Ask HN: I'm a young developer. What should I do next? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: I'm a young developer. What should I do next?

#51

Post by luisivan » Sat, Jul 27, 2013, 3:29 PM UTC

I started a free software project at 12 and then got involved with startup at age 15 while still studying. I decided not to go to university and now I'm working full time on my startup. The only thing I regret is not having left school when I was clear what I was doing with my life. I wasted 2 years of my life in school while I could perfectly work full time on my projects.

Shoot me an email to me (AT) luisivan (DOT) net, I have an event to suggest you attending this September in London.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a young developer. What should I do next?

#52

Post by hellisonwright » Sat, Jul 27, 2013, 3:29 PM UTC

ericssmith wrote: post #48

Holy smokes. You're 14. Forget about "web design" and having a business. This isn't 2005. Don't set the bar for yourself so low. Aim high. You are the next generation in the greatest technological advance in the history of human kind. Do something hard. Find a language with a type system. Implement something meaningful in it. Russell and Norvig's "Artifical Intelligence" is full of great, inspirational stuff.

Thanks for the ambitious words ;) I'll see what I can do!

Re: Ask HN: I'm a young developer. What should I do next?

#53

Post by hellisonwright » Sat, Jul 27, 2013, 3:32 PM UTC

ivan_gammel wrote: post #50

Socialize and extend your knowledge beyond the computer science. Software development is not about solving complex math or algorithmic problems, it's about doing good for the people. In most cases, it's about doing that in a team. You have to understand people's needs and behavior, to communicate well and to propose the solutions that, sometimes, cross the CS boundaries. Physics, genetics, geography, history - this i…

Thanks for your advice, I agree completely that it's important to look cross-discipline. Also, I find that generally Java for web development has a pretty bad image here on HN but maybe I'll take a look.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a young developer. What should I do next?

#54

Post by ealexhudson » Sat, Jul 27, 2013, 3:37 PM UTC

nknighthb wrote: post #23

ealexhudson wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, you just can't work full-time. For certain professions, you can earn money at any age.

> you just can't work full-time In the US, sans certain specified professions, federal and most state laws effectively exempt properly self-employed children or children working in their parents' business from most restrictions. Do such exemptions exist in the UK?

No, I don't think so. The basic rule is you can work part-time from 13, and then full-time from 16 (soon to be 18 - basically, the minimum school age). It doesn't matter what the form of employment is, they're generic rules, and largely about ensuring children attend school.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a young developer. What should I do next?

#55

Post by hellisonwright » Sat, Jul 27, 2013, 3:41 PM UTC

happn wrote: post #35

Have you considered applying for a summer work placement at a startup? Might be a good way to get a better insight into the industry and network with some other developers. (I am a developer at a digital publishing startup in Shoreditch - working mostly with Node.js - and we regularly take on short-term placements in our production and development teams. Do you have any code samples - Github account, maybe? Shoot me…

I would love to get an internship somewhere but I'm not sure I know the right people to find one that will accept me.

I don't normally upload my projects to Github as I'm never quite happy with them...

Re: Ask HN: I'm a young developer. What should I do next?

#56

Post by rdouble » Sat, Jul 27, 2013, 3:44 PM UTC

It depends on your goals.

If you want to stick with startup stuff it seems like other successful young people go heavy into the programming side (the Stripe guy) or the design side (Mike Matas) or the PR side (the Summly guy). I think the main thing is to go more hardcore into one aspect of the business. I have a friend who got into web consulting very young and he's still doing almost the exact same thing now that he's old. You don't "level up" by default.

Personally, if I were to do it over again I'd choose design as you can meet more women that way.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a young developer. What should I do next?

#57

Post by brbcoding » Sat, Jul 27, 2013, 3:48 PM UTC

fgoodman wrote: post #42

adamzerner wrote: post #31

1) Startups/business. If you haven't, I would read all of Paul Grahams essays. I think startups are a great option ( http://www.collegeanswerz.com/risks-and-rewards-of-startups ), but even if you don't end up starting one, you should understand the business. I would also highly recommend reading Rework. 2) Your site. The top part (good design is good business) and the footer (contact me) are solid, but the rest could…

I'd advise against a carousel. I don't have sources, but I've read that something like 90% of viewers never make it past the first slide of a carousel. They just aren't good UI. ++ for all your other links though.

Sounds like this http://shouldiuseacarousel.com/... It was posted https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6018316 a few weeks ago.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a young developer. What should I do next?

#58

Post by adamzerner » Sat, Jul 27, 2013, 5:33 PM UTC

hellisonwright wrote: post #33

adamzerner wrote: post #31

1) Startups/business. If you haven't, I would read all of Paul Grahams essays. I think startups are a great option ( http://www.collegeanswerz.com/risks-and-rewards-of-startups ), but even if you don't end up starting one, you should understand the business. I would also highly recommend reading Rework. 2) Your site. The top part (good design is good business) and the footer (contact me) are solid, but the rest could…

Wow! Thanks, this is a really useful list of resources.

Yeah, thanks. Lots of time reading and bookmarking stuff on Hacker News. Sometimes you come across truly fantastic stuff.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a young developer. What should I do next?

#59

Post by peter-fogg » Sat, Jul 27, 2013, 10:23 PM UTC

rdouble wrote: post #38

peter-fogg wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was going to recommend FP as well. The Little Schemer is (in my opinion) the single best book on programming out there. It won't directly improve your MVC webapps or teach you enough of Scheme to write real software; be warned. What it will do is give you a fantastic introduction to recursive computation and all the mind-expanding ideas that go along with it. It's also great fun to read -- how many books do you hav…

The Little Schemer is not the single best book on programming out there and I did not find it "fun to read."

Well, to each their own.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a young developer. What should I do next?

#60

Post by thomasfoster96 » Sat, Jul 27, 2013, 11:04 PM UTC

The site looks good. Nice and clean, as well as intuitive.

What you've sort of got to do is wait for an idea to come along. It might take a long time, but it's worth waiting. Otherwise, reach out to other people interested in startups in your area. Get involved and see who you can meet. Some one might want to get you in on something they're working on. I've had this happen before, though I have declined such requests as I am working on my own projects.

I'm sixteen (so two years younger than you) and age hasn't been an issue yet, apart from when dealing with laws regarding banks and business. No doubters and no haters so far.