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How did you get into coding/programming?

I’ve always had trouble getting into coding/programming because I’ve never truly dedicated myself to it. Mostly, this is because I kinda always lose momentum to learn it. I’m a heavy FOSS user; I love coreboot/Libreboot and am interested in getting into firmware development. I’ve already helped test hardware for Libreboot and enjoy learning about firmware.

I have just started to cut out gaming from my life to focus more on this. Maybe I should start with Python? At the same time, though, I feel like I should start with C, but don’t want to jump the gun too quick.

Feel free to share your stories!

pezmaker ,
@pezmaker@sh.itjust.works avatar

I started my career with it, studying it in college. Relying on it for finances definitely is a major push. I don’t touch it for a hobby though because of that. Hopefully others can help with suggestions for that side of things.

lennivelkant , (edited )

I had my start with Python, albeit as a kid and I didn’t actually understand too much about the principles at the time. Still, I think that was a good place to start learning about the concepts of instructions and variables.

I learned more about the ideas underpinning it all later, and most of my understanding came when actually working in software development on a live and in-development codebase. I think that’s a good progression: start small, then learn some theory just so you’ve heard the terms once, then try to make sense of actual code using that.

Edit: definitely work on some goal though. Don’t code in a vacuum, think of something small you want to achieve and learn to do that.

graeghos_714 , (edited )

I had a triple major of Psych/Soc/Phil with the intent of teaching. My focus in Philosophy was mostly logic and analytical reasoning. I ended up marrying my GF and had to quit college in my junior year and go to work where I ended up doing a lot of computer work on the IBM XT. One late night working on electronic bids for parts we sold I realized computers are not going anywhere and focusing on that would get me out of this sales job. I went to Control Data for a year which got me in the door of a company. Programming was nothing but logic which was my focus in college so it came pretty easy to me. That was 1989. I contracted to Ford for the next 30+ years doing everything from data analysis at the start to SQL and DB’s for a while, and then I ended up on teams delivering software to the plants. I always wanted a job that would allow me to see the world and for over 20 years I traveled on the corporate dime, including an around the world trip for work in Asia and Europe on the same trip. I traveled almost 300k miles on planes during that time and had a chance to see how people live and work all over the world.

0_0j ,
@0_0j@lemmy.world avatar

Dude, this is exactly what billions of people wish for. You are living the dream, take in every second of it.

graeghos_714 ,

I worked with a lot of people making close to 6 figures who only had a 2 year associates degree in controls traveling right along side of me. They made more than me with less education but more technical skill. It’s also a job market that is growing like crazy; automation.

falseprophet ,

In high school a learned a bit programming but I did not like it much back then. Later on a 386 computer I discovered qbasic with nibbles.bas (snake game) and gorillas.bas. I figured out how to more lives in nibbles.bas by modifying it's qbasic.
This made me more interested in programming and try write my own games in qbasic.

NONE_dc ,
@NONE_dc@lemmy.world avatar

I’ve been “learning” programming for about 10 years in a self-taught way. I don’t even know why I started, but it was with C, but I quit soon after when I realized I didn’t understand anything. I was jumping between C#, Javascript, and other languages until I landed on Python, mainly because I wanted to learn how to use Godot, and in the documentation of the Engine it said that its language, GDScript, was very similar to Python, and my reasoning was “Ah, ok. Then if I learn Python it will be easier for me to learn GDScript”. So I started learning Python and was able to create my first programs, but after a while I lost interest and forgot why I was learning it in the first place.

When the controversy with Unity happened, I don’t know what happened to me but I felt a kind of wake-up call, like that was the moment to go back to Godot, and that’s what I did. And while I was making my first game suddenly everything I had learned the previous years made sense, now I really enjoy programming.

HubertManne ,

I mean im in tech and im on a dev team but I come from ops/admin and I while I get the idea of dev ops I still don't like calling it development because I simply do not have the 10k hours of coding experience. I work with and modify files in various languages and more often than not simply configuration files that are just a format. I sorta have the same feelings as you but I know I won't really get there unless im doing it the majority of the time over the course of a few years and I doubt that is going to happen.

Thomrade ,

From someone who worked as a dev/engineer for a long time dont downplay DevOps as “not really development” most of what standard development is today is wiring together different services and building a UI on it. DevOps is a critical part of the impillar that is software development. Just because you’re not writing the JS that renders the front end doesn’t mean you’re not developing for the product! Infrastructure is as important as UI!

