Programmer?
Where am I today:
As a self-taught programmer, its hard to reference a relatable program of work that would easily communicate my abilities so far. Without expunging my early history too much, I started doing robotics as a child and have always had considerable interest in computing. It wasn’t until high school(pre-2011) I was able to finally take a course in c#, followed with Java the next year. These ended up being a great introduction to coding syntax that unfortunately left me with a failing interest that was mired by more questions than answers. I really only knew how to create simple visual studio projects. I think the lack of creativity really limited me.
It wasn’t until 2015 I had seriously started looking into programming again, due to seeing some of the great projects my friends were creating on the web. Luckily for me, they all maintained with absolute certainty, that I could create similar projects with relative ease. Upon looking at the code, oh hey, I know what an “If statement” is! Must not be too much more difficult! While I have found this no where near as true as I had hoped, it really sparked this endeavor more than anything and I am infinitely grateful towards them no matter the outcome.
2014 arrived, and I successfully “created” a bootstrap portfolio page. I thought this was a good introduction to some web development, and I could concurrently update the page with my progress.
2015, Several unsuccessful attempts of learning followed. Codeacademy, codeschool, khanh academy, udacity, and several others came and went with little to no retention on my part. Sure I understood an href attribute, but I still felt like I was at square one after finishing a “course” or equivalent section. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with these tutorials, but they specifically didn’t work for me. I do however find them a valuable resource anyways.
2016 I finally found “freecodecamp”. I could spend all day trying to rack my brain with why specifically this program worked well for me, but I think it came down to a combination of external pressures in the end. I really wanted to realize my potential as an individual in a field that was accessible to me. This was specifically important as I found myself outside of the typical route of going to college, “finding” your field, and then working your career in it. While I think I’ve done pretty well in my Community College courses, I studied hard to receive a good grade while simultaneously feigning interest in the subjects. Being of mature age, however, it became important for me to find some way to support myself. This prompted me to take a deeper look into the world of programming in which I am very happy I did.
I have continued to complete much of the freecodecamp material, and much out of the scope of it. Through fun challenges, I learned much of the basics of javascript in around 300 hours of coding. Even then, I wasn’t satisfied with the curriculum and I wanted to learn what the massive forum of programming had in store for me. The vastness of where to go next was scary at first, but now I look forward to what I can find. The ever changing landscape of programming is surely one that while embraced is immensely powerful.
Today. From now on, I’ll be posting bi-weekly(maybe?) snippets into my coding experience rather than long stories. But I thought this was an important stepping stone for describing what I hope this blog signals, my growth as a professional and an individual. That being said, I’m currently working on several different nodejs tutorials after learning the power behind it thanks to nodeschool.io and Node: Up and Running. After several simple I/O chat tutorials I think I am ready to figure out my own project. It remains to be seen what that will be, but I hope to update soon!