Guys,
I just wanted to share with all of you my current situation.
I started with Python/Django following Frenchcorporation advise, but I couldnt keep up with it. Why? Because I needed some clear path and guidance. I am a self taught guy: I learned language skills (english, portuguese and italian) without a formal college/institute/mentor and or coach. I learned computer skills and I learned the tricks of the trade of being a project manager without having the Prince and or PMI certification. I always learned things by reading books, watching people do things and by self taught lessons. I am a smart guy, not the brightest in town but close
So why the hell I was failing? I thought about it and maybe there was a combination of lack of proper motivation from my part some months ago "plus" boring or not very much inspiring steps in the documentation available. I tried Learn Python Hard Way but it didnt caught me or maybe I didnt. Who knows? Maybe I wasnt that bright after all.
I tried it, really tried but mid way doing exercises and or watching videos I slowed down and lost interest. I thought I wasnt good enough for this and I should have focused in learning new languages like german, which is cool and something I am also very good at it. So why insisting?
Because in this year and the years to come we need to have new tech skills to have better opportunities. I know I need them since I do not want to depend on office offers and or jobs I did but enjoyed them very little. I dont want to suffer unemployment.
I know programming is something feels right for me. So the question is how was I suppose to do it?
I tried to find coding schools in my city. If I lived in NY and had 17K I would invest in Hack Reactor.
The only one I found in my area had this Full Stack developer choice consisting of 192 hours, total. Which seemed small for landing a Jr. Developer job. The money wasnt a problem for me, not too much expensive or too cheap to make me feel that it was a bogus. On site classes, seemed legit, negative feedback? None, so I thought let's give it a try right?
BUT.., only 192 hrs. Digging a bit I found local developers who gave me their advise: 192 was very small time, you will be at a real beginner's level with this 192 hrs, also nothing these guys are teaching is something new, never taught, life changing. The languages, the approach, even the last classes on how to modify the current resume and how to advertise ourselves in Linkedin, etc.., all of this can be taugh and shown. And it is on the internet. So you can learn for free like thousand guys did before you. OK, good point.
So.., if not this, what then?
I found 3 sites some time ago, which I am sure you guys heard of them before: The Odin project (theodinproject.com), Epicodus free videos and curriculum available online in LearnHowtoProgram (learnhowtoprogram.com) and a new site I found 2 weeks ago that is only 200 days old Freecodecamp (freecodecamp.com)
The 3 of them gear towards becoming a full stack developer/front end/back end developer and the amount of hours are in the neighbourhood of 800-1600. You have support groups and freecodecamp has live chat and pair programming. Plus you have real projects, live ones for you to pick up and contribute. The idea is to have a selling portfolio and land a real jr. developer job.
Quite a difference uh? and it is for free and all you need is discipline, motivation, you know the drill.
So how did I do it? Well, at least for me was simple, very simple: you have clear waypoints/check marks you need to complete before moving on. That is you have steps to complete like real life, real classes. So I didnt feel it like I was lost without guidance, at least for me that helped me a lot. This time I felt that I was following a path someone made for me and that it was right for me to follow it, to learn using my time and that I shouldnt fear the process of changing i was feeling inside.
I wouldnt dare to cheat, you know, marking waypoints as completed only to feel i am advancing. what would be the point in doing so? you will only hurt yourself and your chance of becoming a programmer.
How Do i feel now? I am motivated and dedicated to become a developèr. If others could, if others succeeded, then hell I wont do it!!
TheOdin is geared towards Ruby/Ruby on Rails. Freecodecamp aims exclusively towards Javascript and the third choice is a combination of PHP + Ruby and Rails. Please feel free to check the curriculum for the 3 sites
What I liked about these free options was that since day 1 you are giving a clear set of instructions to follow in order to have your command line+Ruby, git and github accounts set up, heroku account.., what they call "the installation".
Although they favour Linux/OS systems, Windows users, like me, have clear instructions too.
Some claim Ruby doesnt work in Win but I will let you know once I am there and fully programming in Ruby.
I discovered something about myself: I dont need to be in a classroom to follow instructions. exercises and feel myself motivated. For the first time since I learned about this post.., I can definitely say I know what I want, how I will get it and that the future seems nicer and brighter at least for me.
I will keep you posted regarding my progress. Maybe once I have completed this I will give Python a real shot. There is money out there fellas and I want a piece of the pie.
Cheers
Jay.