HubertManne ,

yeah the problem comes with recruiters. Its like I can't say I know python inside and out or am a python expert and a lot of times I get contacted for roles where at least they are aking for it. also I have utilized pipelines and troubleshooted but did not write them and such. Its like azure and aks. I have troubleshot like network issues but I can't say im an azure admin the way I used to be a windows admin a decade or so ago.

polarbearulove ,

While I agree with a lot of the other comments with the “you learn by doing vibe”, I feel like it’s a bit open ended and it can be a struggle taking the first step.

I started out around 2012 with some “how to do java” tutorials, and through that learned the language agnostic basics of programming (variables, functions, arrays, loops etc). But because I had nothing I wanted to make, I dropped that pretty soon after and didn’t touch anything code related for like 5 years.

I randomly applied for a job that required a whole lot of sql knowledge, got the role (when I probably shouldn’t have in all honesty) and that prior knowledge helped tremendously in getting up to speed with that, I just had to learn the sql specific stuff on the go.

I then wanted to do a Pokemon Romhack, so followed tutorials on YouTube which taught me a bunch of C and git.

So yeah, it wasn’t until I actually needed to use something that I actually learned any languages, and the original language I set out to learn I know absolutely nothing about now, but it did give me the baseline knowledge I needed to pick all the rest up far easier.

lennivelkant ,

I’ve twice now gotten a position without prior knowledge of the tools in question. I think a lot is just taking a gamble on your ability to learn as you go - which clearly worked out in your case.

TheBigMike ,

I saw the video about Python from Life Of Boris and thought it looked fun, so I just decided to learn programming.

konalt ,
@konalt@lemmy.world avatar

I love Life of Boris

Asudox ,
@Asudox@lemmy.world avatar

I started learning Python in middle school and completed some projects that I wanted to make. That’s how I got into programming. Now I use Rust for my hobby projects and C++ for school.

I always were fascinated by computers so it was easier for me to get into it. But if you can find something that might get you motivated to try to program, I’m certain you’ll get into it.

Nemo ,

The used Commodore64 my parents bought from my cousin included a book on programming in BASIC. I wrote a few games and was hooked.

From there I moved on to ZZT and its internal scripting language, making dozens more games and sharing them with friends and Internet strangers. At the same time I was teaching myself HTML from online tutorials and making my first webpages.

By the time I was in college I was writing my own blogging software and doing freelance projects for grad students who needed specialized data-processing widgets. Also learning the more mathematical side of CS like computability theory and complexity theory and graph theory, and some boring computer engineering stuff that wasn’t nearly as interesting to me.

When I left college I needed a job and stumbled into teaching, first just web design and later into to CS. The senior teachers in the CS department taught me even more about both how computers really work as well as how to talk about information and the ways we use and manipulate it. I finally understood both the Fourier transform and JavaScript.

ImplyingImplications ,

I played flash games as a kid on Newgrounds. There was an option to submit your own flash games and that made me curious as to how they were made. I searched tutorials on how to make flash games and that was my start.

Eventually I got interested in making programs outside of Flash. Still being a kid, I wanted to be the coolest programmer/hacker ever so I learned C (the only language hackers use) and intalled linux (the OS for hackers). I mostly use Python now since I can get projects done much faster.

It doesn’t matter what language you start with. Just learn the core concepts around loops, if statements, data types, data structures, object-oriented programing vs functional programming. Those concepts span across all languages and once you know them you can just google “how to splice string in (language here)” when you’re using a different language. C is great if you also want to learn how computers manage data and how data structures work from first principles, since in C you need to manage memory yourself and it doesn’t come with any advanced data structures built in so you’ll need to implement them yourself.

I now mostly use my programming knowledge for hobby stuff. I automate tasks, do programming challenges, and mod games.

xmunk ,

I was undeclared but leaning towards a stats major in college - I started working with SAS and found I liked building the solutions more than figuring out the statistics of it all.

TheBigBrother ,

I don’t I’m just a server setter…

eldavi ,

i did IT for a long time and the ability to program becomes a necessary evil once you reach a certain point. that coupled with the covid shortages led me to becoming a software developer.

it looks like the employment landscape is undergoing a dramatic shift again. i’m being forced to find a new job thanks to biden and developer jobs in my area dramatically fewer and insanely fiercely competitive; nothing at all like it was like during covid.

cerement ,
@cerement@slrpnk.net avatar

typing in Beagle Bros one-liners on an Apple ][ plus

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