wall of what to learn next.

After realizing I really wanted a chance to change careers, I decided to just do a second bachelor’s, basically to have a curriculum.

So far, I’ve learned more math than programming. The actual coding we do is greatly benefited by the self learning I did before, but my understanding of what’s going on in code is much higher. The other place I got stuck seems very natural for other people to move past with ease, but it was how to really solve problems with code. For me, I think the much deeper understanding from a school setting will set me up to better understand how to solve problems with code. (At least, I seem to be pretty good solving problems with accounting, my first degree, so I don’t think I lack inherent problem solving ability. This whole second bachelors is a bet that I am just missing deep enough understanding of the subject area to apply it to problem solving yet.)

Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#22

Post by mettamage »

notenoughhorses wrote: post #21
beaconstudios wrote: post #12

I suspect that most of what is coding (ie, logic) is pretty intuitive, and only obfuscated by environmental factors like learning syntax, obscure jargon, and especially learning to execute code in your head. However, it's been a long time since I learned to code myself and my own learning experience is lost to the mists of time, so I'd really love to hear from people who are either learning right now or have recently…

I tried to learn to self code for a few years, but kept hitting wall of what to learn next. After realizing I really wanted a chance to change careers, I decided to just do a second bachelor’s, basically to have a curriculum. So far, I’ve learned more math than programming. The actual coding we do is greatly benefited by the self learning I did before, but my understanding of what’s going on in code is much higher. T…

Having done a bachelor/master in CS and taught a coding bootcamp, I only believe this to be partially true. It depends on what work you want to do as a programmer. For example, if you want to become a web dev at an average organization, then compiler construction knowledge isn't the most optimized way to spend your time. Yes, it'll add to your general programming knowledge, but it's better to spend the time to directly learn JavaScript, how to setup a project structure, devops tools like Docker and so on.

People that claim that such things aren't timeless are missing the fact that once you've seen enough tools that your underlying knowledge becomes deeper (and therefore timeless) as well.

What will happen though is that when you're doing your job is that you'll begin to notice that you miss certain fundamentals. At such point you know what you're missing, and you can immediately do targeted learning without doing a whole bachelor for it.

This whole story does pressupose that you know aprior what kind of developer you want to be, which is not an easy feat since it's a bit a chicken/egg problem (i.e. you need to know programming and have seen different flavors in order to better know what you want to become).

Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#23

Post by Proziam »

notenoughhorses wrote: post #21
beaconstudios wrote: post #12

I suspect that most of what is coding (ie, logic) is pretty intuitive, and only obfuscated by environmental factors like learning syntax, obscure jargon, and especially learning to execute code in your head. However, it's been a long time since I learned to code myself and my own learning experience is lost to the mists of time, so I'd really love to hear from people who are either learning right now or have recently…

I tried to learn to self code for a few years, but kept hitting wall of what to learn next. After realizing I really wanted a chance to change careers, I decided to just do a second bachelor’s, basically to have a curriculum. So far, I’ve learned more math than programming. The actual coding we do is greatly benefited by the self learning I did before, but my understanding of what’s going on in code is much higher. T…

> how to really solve problems with code.

For me, it took me a long time to really understand where to begin. It wasn't that I couldn't solve a specific problem, like on leetcode. I didn't know how to go from scratch to building some kind of tool or application.

The solution for me ended up being just watching a ton of random tutorials to get something started, then taking the tutorial a totally different direction. That gave me some examples of what the entry point to the process was, and from there it was just an additive process until I got the desired behavior.

Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#24

Post by navbaker »

willbw wrote: post #16
cosmodisk wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 a…

I learned at 27 and it was difficult, even without children. Working all day and then spending 5 hours after work debugging and writing code is very taxing. I have sympathy for this viewpoint but it doesn't seem any different to learning any skill after a certain age. Unfortunately you either can or you can't find a way around the time constraints. I know there's lots of hobbies I've abandoned for the same reason.

> "even without children." ... "but it doesn't seem any different to learning any skill after a certain age"

This couldn't be farther from the truth. There is a vast difference between being shot from work and sitting down for a long stretch of time by yourself to self-study and being shot from work and sitting down for a long stretch of time while also being constantly interrupted by the responsibilities you have to care physically and emotionally for another set of human beings.

Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#25

Post by revskill »

My experience with learning how to code, is just find some good guide, follow it TO BUILD A REAL USABLE PRODUCT.

Learning by making a real usable product is the most important part here, other kinds of learning didn't work for me.

P/S: This is different from learning by project. Project mostly is for fun, not a real usable product.

Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#26

Post by brennanpeterson »

beaconstudios wrote: post #12

I suspect that most of what is coding (ie, logic) is pretty intuitive, and only obfuscated by environmental factors like learning syntax, obscure jargon, and especially learning to execute code in your head. However, it's been a long time since I learned to code myself and my own learning experience is lost to the mists of time, so I'd really love to hear from people who are either learning right now or have recently…

I have done a little bit of coding: macros, small programs, tool controllers. What kills me is that I can do 90% of what I need using other tools (excel, JMP, imageJ, matlab) and coding mostly makes things take longer. Most of the effort is plumbing: where are my files, what is the structure of the output, where is the file: the boilerplate stuff.

I usually know what I want and how, but it takes quite a bit to structure. Back in the day, labview+scripts/c were great. You could get to a point, and then extend as needed.

The other problem, of course, is finding meaningful problems to solve. Would I like to build a semiconductor process simator: yes, yes I would. Will I....not likely.

Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#27

Post by kgin »

The path of learning to code has a lot of similarities to learning to speak a language or learning to play and instrument.

You can get to an A2 level of a spoken foreign language way faster than most people imagine, but at the same time, getting to native fluency takes longer than even the most pessimistic beginners realize.

Most people dramatically overestimate how long it would take to be able to play a decent tune on the piano, but also have no way of comprehending the near-infinite hours required to become a professional concert pianist.

Each unit of “better” takes exponentially more work than the last. But there’s a lot of utility in even getting to the first level. It just depends on your goals.

Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#28

Post by MeinBlutIstBlau »

lsiunsuex wrote: post #18
Proziam wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's possible that his technical abilities are now sufficient to do the work but he hasn't yet learned the language commonly used for describing the technology. This is a pretty common thing amongst self-taught people.

As a self taught programmer, I struggled with this for years. I could do the work; understood it; but sometimes I would get terms mixed up. For example: Is it called a method or a function? Conversely, I've known college taught programmers who struggle with basic CSS so... it's all relative IMO.

I don't struggle with css, i just never use it since it's not what we were taught and my job rarely has me poking at it. But if I need to convert stuff or alter things it's not an issue. It's just gonna look sloppy it less than ideal.

But it's css code. You can debug that real time and it doesn't affect the real stuff that my company actually pays me for.

Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#29

Post by jhunter1016 »

revskill wrote: post #25

My experience with learning how to code, is just find some good guide, follow it TO BUILD A REAL USABLE PRODUCT. Learning by making a real usable product is the most important part here, other kinds of learning didn't work for me. P/S: This is different from learning by project. Project mostly is for fun, not a real usable product.

This is 100% the key. I learned to code in my 30s, but I had been trying to learn for a dozen years before that and nothing stuck. Until I had a product I absolutely wanted (or had) to build, it was impossible for me to have the motivation to learn and have the concepts stick. But once I had that product in mind, everything fell into place.

Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#30

Post by MeinBlutIstBlau »

beaconstudios wrote: post #12

I suspect that most of what is coding (ie, logic) is pretty intuitive, and only obfuscated by environmental factors like learning syntax, obscure jargon, and especially learning to execute code in your head. However, it's been a long time since I learned to code myself and my own learning experience is lost to the mists of time, so I'd really love to hear from people who are either learning right now or have recently…

Well the whole "public static void main(String[] args)" thing took me about 8ish months to understand everything in just that statement.

JavaScript, jquery, json, and xml also were another hurdle. I lump them just because I was kinda learning them all at the same time. I was doing web stuff and one day i finally understood the difference between a scripting language and a compiled language. Suddenly understanding how to use the language became much easier for me.

Oop took me about 6 months of just java coding constantly. Then I got it and it really helped me at my internship.

Now my main struggle is LINQ expressions and streams.

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