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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

#191

Post by csa »

truthseeker1024 wrote: post #175
csa wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Isn't the same ageism -- true or perceived -- in all industries? Hmmmm... in a handful of industries I might say yes, but in many others I would say no. I see an abundance of discrimination against younger in many industries. Either they are looked at as lacking knowledge, experience, or both. Often times this perception is justified, but often it is not. Of course, there is no legal recourse since age discriminati…

I am a mature worker looking in the Washington dc area. There seems to be a lot of competition. Do you think I would have better luck in Atlanta?

I honestly don't know what the job market is in Atlanta.

That said, the US government and contractors thereof desperately need programmers and programmers who can do other stuff (e.g., manage a contract, project management, etc.). I would try to meet some people who do this type of work and have a coffee with them. Many of these folks live in the D.C. area.

It's not sexy at all, and you won't get rich via a startup, but there are very solid middle class jobs in that category.

Re: How I learned to code in my 30s

#192

Post by UncleMeat »

tvelichkov wrote: post #119
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…

So you did learn programming, because you wanted a great paycheck 13 years later? Lol, that's just stupid. I advised everyone from my circle to stay away from programming unless they fell in love with it. It's pointless to be a programmer if you don't have it in your heart. However, if you did enjoy, then there is nothing to be upset about, I mean you are doing what you love right? If its all about your paycheck you…

Really? If I didn't have to work I wouldn't write another line of code in my life. But its a great career that hits all of the notes I wanted for a job. What's wrong with that?

Re: How I learned to code in my 30s

#193

Post by owebmaster »

koolba wrote: post #29
owebmaster wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Let's just say we guessed wrong. ;-) Not that wrong, imho. > my mom discouraged me from majoring in CS because she literally thought programming was too easy to justify 4 years of classroom training, and she thought that the job market for programmers would quickly saturate. This part is real wisdom. The best developers I know (and I myself, which I consider an above average programmer) learned how to program by th…

That's the distinction of coding vs CS. Building CRUD apps using existing frameworks is coding. Building said frameworks and the rest of the software that powers those CRUD apps takes more. I don't mean to rag on simple projects or coding either. It's just as noble as any other profession. But to say that a random Rails or Node developer could write something like Postgres is laughable. It's not the degree that makes…

And who do you think will build a better web framework (like Rails), someone with 10 years of experience and hundreds of systems deployed with frameworks of the time at age of 22 or a fresh graduate? I'd bet on the former.

Re: How I learned to code in my 30s

#194

Post by quakeguy »

samstave wrote: post #166
sethrin wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!

Golden!

Re: How I learned to code in my 30s

#195

Post by TheCoelacanth »

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…

> I could wipe out 95% of these skills from my memory and get paid the same.

A typical rockstar could probably wipe 95% of the songs from their mind and still get paid the same, but they never would have made it to that point if they had only ever played the ten songs that are actually on their set list.

There are a lot of general skills that you pick up along the way while you are learning the more specific things that end up mattering more long-term.

Re: How I learned to code in my 30s

#196

Post by brokenmachine »

lmitchell wrote: post #99
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…

I've been clicking on your 'hacker news best comments' button for like twenty minutes now... you weren't kidding when you said 'basically a time waster' :P Seriously, really good looking stuff for your early projects! I'm not surprised someone picked you up :) http://www.opusnota.com/hnbc

I'm curious how hnbc even works. AFAICT there's no way to see how many upvotes someone else's comment has gotten. Is the upvote number shown through the hn API?

Re: How I learned to code in my 30s

#197

Post by Dolores12 »

NotSammyHagar wrote: post #179
Dolores12 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is constructive and honest opinion. Why downvote?

Because it's unnecessarily tactless and bordering on hurtful. Learning how to give honest feedback without being so cutting is a skill the commentor should learn.

How do you define degree of tactlessness? It was so nice of him to call that website 'ugly'. It is totally unacceptable to downvote someone for telling the truth(no matter how ugly it is).

Re: How I learned to code in my 30s

#198

Post by Bakary »

badminton1 wrote: post #28

"Learning to code" is somewhat vague. The "Sorites paradox" is something like: how many grains of sand form a heap? if you remove or add one, is it still a heap? So, exactly what exactly makes you a programmer? that varies a lot depending on who you ask. Someone said a programmer should be able to detect and report a bug to a hardware manufacturer. Some others say that "learning" (partially, because most programmers…

I would argue that the most relevant definition would have to address a programmer's role in society rather than their level of actual skill. In this sense anyone having learned enough material to have an actionable skill that regularly comes into play in their lives can credibly be said to have learned to code.

Re: How I learned to code in my 30s

#199

Post by tvelichkov »

UncleMeat wrote: post #192
tvelichkov wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you did learn programming, because you wanted a great paycheck 13 years later? Lol, that's just stupid. I advised everyone from my circle to stay away from programming unless they fell in love with it. It's pointless to be a programmer if you don't have it in your heart. However, if you did enjoy, then there is nothing to be upset about, I mean you are doing what you love right? If its all about your paycheck you…

Really? If I didn't have to work I wouldn't write another line of code in my life. But its a great career that hits all of the notes I wanted for a job. What's wrong with that?

> I wouldn't write another line of code in my life.

I personally see this as a problem, having to do something I don't like.. for years... probably for life?

Re: How I learned to code in my 30s

#200

Post by tvelichkov »

cutler wrote: post #189
tvelichkov wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you did learn programming, because you wanted a great paycheck 13 years later? Lol, that's just stupid. I advised everyone from my circle to stay away from programming unless they fell in love with it. It's pointless to be a programmer if you don't have it in your heart. However, if you did enjoy, then there is nothing to be upset about, I mean you are doing what you love right? If its all about your paycheck you…

I take it you're single. Factor in the requirements of mortgage and supporting a family then consider whether you have the option of only doing what you love. I'd love to programme exclusively in Clojure but the job market dictates otherwise. Python's the most likely and at least it's not PHP or Java but that's as good as it'll get for steady money.

Nah, I have 3yrs old son, but this does not stop me from trying to make living with something I love to do. I actually think that if you hate your job, but make good money, this will be worst for your family/kids, because you are gonna start bringing all this negative energy at home.
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