>>54719479
> My question is what makes a good programmer / developer / coder?

Good at symbolic thinking, good at logic. You need excellent communication skills and lots of tenacity. Being able to think procedurally and do things methodically instead of haphazardly is also essential.

Programs are just giant flow charts with arithmetic embedded in them.

>>54719525

Well I taught propositional / symbolic logic at university for five years, so I'm pretty comfortable with that. I like to think my communication skills are pretty good, too.

I guess I just have no idea how to identify bad coding.

So far (from what I can tell), having useful comments is good while having no comments is bad. Also, you want to create things so that they consume as few resources as possible.

I read in java you shouldn't declare certain kinds of variables by making them begin with capital letters.

That's about it :(

>>54719585
You should be all set then. The only other thing you should be warned about is that to be really good at programming can consume your life. You'll always have to keep up with best practices and always thinking of new ways to make things more efficient. You'll need to be constantly experimenting with new things to the point where it will be occupying your thoughts even outside of work. If you have a social life or family you'll only ever reach adequate levels. Which is fine if that's what you want, just know that ahead of time.

>>54719656

That's helpful.

Maybe this is kind of scummy to say but I look forward to it. I'm not exactly reclusive and have a social life, but I find that I spend more time reading / alone time in the woods / hunting / with one or two close friends than being a social butterfly.

From what I've learned with my few years of coding on my Ti-83+, find a way to make the code work using as little strange and seldom used code as possible, adding comments where it might be hard to follow.
Then, look at your code and find where you can improve. Clean code is good code.

>>54719652

Yeah, it can depend of what language you are using.

You'll learn in time though, if you are just starting out, nobody is going to expect you to write wonderful code. So long as it is readable and has comments, most will just shrug.

>>54719735
*depend on

>>54719712
>>54719656

Is it going to consume my life forever? Will I still have time for the things and people I love?

>>54719735

Thanks.

I'm really excited about this because it's going to be life changing. For the last few years after graduation I've struggled to find work. I interview well, have no criminal record, am an honorably discharged vet, I just kept running into problems because my degrees left me woefully unqualified.

I hear java developers make living wages.

>>54719652
>So far (from what I can tell), having useful comments is good while having no comments is bad

Comments are a double edged-sword. If the code changes, it can render the comment invalid and you'll have to remember the code-comment relationship exists and revise said comment. For most situations, it's better to try and make the code itself more human-readable than to litter it with comments.

One of the best ways to do this is to try picking the most meaningful variable names possible. "ballMeshRenderer" is a far better variable name than "bm"

One of the best use cases for comments is to explain what the code is trying to do and why. I usually put those as block comments at the beginning of a class. Using comments like this helps other programmers identify problems in your code before they even manifest, since they'll be primed to know what to look for. They'll also be able to fix problems in your code even if you're unavailable to explain what the code is trying to do.

> Also, you want to create things so that they consume as few resources as possible.

Yes, absolutely. You should know how to measure how long your code is taking to execute and how much memory it's using. Conversely to this though, don't drive yourself mad trying to design the most efficient possible thing from the outset. First make it work. then make it fast, then make it beautiful.

>>54719656
You make keeping up with the times sound ultimately time consuming, I still have a comfortable recreational and social life and still devote a minimal hour per day to research. It's not THAT time consuming unless work is drilling you for 60 hour weeks too.

>>54719772
>>54719791

Thanks guys! I appreciate this. This is the kind of feedback I was looking for. Maybe I'll show you some of what I made and let you guys criticize it (be gentle, it's my first time).

Also (on an unrelated note), what are the people like who code? So far (not to sound weird here) but all the people I've met are single indian guys who like to get high. Of the 7 developers I know, it's one white guy, and he also loves getting high.

Are there any perdy geeky girls floating around out there, or is this a pipe dream? What are developers like - is there a generality?

>>54719831
Developer here.
I'm a weeb.

>>54719831
ive been addicted to adderall for 5 years. I started getting into CS around the age of 12, im 22 now.

>>54719928

I'm getting started at age 26. Is that too old?

I have a big interest in computer science and have been actively involved in it for a long time, but my education is in social sciences.

>>54719947
if you enjoy the learning process its never to late

>>54719963

That's like my favorite thing to do (no joke).

>>54719985
only get into programming if you have an unreal hunger for learning non stopped. and dont expect to make more than 100k a year if youre lucky

>>54720053

Both of those things are great for me.