have a burning goal in mind that programming solves as a means to that end.
Ask HN: What do you say to someone who wants to get into software development?
11–20 of 77 posts
Re: Ask HN: What do you say to someone who wants to get into software development?
#12I told someone to go to a coding bootcamp (they were from an Arts degree). They went to one in Brooklyn, worked for a couple of startups as a junior, got terrible pay for a couple years. Now she makes like $100k+ only a couple of years after taking the bootcamp.
I'd say do it.
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On the other hand, if someone likes the idea of writing code itself, I'd say don't go to a bootcamp — learn python from FreeCodeCamp — there's a whole world out there that you can do if you learn how to manipulate computers and data
Re: Ask HN: What do you say to someone who wants to get into software development?
#13Start for the real basics and learn CS from first principles !
Re: Ask HN: What do you say to someone who wants to get into software development?
#14have a burning goal in mind that programming solves as a means to that end.
I might add to that. While you're learning, it absolutely helps to have lots of little project ideas. And then later it's nice to have a hammer in a world where everything is nail-shaped.
Re: Ask HN: What do you say to someone who wants to get into software development?
#15Really, entering software isn't that bad. I didn't have any coding experience before college, and after my first year (which only entailed two software classes - I took a lot of humanities that year too), I had a job writing code for a research project. Thats a pretty quick path to employment - about 100 hours or less of training total*. I think any motivated person with a decent predisposition for math and logic could pick up the same skills in 6 months of effort, maybe even on nights and weekends.
I am not a super smart person either - I had an average talent and got average grades. However, the asset I do have is that I am OK with sucking and failing at something over and over again. I think this trait is more important than intellect.
Are you the kind of person that can bang their head against a problem for many days not quit? If so, you can be a software developer. Some natural intellect will help, but perseverance is likely more important. In fact, maybe being somewhat unintelligent is even better since you will be used to not succeeding at everything so easily.
*Caveat - it took me about 7 additional years to actually become good at writing code.
Re: Ask HN: What do you say to someone who wants to get into software development?
#16I don't think your ability to learn decreases (that much) with age. However, being older also means more responsibility, which takes time. It also probably means whomever you're talking to already has a mean to earn a living, so to get into software engineering represents a rather large opportunity cost. It takes a huge effort to start over at the bottom, both in terms of salary and self-esteem. I talk to a lot of people who want to switch to software, few do.
Bootcamp is a really good shortcut. It's no surprise that most bootcamps arrived at the conclusion that front-end dev has a lower barrier to entry and focus on that. Kudos to them. It's a great way to get started.
Working a software-adjacent job can also lead you to software (I took this route), whether that is being a data scientist, data analyst, or any job that might benefit from a bit of python scripting. It greatly reduces opportunity in some cases (for example, a lawyer who leans to code to help his day job), in other cases, it simply delays it (if you really want to switch to SWE, you kinda still have to start at a junior position at some point)
Self-taught is absolutely possible. But it also means you have to do both the course planning as well as the learning, which adds another layer of challenge. It really takes a lot of dedication to go this route.
Software is unique in the sense that your skill becomes obsolete much quicker than other fields. It's a double edge sword - on one hand, you have to constantly learn new things, on the other, this dynamic creates a lot of jobs, because you don't have to wait for people to retire or switch jobs. A 3 year react dev is consider senior, same goes if you have 2 years of prod experience with k8s right now. You just don't see that in other fields.
Re: Ask HN: What do you say to someone who wants to get into software development?
#17I get this question so much that I wrote a book on the topic. Everything I wish I knew before I wrote "Hello World".
I usually offer a free copy of the book and they get really excited.
After a month or so, I sometimes hear back about what they learned from the book & how they are applying it to their journey of becoming a software developer. Those who stick with it usually land jobs within 12-18 months.
Otherwise I don't hear back from them at all. Their loss.
Re: Ask HN: What do you say to someone who wants to get into software development?
#18> It seems impossible for me to recommend someone do this stuff without having that lifelong level of understanding and context and passion.
Your lifelong learning and passion are a key part of your identify, and most probably the reason why your friends respect you and trust you enough to approach you about software.
Unless your friends are trying to replicate you, it won't be necessary for them to develop the same lifelong understanding as you. If all they want to do is to learn about software, they could just learn a little bit about it, or as much as they can given their late start. That might still satisfy them.
If you want to be a good friend, it's important for you to distinguish between their ambitions and your passion. Try to see things from their point of view, and only share as much information as is necessary for them to be able to see the next step of the big picture.
For example, if they don't already know any programming languages, you could just tell them that there are different languages that suit different applications, and ask them what they are interested to work on. Don't talk in detail about the merits of particular languages because they won't be able to grasp these details yet.
If they say they just want to be able to program Excel, or to write an app to help their grandmother remember something, then you just need to tell them about the tools that exist for those applications.
Don't tell them too much. Just point them towards the right starting point, and tell them they are welcome to bring more questions to you as they arise. That will keep the conversation relevant to them, and avoid the difficulty of having you talk for too long about things they can't understand or appreciate yet.
Re: Ask HN: What do you say to someone who wants to get into software development?
#19If you find yourself in a job where the engineering culture doesn't suit you, immediately start looking for a new job. You don't have to rush into the next job, be as picky as you need to be, but don't continue doing stuff that go against your beliefs, or stuff you don't want to do.
Changing culture is an insane amount of effort for lead positions, and an impossible one for anyone else.
Respect yourself or your mental health will start deteriorating. If this trend isn't caught early, it can take a very, very, long time to recover. It can also be be expensive, and I'm not talking about just monetary cost of therapies, but it can cost you in many other domains. And it creeps up on you, trust me; you don't notice until it's too late.
Depression/stress (burnout) literally damage your brain on a physiological level. It's no joke.
Re: Ask HN: What do you say to someone who wants to get into software development?
#20Re-consider wood-working instead.