5 ms·

Well, this is disappointing. Lambda was my plan B if i didn't make it into the competitive program i selected.

by ruined 6y ago

arvindamirtaa 6y ago
Can you give a little more context on what led you to this decision? What value do you see in Lambda (or any other similar program) that you don't when learning on your own? Is it the network effect? Just curious!
- AntiImperialist 6y ago
  I would think discipline, peer learning and also what you don't know you don't know can be picked up much more in person than by exploring yourself.
- dna_polymerase 6y ago
  You could ask the same question for any university program. It's the degree that opens doors. HR doesn't care for your EdX or udemy certs.
  - arvindamirtaa 6y ago
    I really am just curious about the decision making process behind choosing Lambda vs traditional college vs Moocs (with certificates).
  - zimpenfish 6y ago
    As a counterpoint, in 25 years and probably as many jobs, only one or two places have cared about my degree and that was just another red flag on top of the pile of red flags those places already had.
    - loufe 6y ago
      That being said, the difficulty is getting that first experience at a reputable company. After that, at least in my industry, it's all reputation and the interview. Nobody in mining cares where you were schooled if you have experience.
- ruined 6y ago
  network effect, a roadmap, peers, milestones set for me so i don't waste time, and an institution that i can put on a resume. most importantly free up front. i'm a dropout with no savings, on-and-off homeless for the past few years. i've been playing with tech since i was a kid but not in any capacity that looks professional. the pandemic has ironically given me stability and opportunity to try and get my foot in the door. a somewhat respected program that provides a structured environment and job leads at the end is breakfast, lunch, and dinner. and if it doesn't pan out and i go back to tossing pizza for minimum wage, at least there's no debt like last time.
  - lioeters 6y ago
    Just wanted to say, best of luck in your studies and search for better work. I was in a similar situation about ten years ago, hitting bottom and roughing it. Being a stubborn mule of sorts, I kept trying, learning, went through countless jobs in different fields; all the while, I pursued the joy of programming. Eventually, a side project I was doing for fun (and as a learning experience) became the foot in the door, as proof of my abilities. In my case, much of it was luck - but as they say, you make your own luck too. And the rest was mostly just "showing up" and "being there". > i've been playing with tech since i was a kid I believe this is the essence and heart of becoming a software developer, and you got it!
romanovcode 6y ago
Your plan A should be to start programming on your own and learning from youtube.
echelon 6y ago
You can learn everything you need on your own without a degree or bootcamp. All you need is a starter project and an interest. You can Google everything. Pick an easy language. I recommend Javascript or Python. There's a wealth of learning material and you can use these two languages to build a wide variety of things. Pick something fun: a simple game, an interactive website, a blog, etc. Make it your objective, and instill in yourself a deep desire to make it. But don't get caught up on making it perfect. Read a tutorial or two, experiment, and try to apply what you learned to the thing you want to build. It'll take a lot of time. Whatever time you think it takes, multiply that figure by three. Don't stress out. You can't conceive of all the roadblocks or what you don't know. If you get stuck, ask questions on Reddit, StackOverflow, Discord, etc. Learning how to ask questions builds your mental model of how this stuff fits together. Eventually you'll be able to answer a lot of your own questions. Block out an entire weekend and go for it.
- ruined 6y ago
  i've done this more than once. nobody cares about a toy i made or its website, even if it looks pretty and i'm proud of it.
  - zimpenfish 6y ago
    This is weird to me because the kind of person who can go away, learn, and make something by themselves seems to be ticking a lot of the boxes software development teams need (even if only at junior level.)
    - Jach 6y ago
      It's not weird when you see how broken and unserious hiring is just about everywhere in the industry. On top of that the pipeline to hiring entry level/junior programmers is dominated by newly graduated college students, and of those any particular large company with the best salaries is going to prioritize former positively reviewed interns. The intern path is a sweet one if you can take it but is closed to people not part of the college system (and often companies won't take interns until the student has completed their third year). I do still think it's quite possible to bootstrap a programming career without a degree or any formal certification. In some ways it's easier now than say 15 years ago, in some ways it's harder. But hustling is key. There's hustling on the material you need to learn (which is going to be off-putting to many programmers who started for the joy, not the hustle) but there's more important hustling outside of that which well-meaning advice on e.g. what programming language to learn always misses. It helps to see universities, bootcamps, contracting agencies, consulting/freelancing groups, well-connected recruiters, etc. as all being opportunities that take some of the burden of hustling off of you, deciding which ones to try and take advantage of is then partially dependent on how much you can do yourself. It's not helpful to blanket-recommend anything and even when talking to an individual they need to do their own introspection and surface results of that in order to receive useful targeted advice.

