Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How I Became a Programmer in ~12 Weeks

mattdeboard.net

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 190 posts

Re: How I Became a Programmer in ~12 Weeks

#61

Post by sskates »

mattdeboard wrote: post #33
rorrr wrote: post #25

Algorithms are not even mentioned. Data structures are not there either. Sorry, you're a django coder, not a programmer.

I answered the questions people asked. Are you for real?

Have you made money as a result of code you've written? If so, you're a professional programmer. I wouldn't worry about whether you conform to a checklist an arrogant troll (I don't use these words lightly, but check his comment history) wrote on an internet forum. Hats off to you for doing it, especially under so much pressure.

Re: How I Became a Programmer in ~12 Weeks

#62

Post by troels »

mattdeboard wrote: post #59
ricardobeat wrote: post #49

> I was a computer geek from way back, had a few BBSes in the late 80s (yes, I'm a child of the 80s & 90s), learned QBasic & VisualBasic back in the day, and tinkered with Python for a few years off and on... In every single one of the "how I learned to program in X days" stories, the author had some previous experience. I wouldn't count running a BBS and learning 3 programming languages as "no previous experience".

"learned" was DEFINITELY an overstatement. I knew they existed is more accurate.

I'd argue that it still predisposes you very strongly. If nothing else, just in the abstract sense that you are familiar with the computer and don't see it as some scary or magical thing.

Re: How I Became a Programmer in ~12 Weeks

#63

Post by code_duck »

ricardobeat wrote: post #49

> I was a computer geek from way back, had a few BBSes in the late 80s (yes, I'm a child of the 80s & 90s), learned QBasic & VisualBasic back in the day, and tinkered with Python for a few years off and on... In every single one of the "how I learned to program in X days" stories, the author had some previous experience. I wouldn't count running a BBS and learning 3 programming languages as "no previous experience".

I understand his perspective. I dabbled in programming as a child and teen, and then was an advanced user, running Linux on my desktop for years. At the time I started actual programming, I knew what a 'for' loop was, but not how to write one in any language - even Bash. I didn't know what an array was, or say, the difference between C and C++, to say nothing of functional and object oriented concepts.

Re: How I Became a Programmer in ~12 Weeks

#64

Post by [deleted] »

ricardobeat wrote: post #49

> I was a computer geek from way back, had a few BBSes in the late 80s (yes, I'm a child of the 80s & 90s), learned QBasic & VisualBasic back in the day, and tinkered with Python for a few years off and on... In every single one of the "how I learned to program in X days" stories, the author had some previous experience. I wouldn't count running a BBS and learning 3 programming languages as "no previous experience".

[deleted]

Re: How I Became a Programmer in ~12 Weeks

#65

Post by cantbecool »

I don't understand it. Some of the people posting comments on this topic are acting extremely pompous. The word 'programmer' on a resume does not mean you're in a elite club or society. It means what the job title implies: a programmer is someone who writes computer programs. There are all different variations of skill level though, just like in any profession.

Re: How I Became a Programmer in ~12 Weeks

#66

Post by rpeden »

My experience is similar to his. I have a business degree and worked in accounting, but decided I'd like to get back into programming after dabbling in it when I was younger. I wrote some Rails apps as side projects and put them on Github, which ended up helping quite a bit.

What made the difference in the end was good social skills. I met the CTO of the company I work for at a Ruby meetup, and had a good conversation with him. I ended up applying for a position he was trying to fill, and after an interview and a review of my projects on Github, I ended up with a development job without having any formal experience. I've been at it for over a year now.

So, this is definitely doable as long as you're committed to learning a lot, and are able to sell yourself well enough to convince someone to give you a chance.

Re: How I Became a Programmer in ~12 Weeks

#67

Post by DEinspanjer »

enjo wrote: post #51
tryitnow wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those are valid points, but I think they miss the purpose he was driving at. Maybe the title of the article could be different, but that's a minor issue. Bottomon line: He wanted a job as a developer. He got that job. Success. You're right though, people do have to learn these other concepts, but first they have to have some money to pay the bills, then they can just knock themselves out learning all about algorithms…

Now lets see if he can keep that job... likely knowing basically nothing about what he is doing.

I know from professional experience that he can go from zero to competent very quickly. He will keep that job exactly as long as he wants to unless the company doesn't know how to manage their resources.

Re: How I Became a Programmer in ~12 Weeks

#69

Post by latchkey »

I absolutely admire you.

There are so many people in this world who pretend that something is preventing them from learning or doing something and you went out just did it.

You may (or may not) be the best engineer in the world, but I'd hire you in a hot second just because you have the tenacity to make it your mission to figure something out. Sometimes, 90% of writing code is just sticking with a problem until you get it.

I've given 100's of interviews to people who are either fresh out of school or have been programming for a while now. The vast majority of these people have no gumption to actually create a github account or do any sort of experiments outside of what tasks they are given at work. It is very sad to me that most of these people just want to collect a paycheck.

The learning never stops, keep it up.

Post reply on HN