How to become a developer in 6 months — Part #1
Ok, maybe I drizzled a little good ol’ fashioned click bait seasoning on that headline, because any programmer will know that’s not possible in a ‘real’ sense. However, let me tell you what is possible: You can start learning to code today (without a computer science degree or relevant work experience) and be working full-time as an engineer in 6 months.
How do I know that’s possible? Because I did it…
I literally took my first online coding course in the summer of 2017 and just about 6 months later I was sitting in an office trying to piece together how in the world I was getting paid to write code.
Now, let me tell you that your journey only starts there if you decide to go down that route. Today I have so many more questions and am significantly more confident that, most of the time, I have no idea what the f#%! I’m talking about.
Don’t interpret that the wrong way, though. I know a shit ton more and have really solidified certain languages and frameworks to where I can build things I never knew I thought I would be able to in a very short period of time.
However, the beauty of technology is that it has grown into such a vast and infinitely expanding field so that as you learn more you will start to be able to understand certain things, which in turn will open up doors that introduce you to evermore areas you have yet to have learned and mastered.
Certainly, after many years I can see that this feeling of drowning in “Waitt! What the actual fuck is that and how does it do that?!” becomes a more rare occurrence but I doubt it every goes away entirely (which is kinda cool!).
…
“Ok Scott, now that you’ve wasted a full minute or two of my life with your intro, can you actually tell me how I can become an ‘engineer’ in 6 months?” is what you’re thinking right about now, so let’s get into it.
The Approach
It’s worth stressing that we are all different learners, with different ways to absorb, process, and store the things we are trying to learn. Therefore, my exact approach may not be the best one for you, or your friend, or his friend. You get what I’m trying to say here. Nonetheless, there are definitely some good strategies worth following.
- Start small. Choose one particular area of technology that you’re interested in and focus your studies on that
The reason for that is that there is just too much information out there, and if your mindset is “hey I want to understand it all in 6 months” then good luck buddy! Totes not gonna happen :( ← That’s me feeling sad for your future failure. Seriously…
The equivalent of that statement in sports would be like saying “I want to be a paid athlete in 6 months, so I’ll split my time between learning basketball, football, ping pong, ballet, and hit the octagon in the evening”. You’re just gonna get your face smashed in…
Another reason to follow this advice is that by identifying something you find actually interesting you are more likely going to stick to your learning schedule. In addition, as you learn more and more about a specific topic you’ll actually feel accomplished because you’re building expertise, which will be a motivational trigger to keep you going.
There’s nothing more depressing that I can imagine than spending 6 months trying to learn something without any tangible progress because you were too ambitious and thought you could do it all.
For me it was web development, as I’m a visual person and like the instant feedback of seeing things change. I also like shapes, animations, and design. Therefore, I kicked my journey off with HTML, CSS, and Javascript. For most people, if they are unsure where to start, this is the place to begin.
So start small and choose one path first!
I wanted to write more but I’m tired so I’m going to bed now. The rest will have to wait for my next post.
If this article was even remotely helpful, do feel free to follow me or at least give me a clap or two. Or, if you’re bored you can play this game where you and your friend pull up this article and compete for who can keep hitting the clap button for longer without getting tired!… great game!
