Is it possible to get a coding job just from learning stuff from Code Academy? Also what's the catch, why is it free?
The catch, if you can call it that, is that most people will not practice it enough to really get good enough to get a job with it.
There's still an enormous demand for coding BUT you must know thy shit.
And, how do you know that you're good enough? You apply to jobs, go to interviews and if you, grasshopper, can snatch the pebble out of the interviewers hand, so to speak, then the job is yours.
>>25322291
what sort of time frames we talking?
I'm pretty smart so I'm sure I could do it with practice, but yeah I'm a fuck up so not sure I'd stick at it.
>>25322327
Took me three years to get where I am (can build pretty much anything).
Stick with it and after a year, you'll have everything down pretty well. After that, it's just keeping up with the new shit.
>>25322327
It depends, of course, on you and also on what you're studying. Some languages/technologies are harder than others. If you work your ass full-time, maybe 6 months before you're ready to interview at peon positions. the feedback you get from that will tell you how close you are.
I started just with some simple SQL and scripting for my first job (QA, not development) then I did some more complex shit.
There are three things I always tell people. First, don't concern yourself with starting salary - just get anything, since experience is everything in this field. Second, always be looking for the next job, especially early on. Your first 8 years is when your salary will jump high but only if you're prepared to move every 1-2 years. Third, you won't last, so prepare accordingly. The pay is high because burnout is high too and you will need to prepare for obsolescence from day 1, which means save your goddamn money and don't blow it all like a fool. If you do it right, you'll be retired by 40 y/o.
Professional programmer, AMA.
>>25322327
I'm 21 and everyone my age in the industry has gotten a job through an internship straight of university.
These are the people you're competing against.
You could give it a go but it's much easier if you have a institute backing you up. However, doing you're own projects and showing them off to employers will get you pretty far. A lot of them don't have respect for university degrees and just want to see your practical skills. The other good thing is that in this industry good social skills are rare so having some will get you far.
>>25322507
>A lot of them don't have respect for university degrees and just want to see your practical skills.
Hahaha. No.
>>25322501
Do you think taking a position with lower pay but more established is better than a higher pay, less established but able to influence the maturity of the company is better?
>>25322562
So, it depends on where you want your career to go. If you want programming as a lead-in to other things, be concerned with other possibilities and how you can influence the company direction. But, if you just want to get really good, concern yourself with what skills you will pick up at the job and how it will build your resume.
In general, though, from what I've found, a more established company is more likely to deal with older tech and it's easier to get "pigeonholed" into one thing (e.g. you are now "the sharepoint guy" so you're only given sharepoint projects). But, earlier in your career, you will be aggressively moving, so that's only a concern later on.
I will say that bigger companies (like health care, utility companies, telcos, etc) are comfy as fuck and they can become a trap of sorts. Come in 10-ish, BS with some folks over coffee, oh look an email to write, lunch, then do a bit of coding and, hey listen boys I've got a thing tonight so I'm knocking off early and boom that's your day. This is how people turn into dinosaurs and if they don't prepare, a layoff can be devastating.
>>25322501
So how well does say completing a course on coding academy accompanied with taking a class at uni on say java or sql prepare you for a coding job? I'm an IS major so I don't particularly need to go with a coding career but it seems one of the higher paying jobs and I kind of enjoy the HTML course I've done on coding academy. My problem is I forget a lot of stuff quickly as far as the different languages go and unless I have someone to answer my questions I can get stuck for a very long time trying to execute a query or demand without someone pointing out "You put a comma here instead of quotations" or something. I have saved a lot of notes from my classes and stuff I've done on coding academy though.
>>25322974
One or two classes won't impress people, DESU, because any assignments they give you won't be practical, they will be instructive and they make sure any interesting problems are sanded off. I'd follow it up with some projects of my own to really cement knowledge and show you can push through and create something useful. A real project will not often have "textbook" solutions to everything.
This is important because part of the job will be to come up with solutions that, while not the best, work well enough. When the chips are down, they don't want someone that will just throw their hands up and say "whelp, I dunno!", they want someone that says "Ok, got an idea, it's not perfect, but would it be enough if we just....?"
The reason why you forget so much is because you're learning too many different languages and you don't do it often enough. If you are not typing, you are not learning. So, write code often, every day if you can, to do all kinds of things. As for syntax, interviews these days are less concerned with if you've missed a semicolon and more if you can solve practical problems using code and existing technologies and frameworks.
>>25323248
which languages would you recommend? I'm about halfway through the java course on code academy and have a class on java next year, I have a web development class with .net coming up next semester though.
>>25322501
I recently got diagnosed with a chronic illness, meaning atrocious medical bills for the rest of my life. I'm 18 years old and I'll be heading off to uni soon. I had always intended on pursuing a major for monetary reasons, and using the money to support whatever hobbies I'd want, but now money is more a concern than ever.
