Coding brehs: Does one need to be smart or just good at following directions?

[El_Mero_Mero]

If I'm just looking to get an average coding job making 60K USD or less where I can work remotely and not need to be "highly skilled", do I actually need to be smart, or just good at following directions?

I have no sorts of computer skills (not even good at Microsoft Excel). I heard that Fullstack may be worth looking into. What do you guys advise?

I was told to try freecodecamp.org and see other programs like that, like YearUp (I'll leave this in here for anyone else, but further research shows YearUp is no good if you're over 30), but I think I may be out of my league. Do they start with basic baby steps?

 

[Macallik86]

Initially, learning is just following directions and eventually you start making connections. If you don't have computer skills, that doesn't mean that you aren't built to be a coder, that just means you don't have computer skills. Once you realize that everyone initially sucked at Excel, coding, etc, it makes this stuff less intimidating.

The average beginners course assumes that you have zero professional experience. They are typically created so that anyone from 19 to 90 years old can follow along. Often, the first few lessons are showing you how to download the free software.

Overall, you may have to occasionally watch videos more than once until an idea sinks in, but other than that, it's a normal skill just like anything else in life.

Also, you might be better asking for this thread to be moved to 6 Certs 6 Figures btw

 

[Pete Wrigley]

"What problem am I trying to fix?"

That's the question you'll need to ask yourself if you want to start any coding project, in my opinion. Mainly, because...say you do a Udemy video tutorial, you're following along but you're just doing everything the teacher is doing and not really learning how to do it on your own.

If you do a tutorial with a problem or situation in mind, you can apply what you're learning to your project accordingly.

Along with that, you'll need to figure out what programming language(s) you want to dive into. There are sooo many different jobs that involve coding so to start, you'll want to look at a jobs in your area to see what's in demand and what stacks are being used. Research some of the programming languages and YouTube them and see if they look interesting.

 

[Duke Wy Lin]

Try it out and see if you like it. Try web development.

Yes, you actually have to understand what you're doing if you want to get a job.