Anyone else hate not being a programmer?

I can quite confidently say at this present time, I hate being a programmer.

Fucken hell, I can't wait for this 3 week phase to be over. Will it ever end!?!?!
 


DontShaveMePls said:
Hello fellow gay webmasters.
I am planning to learn 3 languages in order to make some secret software.
In what order should i start learning these 3: Visual Basic .NET, C#, C++.
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I doubt you're being serious, but in the off chance you are, fuck Microsoft, and fuck Visual Studio. Useless pieces of shit.

https://qt-project.org/

You'll thank me later. It's beautiful. Once you get your head wrapped around a few fundamentals (eg. signals / slots), everything else is just common sense. Plus it's cross-platform, so make the program once, and it works on pretty near every platform.
 
emp said:
If you want to be a better coder, start writing code. Start writing lots of code. You'll be graded on weight. Go ahead.
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Ira Glass also gives a great nod to the importance of this principle.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ResTHKVxf4]On Being Creative - YouTube[/ame]


Find the resources that work for you, and learn to use the ones worth using

I try to optimize my learning experience because I have to. This means identifying helpful sources that explain concepts in a predictable way, and reusing them as often as possible.

For example:

  1. Mozilla Developer Network
    I enjoy their formatting and easy-to-understand explanations.

  2. Laracasts
    I find it beneficial to watch someone code while explaining the method to their madness. Videocasts at YouTube or specialty sites are super helpful for this learning method. And if the author is good at communicating, these can be invaluable.


But sometimes the value of a support resource is unmatched, and it becomes worth your time to learn to use that tool as a learning aid.

For example:

  1. PHP Manual
    The PHP documentation wasn't written to communicate directly to beginners, so when I started, I didn't like to use it. But learning the communication style of the documentation has allowed me to take advantage of its value and saves me time when considering it as a learning aid for my problem. (NOTE: All documentation has varying value, but learning to use documentation is just as important as the syntax).

  2. StackOverflow
    SO is another invaluable learning aid. At the face of it, you ask a question and get an answer from the willing, presumably of equal or more experience, pool of users. But the culture becomes apparent the first time you ask a simple question. You're going to be grilled on the documentation you missed that already solves your problem. You'll include unnecessary code snippets and walls of text which lend to the evidence that you're looking for a tutor instead of an answer. But poor formatting and a lack of understanding your problem also make it very difficult to get the answer you're after. Learning to take the time to break your coding problem into a question with a straight-to-the-point breakdown of events will not only teach you to become a better programmer (and problem solver), but it will allow you to make SO the reliable tool that it is.

  3. Google
    For every 3 hours of code you write, you should plan to spend 5 hours researching. Or so it goes. Like formatting a problem in StackOverflow, using Google requires the same thought process. Only this time you have a short input field to work with, which means less information to include. Additionally, learning to tell the difference between good and bad search results will help you to determine if you're on the right track, or cold as ice.

Hope this was useful for beginners.


Side Note:

If someone would be willing to lead a thread dedicated to a coding "Challenge of the Week", it sounds like that would be received well. There are already similar groups all over the internet, but I'd love to participate in something similar within this community. I think a leader should be designated not so much for grading, but moreso for speedily choosing topics that fit reasonably within the time frame. And you could consider passing the torch should you run out of time or lose interest in the role.
 
Thanks for the ira glass video.

I was looking for that a while ago, but it was removed everywhere (original interview)
I also updated my post on blindapeseo.com.

::emp::
 
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boatBurner said:
If someone would be willing to lead a thread dedicated to a coding "Challenge of the Week", it sounds like that would be received well. There are already similar groups all over the internet, but I'd love to participate in something similar within this community. I think a leader should be designated not so much for grading, but moreso for speedily choosing topics that fit reasonably within the time frame. And you could consider passing the torch should you run out of time or lose interest in the role.
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I think that once a week might be a bit much. Challenge of the month now that sounds doable. :)

Would participate.
 
titanium777 said:
I've never been into programming. Marketing, on the other hand tickles my fancy.
The only language I moderately understand is the markup language HTML.

Between python, C++, Java, Javascript, Ruby...I can't even fathom learning or mastering all the languages to fulfill business needs; I feel that many successful tech guys can pay their way to great coding (does Zuckerberg really understand all his coding?).
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You need to understand that nobody needs to master that shit. High level design is where the real money is made and it's completely language agnostic. Imagine you don't know how to write code, but you can write your requirements and break them down into broad tasks with testable results. Every day, you go through every piece, research what it would take to get that piece done, change the actual task if needed. You just keep going, and soon you find yourself with a task where you know what has to be done. You teach yourself what you need to know, write the code, test the code, and your component is done. You do this for all the components, test them together, fix whatever is needed through the same methodology and eventually all your tests are passed.