I'm considering doing a double major in electrical engineering and computer science. I have limited experience in both areas, but I consider myself pretty smart and I did well in my APCS class (got a 5 on the exam). I'm aware that computer science isn't just Java, but I'm curious as to how I can prepare for the future here.
I'm not entirely sure if I want to be an EE; I'd much rather prefer a cushy desk job as a software engineer, quite honestly, but I'm afraid that the massive influx of people into CS is going to saturate the market. My questions for you are:
1. Do you think software engineering/programming is a secure job?
2. What is an accurate depiction of the salary I'll be earning at the start, after 5 years, etc? (Not believing the 6-figures-starting meme.)
3. How can I prepare right now? Any projects/goals that I should focus on that can teach me marketable/useful skills? (Unfortunately I didn't do much in APCS outside of the curriculum.)
4. Do you have a Steam or something similar so we could talk? I'm genuinely interested in learning more about this.
yeah you can get a job by learning stuff on code academy,but ca is only basics,you just learn the basics/syntax on there.yet,you can become a programmer by learning yourself,to become a for example junior front end web dev it takes around half-one year.Heres everything you need to know
http://blog.danielna.com/getting-a-job-as-a-front-end-web-developer.html
If I learned to code, made some programs, and had a business degree, would that make my employability significantly higher?
I just feel like I need a practical skill to go with a theoretical one.
Currently stuck in the old catch 22 situation where businesses don't want to hire me for entry level jobs since I don't have experience but I can't get experience without getting into an entry level job.
I don't really have connections more sociable people have and it cripples me somewhat.
>>25323698
Well, again, something simple that has a lot of bang-for-the-buck is SQL and database stuff in general. Java/C# is good too, but it's harder to learn at first.
>>25324992
Will respond next, just want to keep the thread alive.
>>25322712
I am mainly interested in seeing some new tech in action. Plus learning different techniques and building skills for my resume.
My current company is relatively new like 2-3 years though it is already a million dollar company based on ACV. However, they have been slow to adopt new things to help stream line because we have to keep the train rolling.
The new company I got an offer for deals with invoicing and payment processing. I think it is a dead end but the knowledge I can gain from there is worthwhile. Though they are in the city and I hate the cramp environment.
I am leaning towards staying and seeing where this year might lead to because we are now starting to make a leap after being able to add on more devs. Before it was just a senior dev, dev manager and I but now we double to 4 devs including me and the manager.
Pretty spooked about getting a job in Germany desu. I'll be done in a year with fairly good grades but I don't really have any work experience.
Im in the first year of Computer science with artificial intelligence here. Im wondering if a bachelors degree would be enough, or if i should go for a masters in order to get a decent job? Im not too sure that having a Bsc is all that impressive anymore, lol
>>25325577
Bachelor's is more than enough for computer science. Master's would be a waste of time and money.
>>25324992
That's a tough situation. Don't know much about EE but I've heard that it's difficult to get into. Here are my thoughts on your questions:
1) It's secure, but not in the sense you may be thinking of. Look at my earlier posts about how to manage the career. You must keep moving, keep learning, and that's the best security people can hope for in this world. That's why I always advocate for people to impose a timeline for themselves of, say, 15 years. If you last longer, great. If you don't, at least you have a backup plan.
2) Salary after 5 years should be 100k or above in any major metro area. (US only, other countries can make less) This is just based on the trend now, though. Outsourcing is getting more prevalent, but as their skills go up, they also demand more money. It's not 10 cents on the dollar anymore, the ratios are more like 1/2 to 2/3.
3) Preparing right now is a good idea. Basically, pick a project you want to do and find a way to make it happen. Something open-ended like that will give you better experience than just learning a language because, again, it's a problem "in the wild", not something curated and packaged to be solved a certain way. And doing this type of project will also allow you to learn about what projects you are "geared" toward. Some people like to work on front-end things, other people like to work with data or backend stuff. All things being equal, you'll do better at something you enjoy.
4) I'd prefer to just keep things like this. I'm not that good at coaching people and believe that people learn best through trial and error anyway. Also, sadly, I've been doing dev work for longer than you've been alive (talk about feeling old), so my viewpoint on how to start may not even be all that relevant, online stuff like blogs may be better to go by. Finally, I've followed my own advice, so I'm going to be leaving the profession soon and am not as in-touch with things as others are.
Hope that helps.
>>25325385
I don't know about the new company. You've said it's a dead end and it's in the city, which you don't like. Maybe try to get into some of the newer tech in your current company?
>>25325959
Thing is we are not actively driving towards the new tech, yet. I guess what you are saying is do it on the side and then bring back the knowledge?
