how do I take my experience in embedded c coding and convince an employer to hire me, even entry level, for something more mainstream (looking towards gaming, will start with any consumer end application using c++/java/whatever else I have to learn)
tldr how the hell do I get out of this pigeon hole I'm in? everything I read people say like "programming is programming" but that's not how employers see it.
>>53521768
Funny, I want to go into embedded programming and I don't know where to start. I became interested in microcontrollers a few years ago, before Arduino went mainstream
I programmed an AVR chip with a homemade parallel cable and a few resistors, but it was a wonky affair and I dropped it after a while.
Now, what can I do to impress a firm into hiring me?
>>53521768
Ship something.
Where's your Github?
The issue here is proof you can do the work.
>>53522132
they didn't need this proof when I got hired in to be an embedded programmer. anyway I am working on those things you say (git hub, others), but how can I "ship something" if I'm not already working in that field? catch 22
>>53522132
If you don't have proof, it would be unreasonable for any team (especially a team with limited resources, such as a game team) to risk hiring you even for $0 because you would likely cost the time of the salaried developers.
Shipping original projects, and patches to open source project in the area you want to work are both good proof.
>>53522090
I'd say best thing to start with is a freescale (their data sheets are the clearest, their environment the most straight forward, and their micros most "representative" of all the shit you'll need to learn/know), though microchip does have some good cheap dev boards too (data sheets are a little worse but that may have changed, also they're not as favored in industry as freescale). I wouldn't go with an arduino because arduino has people coding in something that isn't exactly ANSI c and you have to use the arduino IDE instead of your own and being able to have portable code.
>>53522266
there's so many rajeesh's and pajeet's these days that employers want social proof that you're actually a programmer and not a stackoverflow copy-paster.
my recommendation is just to release some shit you've got and use it in your resume.
Write a game. Put it on github. Get some stars.
>>53522343
and where do I find the time to do that while working 40+ (usually 50+) hours a week?
As an employer, I'm more concerned about your aptitude, attitude, and desire to come into work on time every day instead of fuck around like most of you kids do.
>>53522266
Open source project. If you are embed-kun (like I was before I switched to webdev/ml) make a project like your own (open)roomba or something, create a website and github for it. Get some stars, put it to show hn etc.
>>53522361
You are fucked then. Get to some low cost area or gb2 your parents. Sadly, there is no easy choice.
>>53522361
it doesn't need to the the next Apache project started by You, just something "out there" that people can thumb through and go, "Yeah, this guy's what we're looking for."
it's not the only professional requiring a portfolio
>>53522344
I see, so basically I have to start to develop in C on a dev board. I was too hardcore when I was younger (I built the dev board myself out of recycled bits and it didn't work properly), and I left frustrated. I want to kick myself now.
>>53522090
Arduino is OK. Also stm32f103 are nice. Don't understand all these arduinohaters, ease of use is nice for prototyping. I'm more interested in servos/robots and computer vision/ml than in rudimentary bit-twiddling these days. Whatever does the job is OK.
>>53522458
I built my own FPGA boards when I was younger, but I ended up doing simple things with arduinos later anyway. Project is more important than the tools. I bet geohot used some arduinos in his self-driving car.
>>53522458
man we're coders! yeah you don't have to do all that, and things don't have to be limited to just whats on the dev board, one project I had just for shits n giggles was to read the position of an analog joystick or the current from a tiny solar panel. Or output stuff to the PC over UART (into hyper terminal or any terminal program of your choice)
>>53522467
yeah but Arduino tries to hide the underlying system from you (like special function registers). If you just want to do shit and don't care about reusable code and changing micros then by all means, I just say freescale because learning and knowing that will get you a job as an embedded programmer
>>53522467
>Don't understand all these arduinohaters
Especially when the C layer is still exposed. But it's mostly elitism I guess.
>>53522582
You have a point. I chose webdev as a way to make a living tho, because less labor@more$
