Programming on the Wall

    With the exception of the week over Christmas, I have been studying coding for every week for 10 weeks now. I estimate that I have spent 300 hours on study so far. Realistically, not all of that time was spend coding, much of it was spent reading forums looking for help, watching lectures, reading books as well as brushing up on mathematics. So, perhaps half of the time (150 hours) could truly be called coding practice.    Without a mentor, it hasn't always been easy deciding on the path to take. I spent the first 2 weeks on Java, as that was the first course I found. Then I discovered The Odin Project and spent the last 7 weeks learning Ruby, Javascript and SQL. Over the last couple of weeks I started some Python study, including an online course.  Just before Christmas I also discovered FreeCodeCamp which focuses on Javascript.  I believe that I've finally discovered the best path. Last week I volunteered as a mentor at my first CoderDojo. Last n...

10 weeks ago, after looking over the many possibilities open to me, I decided to retrain myself as a programmer. I made the decision due to a number of factors. They are not listed in any kind of order. The availability of free online materials teaching programming. The fact that programmers are unlikely to suffer deskilling. (Every week a biochemist spends outside the lab, is a week they are not practising their lab skills. A programmer can continually learn and practise from home.) The fact that, over the years, I have become more interested in and adept with mathematics. (If I could redo my degree now, I would choose Computer Science or Physics). Creating things (even abstract things like programs) is incredibly rewarding. Not only is there the intellectual satisfaction, there is the sense of accomplishment when your program executes correctly. The wide availability of jobs in software & web development  These were the reasons I made th...