Well, this is disappointing. Lambda was my plan B if i didn't make it into the competitive program i selected.

by ruined 6y ago

Well, this is disappointing. Lambda was my plan B if i didn't make it into the competitive program i selected.

Can you give a little more context on what led you to this decision? What value do you see in Lambda (or any other similar program) that you don't when learning on your own? Is it the network effect? Just curious!

AntiImperialist 6y ago
I would think discipline, peer learning and also what you don't know you don't know can be picked up much more in person than by exploring yourself.
dna_polymerase 6y ago
You could ask the same question for any university program. It's the degree that opens doors. HR doesn't care for your EdX or udemy certs.
- arvindamirtaa 6y ago
  I really am just curious about the decision making process behind choosing Lambda vs traditional college vs Moocs (with certificates).
- zimpenfish 6y ago
  As a counterpoint, in 25 years and probably as many jobs, only one or two places have cared about my degree and that was just another red flag on top of the pile of red flags those places already had.
  - loufe 6y ago
    That being said, the difficulty is getting that first experience at a reputable company. After that, at least in my industry, it's all reputation and the interview. Nobody in mining cares where you were schooled if you have experience.
ruined 6y ago
network effect, a roadmap, peers, milestones set for me so i don't waste time, and an institution that i can put on a resume. most importantly free up front. i'm a dropout with no savings, on-and-off homeless for the past few years. i've been playing with tech since i was a kid but not in any capacity that looks professional. the pandemic has ironically given me stability and opportunity to try and get my foot in the door. a somewhat respected program that provides a structured environment and job leads at the end is breakfast, lunch, and dinner. and if it doesn't pan out and i go back to tossing pizza for minimum wage, at least there's no debt like last time.
- lioeters 6y ago
  Just wanted to say, best of luck in your studies and search for better work. I was in a similar situation about ten years ago, hitting bottom and roughing it. Being a stubborn mule of sorts, I kept trying, learning, went through countless jobs in different fields; all the while, I pursued the joy of programming. Eventually, a side project I was doing for fun (and as a learning experience) became the foot in the door, as proof of my abilities. In my case, much of it was luck - but as they say, you make your own luck too. And the rest was mostly just "showing up" and "being there". > i've been playing with tech since i was a kid I believe this is the essence and heart of becoming a software developer, and you got it!

romanovcode 6y ago

Your plan A should be to start programming on your own and learning from youtube.

echelon 6y ago

You can learn everything you need on your own without a degree or bootcamp. All you need is a starter project and an interest. You can Google everything. Pick an easy language. I recommend Javascript or Python. There's a wealth of learning material and you can use these two languages to build a wide variety of things. Pick something fun: a simple game, an interactive website, a blog, etc. Make it your objective, and instill in yourself a deep desire to make it. But don't get caught up on making it perfect. Read a tutorial or two, experiment, and try to apply what you learned to the thing you want to build. It'll take a lot of time. Whatever time you think it takes, multiply that figure by three. Don't stress out. You can't conceive of all the roadblocks or what you don't know. If you get stuck, ask questions on Reddit, StackOverflow, Discord, etc. Learning how to ask questions builds your mental model of how this stuff fits together. Eventually you'll be able to answer a lot of your own questions. Block out an entire weekend and go for it.

ruined 6y ago
i've done this more than once. nobody cares about a toy i made or its website, even if it looks pretty and i'm proud of it.
- zimpenfish 6y ago
  This is weird to me because the kind of person who can go away, learn, and make something by themselves seems to be ticking a lot of the boxes software development teams need (even if only at junior level.)
  - Jach 6y ago
    It's not weird when you see how broken and unserious hiring is just about everywhere in the industry. On top of that the pipeline to hiring entry level/junior programmers is dominated by newly graduated college students, and of those any particular large company with the best salaries is going to prioritize former positively reviewed interns. The intern path is a sweet one if you can take it but is closed to people not part of the college system (and often companies won't take interns until the student has completed their third year). I do still think it's quite possible to bootstrap a programming career without a degree or any formal certification. In some ways it's easier now than say 15 years ago, in some ways it's harder. But hustling is key. There's hustling on the material you need to learn (which is going to be off-putting to many programmers who started for the joy, not the hustle) but there's more important hustling outside of that which well-meaning advice on e.g. what programming language to learn always misses. It helps to see universities, bootcamps, contracting agencies, consulting/freelancing groups, well-connected recruiters, etc. as all being opportunities that take some of the burden of hustling off of you, deciding which ones to try and take advantage of is then partially dependent on how much you can do yourself. It's not helpful to blanket-recommend anything and even when talking to an individual they need to do their own introspection and surface results of that in order to receive useful targeted advice.