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Ask HN: How long did it take you to become a proficient programmer?

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Re: Ask HN: How long did it take you to become a proficient programmer?

#4

Post by phaus »

keenahn wrote: post #2

A month to get started, years to master (and most never will master).

Two questions, if you don't mind.

Do you program at work?

When you say it took a month to get started, were you creating anything more complex than a simple command line program that does basic math or prints strings?

The reason I ask is because I haven't had much of a problem understanding the syntax of any language or figuring out fizz buzz or other simple tutorials, but I still struggle to create things that someone might actually want to use.

My greatest work thus far is a website that: looks nice, has no content, and has a sign-up form validated with jQuery and PHP. I've been learning off and on for over a year now.

Re: Ask HN: How long did it take you to become a proficient programmer?

#5

Post by keenahn »

phaus wrote: post #4
keenahn wrote: post #2

A month to get started, years to master (and most never will master).

Two questions, if you don't mind. Do you program at work? When you say it took a month to get started, were you creating anything more complex than a simple command line program that does basic math or prints strings? The reason I ask is because I haven't had much of a problem understanding the syntax of any language or figuring out fizz buzz or other simple tutorials, but I still struggle to create things that someo…

I do program at work, so I have logged many "flight hours" so to speak.

I learned CS basics over time, but I created my first webapp in two weeks, knowing nothing of web technologies before that. The education and tools are a lot better now, so I think someone trying to learn now would have everything they need to make a basic app in a month.

As for building something that other people want to use, well that is a separate question :) sounds like you are well on your way.

Re: Ask HN: How long did it take you to become a proficient programmer?

#7

Post by dirktheman »

Full time? The amount of hours? I've been writing code for almost 10 years now, but I don't code full time. It also depends what your definition of 'proficient' is. I can build anything I can think of, but compared to most professional programmers here I feel like I barely scratched the surface of software development.

In his book 'Outliers' Malcolm Gladwell states that it takes roughly 10,000 hours to get really good at anything. Be it programming, playing the piano or speaking Chinese, it doesn't matter.

For web development, you can learn enough to build a simple yet decent app/website in a matter of weeks. To get proficient, it takes a lot more.

For me, it seems that the more I learn about programming, the more I realize what I don't yet know. Which is a valuable lesson in itself, I guess.

Re: Ask HN: How long did it take you to become a proficient programmer?

#8

Post by memracom »

7 years. Grade 12, 4 yrs university and a couple of years as a working programmer. In that 3rd year I was promoted to lead programmer, we introduced an new computer system with a new language and started going after bigger customers. Something like that would have been stressful just a year earlier but I was on a roll, having mastered the art. P.S. If you try to do this with only one programming language, you will fail.

Re: Ask HN: How long did it take you to become a proficient programmer?

#9

Post by joelmaat »

Proficient vs. perfect? One summer. Then another one to round it all out. Which sucked, because I spent the next few years having the life beaten out of me by others that were jealous or thought what I did was impossible. The backward point of view of most people and their attitude of negativity and jealousy toward anyone that's good at what they do is maddening. I'm sick of being around idiots.

Now, it's likely I'm behind and forgetting. Any potential, or world-changing talent is now wasted away and I'm closer to being decidedly average. I can't believe it.

Whatever.

Re: Ask HN: How long did it take you to become a proficient programmer?

#10

Post by soneca »

joelmaat wrote: post #9

Proficient vs. perfect? One summer. Then another one to round it all out. Which sucked, because I spent the next few years having the life beaten out of me by others that were jealous or thought what I did was impossible. The backward point of view of most people and their attitude of negativity and jealousy toward anyone that's good at what they do is maddening. I'm sick of being around idiots. Now, it's likely I'm…

Are you saying that the people around you made being smart a bad thing and also are responsible for you to regress from a genius developer to an average one?
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