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How I learned to code in my 30s

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Re: How I learned to code in my 30s

#161

Post by hessproject »

quincyla wrote: post #85
soneca wrote: post #42

I started to learn to code last November at 37yo. About 30 hours a week for two months I finished the Front End Certificate from freeCodeCamp (highly recommend the site for starters). Then I decided it was better to build my own projects with the tech I wanted to learn (mostly React) using official documentation and tutorials. This is what I accomplished in around 3 months: www.rodrigo-pontes.glitch.me Then I started…

This is Quincy with freeCodeCamp. Congratulations on your new job, and your diverse portfolio. Getting a job as a new developer after only 4 rejections is a great batting average. Sean Smith rejected 192 times before getting a job at Trustar. https://medium.freecodecamp.org/how-i-learned-to-code-and-ea...

My experience was way closer to the 192 than the 4, but either way your program was pretty vital for getting my first 2 jobs. Thanks for what you do

Re: How I learned to code in my 30s

#162

Post by richardknop »

oweiler wrote: post #144

I've started learning to code when I was 26 and people told me I was too old and should stay with my shitty job. Fast forward ten years and I'm a senior software engineer which gives trainings on Spring Boot and Microservices and helps companies implementing Continuous Delivery and Microservice architectures. You may think I'm gifted but I'm actually not. I'm a very slow learner and bad at Math. I mostly program from…

26 is still young! I would understand if people would tell this somebody who is 56 (9 years from retirement), there might not be enough upside to changing career at such late point. But even then I'd say it might be worth it.

But 26 is still a blank canvas you can learn anything easily. I think there might be a bias as many hackers started learning programming when they were 15 years or younger so they assume it has to be like that for everybody.

Re: How I learned to code in my 30s

#163

Post by commenter1 »

Why are people making these posts? Learning to code is not hard, finding a job is not hard. Most people would be able to do shitty javascript apps if they only put in the time. Stop posting this shit, please. There are subsections of programming that require math and actual CS, but most programmers never ever touch that stuff. So please, stop posting these useless "how I did nothing special but I need praise" posts.

Re: How I learned to code in my 30s

#164

Post by 52-6F-62 »

speedplane wrote: post #118
cryptica wrote: post #115

I've been programming for 13 years. I started when I was 14 years old and studied software engineering at university. These days, when I take on well-paid contract work, sometimes I find myself working alongside people who only started learning to code at around 25 and never went to university. It's upsetting for me to think of all the fun I missed out on in my early life because I was learning programming and pushin…

A lot has changed in the past 5 years or so. Anecdotally, 5 years ago I'd bet that 90% of programmers either had a CS background or something very similar (ECE or Comp. Eng.). Today, I think that number is down to 50% or maybe even less. So many of my friends who went to excellent schools but had degrees in Biology, Biotech, Physics, and even some social degrees (including a pianist) now are full-time programmers. I…

To add some anecdotal support: I land in a similar, but different camp.

Self taught programmer (started at a young age out of interest), working in the field in sort of a generalist dev position at a large media company. I'm out of practise with my math, but trying to kickstart myself to return to university for studies in Physics. Maybe a bit of a reversal?

Programming jobs are a great practical employment solution, but personally I feel compelled by my drive to see behind the curtain too much to settle. As well, to seek out further innovation on the application side I have this sense that there needs to be far more crossover than there is presently.

All this and I started out studying English at U of T, and didn't get to finish (financial reasons). And here we are.

Re: How I learned to code in my 30s

#165

Post by logingone »

What I found recently of someone who switched from another career to programming is not that they struggled with programming so much but that they struggled with the environment. I had the misfortune of working with an ex-lawyer, two years of programming experience. Hell. He also lacked the ability to have any sort of interesting conversation about programming as he had no background to reference.

Re: How I learned to code in my 30s

#166

Post by samstave »

sethrin wrote: post #159
quakeguy wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So shall it be! 1 Pruteanus (1 Prt) is measured as the amount of learning from a 1m high stack of any books given. obv /s

You could use some standard figures for page and book size (in Kb) and measure Pruteanus in megabytes of text. And you joke, but there's nothing in particular that is required of a unit of measure other than a lot of people thinking it's a good idea.

Should also consider an information density:

This book may look small, but has about .125 Prt in its pages!

Re: How I learned to code in my 30s

#167

Post by emodendroket »

chrisdotcode wrote: post #157
shakestheclown wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never liked that programmers in general seem to imply that there is only room for the very best that develop for love and not money. The world needs a lot of mediocre programmers banging out CRUD sites for at least the near future. And some of those mediocre developers will eventually turn into good/great devs, and the ones that hate it or give up will be pushed out. No one tells the person going back to school…

I completely get that, but that's not what I'm saying - if we're just in the coding for money (which there is nothing wrong with), let's just be honest about it, like we would be about the accounting gig: "Yeah, I don't love it, but they pay's great".

I like programming, but if I could do literally anything and be just as financially secure maybe I wouldn't choose it.

Re: How I learned to code in my 30s

#168

Post by jlewis7272 »

commenter1 wrote: post #163

Why are people making these posts? Learning to code is not hard, finding a job is not hard. Most people would be able to do shitty javascript apps if they only put in the time. Stop posting this shit, please. There are subsections of programming that require math and actual CS, but most programmers never ever touch that stuff. So please, stop posting these useless "how I did nothing special but I need praise" posts.

Because switching careers is hard and scary. Some would find it encouraging to read others accomplishments and the paths they took, in order to do the same.

Re: How I learned to code in my 30s

#169

Post by lordCarbonFiber »

bradcrispin wrote: post #156
chrisdotcode wrote: post #141

I'm sorry, but I can't help but be incredibly cynical and jaded about this, and from reading the comments, nobody seems to have the same sentiment. If this was titled "How I learned to play the piano in my 30s", I don't think anybody would bat an eye: learning an instrument is not like joining some secret cult, and anybody can develop basic music literacy over a year or two. I also do not doubt this man's proficiency…

> However, throwing each person in a bootcamp telling them "coding is wonderful! you can master it in 5 seconds I am not sure if you read the article? The point is that age isn't a barrier but that becoming a software engineer is a lot harder than just going to a bootcamp and expecting a job to appear. This is about spending a year trying to find a job. I have zero problem being compared to a plumber with a plunger!…

I'd go so far as to say most programmers working today are in it for the money. Despite the constant pressure to maintain the illusion otherwise, no one is passionate about making shitty CRUD apps enabling today's questionable business fad, and that takes up a large chunk of available work.

Re: How I learned to code in my 30s

#170

Post by bllguo »

earthbeing wrote: post #128
Dolores12 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is constructive and honest opinion. Why downvote?

Exactly. There's this poisonous atmosphere in HN that dislikes criticizing honestly. In fact, throw in some compliments and you'll get a zillion upvotes. But complain about something, and fear getting banned...

that's just how people operate. If that indicates HN is poisonous then all discussion places are poisonous, which really means nothing.
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