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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

#61

Post by hivacruz »

marlowe221 wrote: post #36

I started at 37 and got my first full time job a couple of months after I turned 38. I was a lawyer and hated it - now I love going to work every day. But it wasn't easy. I was working full time in a demanding profession and I'm married with two kids under 5 years old. So basically I spent every free moment I had working on learning HTML/CSS/JavaScript. If my kids were asleep, I was coding. I basically had to burn th…

I always coded since I'm 12 (softwares on AOL Chatrooms for those who remember!) but after my high school diploma, I decided I wanted to explore arts, especially music and cinema. I thought I was spending way too much time on screen and I didn't want to turn my passion to a job.

I got a master's degree in cinema, a few jobs in the industry but I hated the atmosphere there. I still love everything related to arts but at 30, I thought I will go back to what I love: coding (even if I was terrible at it, just a script kiddie with a few personal projects).

After a few trainings, I'm working on ML/AI projects at 33 years old, doing what I love.

I don't regret doing different things during my 20s. All my studies and jobs made me learn so many things, I would not be the same as today if I didn't take this path or If I went studying CS right after high school.

Don't regret doing this only now. You built a family and I'm pretty sure you have learned a lot during your career as lawyer even if you hated it.

Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#62

Post by daveFNbuck »

rocgf wrote: 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…

This is basically the paradox of the heap. Adding one grain of sand doesn't turn a non-heap into a heap of sand, so there's no point at which you've added enough sand for there to be a heap. Yet if you add enough sand, you clearly have a heap at some point. You can always add more sand and make a bigger heap, but that doesn't negate the fact that you have a heap.

The fact that you can't clearly delineate the point where you've learned to code doesn't mean that can't have learned how to code, and the fact that you can get better at coding doesn't mean you haven't learned to code yet.

Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#63

Post by randmeerkat »

AlwaysRock wrote: post #53
mikemac wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How difficult was it to transition into the job market? I have always wanted to make the jump (in finance & accounting now) but the most daunting thing seems like convincing someone to hire you.

That is the hardest part. Certain professions give a kind of boost. If you switch from being a lawyer or some type of engineering background managers will assume you are smart. Much harder if you move from being a waiter or actor where the assumption may go the other way.

I’ve known a lot of people that had a hard time breaking into tech, even very “smart” highly educated people. The key is persistence. If someone tells you that you can’t code because you were a waiter or an actor, they weren’t someone you wanted to work for anyway.

Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#64

Post by revskill »

shortlived wrote: post #57
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.

That's probably the best advice. I'd add to it: make sure it's something your passionate about. Bonus if you can get real users.

Most of the time, you'll surely get the goal if you're passionate about it ;)

Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#65

Post by jmann99999 »

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.

I developed a .Net web application for a company 20 years that is still going strong (better than ever and now with multiple developers). I didn’t know how to code back then but bought two good books and their concepts are the basis for almost everything in the app.

Now I am trying to learn Python/Django. I have tried doing the Udemy courses and going through building a “blog” and “real estate” apps. They are fine but boring and I lost interest. Then I remembered what I did 20 years ago and am now building a real product based on what I am learning in a couple of good books. It couldn’t be going better.

Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#66

Post by dsco »

sixQuarks wrote: post #60

Self taught coder at 44. My memory isn’t the greatest, probably one of the hardest things I’ve done, required so much persistence to get through all the frustrations, only reason I made it was due to huge motivation. There’s no way in hell everyone can learn how to code. Even if most people had the intellectual capability to code (which they don’t), most don’t have the patience and persistence required to follow thro…

I learned to code around the age of 7, and I too agree that there's no way in hell we can get everyone interested in learning how to code. It's something I basically can't explain why I enjoy doing. How would you even get someone who doesn't understand programming to get interested in a career of software engineering?

Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#68

Post by nonotreally »

I learned to code at 33.

I am now working full time in the field. Before that, I was a sysadmin. I worked as a sysadmin from about age 20. I understood ops coming in and this let me punch above my weight.

It took about a year for me to get good enough to apply for jobs.

I would now be considered a good developer by most standards. This only happened because I found a fantastic mentor. He took me under his wing and pulled me up.

I have since introduced my non-technical brother and encouraged him to start learning to code. After about a year of effort he is starting his first full time job in the field next week.

It is possible and very doable.

Find a mentor early though to fast track the learning process.

Other notes based on other comments:

- My brother and I both value critical thinking and apply it naturally. We didn't work in creative fields previously.

- We both settled on early mornings to study while managing our other lives (work/family) (5am).

- I don't have a post secondary degree. Brother does in unrelated field.

- Don't get hung up on "which language and ecosystem to learn". Pick one. Your work will ultimately dictate these things to you and you'll need to adapt. You can pick up a new language quickly.

- Get good a networking (people to people). If you can talk to people, you can get a job in tech.

- Find a mentor or a friend you can talk to about programming and computers. It's more fun and keeps you thinking about it.

- Open your editor every day. Even if you're just reading code for 10 minutes. It sucks coming back two days later and realizing that it's slipping.

- Be kind to yourself. This stuff is complicated.

Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#69

Post by nlh »

Jermaine_Jabi wrote: post #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.

100% agree. I find this is problem particularly acute in Data Science / Machine Learning / AI.

Re: I self-learned to code at 30

#70

Post by beaconstudios »

MeinBlutIstBlau wrote: post #30
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…

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

Yeah, that's exactly what I mean about jargon. Even the idea that you have to hardcode what appears at first to be a string of magic words is not very accessible.

> JavaScript, jquery, json, and xml also were another hurdle.

Another area where things are made needlessly difficult - you really shouldn't have to worry about /how/ your data is being transferred (JSON/XML), just that you are in fact transferring it. JS versus jQuery is a bit more of a legitimate concern, but thinking about them in terms of their function rather than what they "are" (JS being general coding and jQuery being a tool for manipulating HTML/CSS) clears it up a big.

> Now my main struggle is LINQ expressions and streams.

I can't help with LINQ but I use streams all the time - what about them are you struggling with? Maybe I can help.

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