3 ms·

I spend a few hours a day at work and at home on it. I just don't have any confidence that it will actually pay off.

el_dev_hell 7y ago
I can't tell you if learning CS concepts will pay off. But I can guarantee you it will benefit you more than spending 3-4 hours on HN or r/dankmemes.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
quickthrower2 7y ago
What is it you enjoy? Do you enjoy coding from what you’ve done so far? Is it about the algorithms for you? Or the finished product you can show off? The user experience? Making things pixel perfect? Finding that motivation is important because programming is going to be hard if the motivation is that maybe you’ll get a better job in a year or two. Enjoyment is the mind hack to properly upskill IMO, and if you do properly upskill you’ll probably be able to get a coding job (a lot of persistence is needed to get the first one though!)
natalyarostova 7y ago
Learning hard things is very demoralizing, because learning hard things is fucking hard. It makes you feel stupid. Learning to code sucks. It seems like everyone on HN is a gifted natural coding form age 8, while you're just stuck trying to make your stupid loop not give you a syntax error. But that's not true. Only 1% or so of people on HN are like that (approximate guess). The rest of us all learned the same way. Getting stuck on some bullshit trivial syntax error for years, while feeling like an idiot. That's just what coding is. Please don't lose motivation. I know it's hard and demoralizing, but I strongly encourage you to not give up hope. Even now I'm learning a new language (clojure) and despite 'knowing how to code' and working in this field for 3+ years, I still spent all day setting up a development environment and learning to loop through a list. That's just how it goes. I still feel like the same idiot I was on day 1. Except now younger people at work look up to me, as though I actually can code or know what I'm doing. How this happened I do not know. All I know is that I kept at it every day for years, starting from that first day when I tried to understand what a difference between a list and a dictionary is.
- TurkishPoptart 7y ago
  Wow, I really appreciate this! And I like the Tolstoy-inspired username :) Thanks for the reminder that not everyone on this site is a Paul Graham or a Torvald. Congratulations on your progress.
- mc3 7y ago
  I coded from 8, but more down to luck of being bored and having a computer than being some kinda prodigy. At 8 I was indeed "just stuck trying to make your stupid loop not give you a syntax error". Probably lack of an ego at such a young age you just get on with it and not care much. Adult learning to code is going to be like adult learning foreign language or adult learning to swim. Just like a child but the ego getting in the way getting stressed that it is hard.

I can't tell you if learning CS concepts will pay off. But I can guarantee you it will benefit you more than spending 3-4 hours on HN or r/dankmemes.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

quickthrower2 7y ago

What is it you enjoy? Do you enjoy coding from what you’ve done so far? Is it about the algorithms for you? Or the finished product you can show off? The user experience? Making things pixel perfect? Finding that motivation is important because programming is going to be hard if the motivation is that maybe you’ll get a better job in a year or two. Enjoyment is the mind hack to properly upskill IMO, and if you do properly upskill you’ll probably be able to get a coding job (a lot of persistence is needed to get the first one though!)

natalyarostova 7y ago

Learning hard things is very demoralizing, because learning hard things is fucking hard. It makes you feel stupid. Learning to code sucks. It seems like everyone on HN is a gifted natural coding form age 8, while you're just stuck trying to make your stupid loop not give you a syntax error. But that's not true. Only 1% or so of people on HN are like that (approximate guess). The rest of us all learned the same way. Getting stuck on some bullshit trivial syntax error for years, while feeling like an idiot. That's just what coding is. Please don't lose motivation. I know it's hard and demoralizing, but I strongly encourage you to not give up hope. Even now I'm learning a new language (clojure) and despite 'knowing how to code' and working in this field for 3+ years, I still spent all day setting up a development environment and learning to loop through a list. That's just how it goes. I still feel like the same idiot I was on day 1. Except now younger people at work look up to me, as though I actually can code or know what I'm doing. How this happened I do not know. All I know is that I kept at it every day for years, starting from that first day when I tried to understand what a difference between a list and a dictionary is.

TurkishPoptart 7y ago
Wow, I really appreciate this! And I like the Tolstoy-inspired username :) Thanks for the reminder that not everyone on this site is a Paul Graham or a Torvald. Congratulations on your progress.
mc3 7y ago
I coded from 8, but more down to luck of being bored and having a computer than being some kinda prodigy. At 8 I was indeed "just stuck trying to make your stupid loop not give you a syntax error". Probably lack of an ego at such a young age you just get on with it and not care much. Adult learning to code is going to be like adult learning foreign language or adult learning to swim. Just like a child but the ego getting in the way getting stressed that it is hard.