I tried learning programming off and on for about 3-4 years. Sometimes while working full time, sometimes while unemployed.
How to create an full stack web app didn't click until three things happened:
1. I took two statistics courses (one at a community college, one at a university. the university one involved programming in R). This really helped me understand that there are tons of different types of data, with different shapes, sizes, purposes.
2. I took a "Database Management" course at a university. This helped me understand how databases are designed and how they're used within the context of an app.
3. I looked up "What is a REST API" and "how does http work"-- specifically, coming to terms with what diagrams and code for these things means.
From there, I set my sights on building a full stack app in javascript. NodeJS (ExpressJS) on the backend, and initially jQuery on the frontend-- then I realized my jQuery project was turning into a mostly unstructured mess. I had heard about ReactJS, so I decided to take 1 month to learn it via Udemy.com (Stephen Grider's course). THen I re-did the frontend, and kept grinding on the project.
At various points, I lived in a tent in California, on a friend's ranch in Texas (did landscaping in exchange for rent), drove back to CA but failed to land a job (app was only halfway built), then I realized "You know what? Instead of living out of this tent in California, I bet I can rent a place for cheap in Mexico"-- Drove to Rosarito, Baja California, stayed at a hostel & made friends with its owner who rented me a cheap house for 3 months. Then went back to ranch in Texas, and 3 months later I finished the app.
All in all, most of the app was created part time in 6 months of part-time work (usually about 4 hours a day) (Prior to that I did some exploratory & design work on it for about a month).
The day after I finished it, I made a diagram about it. And a web portfolio featuring the project. And it's on github as well of course.
I applied to about 15 jobs. Landed one two weeks later, working with Clojure/ClojureScript-- I had never used it but the company gave me 2 weeks to pick up the basics.
So yeah--
- It takes sacrifice
- It takes focus
- It takes marketing strategy
It doesn't have to be a fantasy.
That first job was $80k on contract. About 3-4 years later I'm at $180k on salary (that number includes stock & bonuses)
What helped me was:
- The mentality of "If you really want it, you'll do whatever it takes to make it happen"
- Motivational music & speeches
- Help from developers on IRC (Especially the #nodejs and #reactjs channels -- these days on Libera server). And Udemy.com / Youtube / StackOverflow. But IRC is a chatroom where you can chat in real time w/ devs.
How to create an full stack web app didn't click until three things happened:
1. I took two statistics courses (one at a community college, one at a university. the university one involved programming in R). This really helped me understand that there are tons of different types of data, with different shapes, sizes, purposes.
2. I took a "Database Management" course at a university. This helped me understand how databases are designed and how they're used within the context of an app.
3. I looked up "What is a REST API" and "how does http work"-- specifically, coming to terms with what diagrams and code for these things means.
From there, I set my sights on building a full stack app in javascript. NodeJS (ExpressJS) on the backend, and initially jQuery on the frontend-- then I realized my jQuery project was turning into a mostly unstructured mess. I had heard about ReactJS, so I decided to take 1 month to learn it via Udemy.com (Stephen Grider's course). THen I re-did the frontend, and kept grinding on the project.
At various points, I lived in a tent in California, on a friend's ranch in Texas (did landscaping in exchange for rent), drove back to CA but failed to land a job (app was only halfway built), then I realized "You know what? Instead of living out of this tent in California, I bet I can rent a place for cheap in Mexico"-- Drove to Rosarito, Baja California, stayed at a hostel & made friends with its owner who rented me a cheap house for 3 months. Then went back to ranch in Texas, and 3 months later I finished the app.
All in all, most of the app was created part time in 6 months of part-time work (usually about 4 hours a day) (Prior to that I did some exploratory & design work on it for about a month).
The day after I finished it, I made a diagram about it. And a web portfolio featuring the project. And it's on github as well of course.
I applied to about 15 jobs. Landed one two weeks later, working with Clojure/ClojureScript-- I had never used it but the company gave me 2 weeks to pick up the basics.
So yeah--
- It takes sacrifice
- It takes focus
- It takes marketing strategy
It doesn't have to be a fantasy. That first job was $80k on contract. About 3-4 years later I'm at $180k on salary (that number includes stock & bonuses)
What helped me was:
- The mentality of "If you really want it, you'll do whatever it takes to make it happen"
- Motivational music & speeches
- Help from developers on IRC (Especially the #nodejs and #reactjs channels -- these days on Libera server). And Udemy.com / Youtube / StackOverflow. But IRC is a chatroom where you can chat in real time w/ devs.