Now, most people who code can't and don't do that. They'll complete one of the tasks, but without someone running the shop they're worthless when it comes to the bottom line. I personally like to code, but nobody could care less about whether or not I know any of the languages being used before they hire me.
 
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Bump.

Still have a ton of PM's I need to reply to that you guys sent my way when I went on vacation last week. Will be replying to all of those soon.

I also have some exciting news. I got a job offer from a member here that will allow me to quit my day job soon and spend 100% of my time programming.

I know a lot of people here have negative views on having clients or doing freelance dev work and I understand that, but I couldn't be happier because I now will be able to program 24/7 and will be able to accelerate my learning.

Last but not least, I have decided that I would like to give back to wickedfire since this place has been such a big part of my life for the past few years.

If any of you guys need any coding done just hit me up via PM and I'd be happy to help you for free. All I really know right now is objective-c, but I will also be learning PHP over the next 2 weeks. If you need something done in another language, I should be able to learn enough fairly quickly to bang something out for you right away.

I'm new but I'm a fast learner and just want to expand my skill set and gain as much experience as possible.
 
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mpbiz said:
I know a lot of people here have negative views on having clients or doing freelance dev work
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There's nothing wrong with being a service provider and the few here that are vocal about being above it have other personality failures that negate their opinions.

The stigma surrounding client work is that while you're self-employed, you're still answering to somebody. Freelancing is also a trade of dollars for minutes, which can be the pits. But it will give you opportunities to work on side projects, and when you create a product that someone wants to invest in, your experience managing client expectations will be welcomed.

mpbiz said:
Last but not least, I have decided that I would like to give back to wickedfire since this place has been such a big part of my life for the past few years.

If any of you guys need any coding done just hit me up via PM and I'd be happy to help you for free.
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If you're just starting down this road, your time is better spent growing professionally under stress-free conditions. Don't make the mistake of devaluing your time to zero under any circumstances.

There are plenty of ways to add value to the communities you care about, such as offering your services in exchange for money.
 
mpbiz said:
Bump.

Still have a ton of PM's I need to reply to that you guys sent my way when I went on vacation last week. Will be replying to all of those soon.

I also have some exciting news. I got a job offer from a member here that will allow me to quit my day job soon and spend 100% of my time programming.

I know a lot of people here have negative views on having clients or doing freelance dev work and I understand that, but I couldn't be happier because I now will be able to program 24/7 and will be able to accelerate my learning.

Last but not least, I have decided that I would like to give back to wickedfire since this place has been such a big part of my life for the past few years.

If any of you guys need any coding done just hit me up via PM and I'd be happy to help you for free. All I really know right now is objective-c, but I will also be learning PHP over the next 2 weeks. If you need something done in another language, I should be able to learn enough fairly quickly to bang something out for you right away.

I'm new but I'm a fast learner and just want to expand my skill set and gain as much experience as possible.
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That is fucking awesome news man, congrats.

Also, shouldn't this thread be enlightened by now? Let's go Mods, tighten up.
 
boatBurner said:
The stigma surrounding client work is that while you're self-employed, you're still answering to somebody. Freelancing is also a trade of dollars for minutes, which can be the pits. But it will give you opportunities to work on side projects, and when you create a product that someone wants to invest in, your experience managing client expectations will be welcomed.

If you're just starting down this road, your time is better spent growing professionally under stress-free conditions. Don't make the mistake of devaluing your time to zero under any circumstances.

There are plenty of ways to add value to the communities you care about, such as offering your services in exchange for money.
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There is so much win in what boatBurner has said.
 
I have started to learn code on the side its extremely useful in so many ways. If shit hits the fan with internet marketing I will have a back up skill thats in extreme demand. Java and objective c, python, php, are what I am looking into.
 
I'll have a solid update for you guys by late Wednesday night. Sorry to keep you all waiting. I know you're hanging on my every post but it gets hard out here bros.
 
Bump.

So that job that I got offered has been taken off the table. Got another PM a couple days after my last update and it turns out that they jumped the gun. Might need me in a couple weeks, and if they do then we'll go from there but I'm not going to plan on it.

Apparently I write posts that urge people to take action. Either way no hard feelings.

So I decided to revive an old business of mine that used to make me $400-500 a month. Just busted my ass for the past 48 hours to get everything together. Everything should be live tomorrow, and then orders should be rolling in like normal by the weekend.

The goal is to make $500 a month while working on this business for less time then I would have spent working at my day job which should be no problem at all. I should be able to spend 10 hours a week or less on customer service and order fulfillment combined which means I'm going to gain another 60 hours of programming time every month.

Should help me finish this first app faster, spend more time learning, etc.

As long as everything runs the way it used to I should be able to give my 2 weeks and quit my job by the 3rd week of February at the latest so I'm really excited at this point.
 
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