Software Development and Programming Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[KritNC]

question for the brehs in here..i have a project in the fall im starting for my client that will require me to sharpen up on my HTML knowledge a little bit...and i definitely need a refresher...best websites for that?

Design + Code My Personal Website - YouTube

 

[Data-Hawk]

question for the brehs in here..i have a project in the fall im starting for my client that will require me to sharpen up on my HTML knowledge a little bit...and i definitely need a refresher...best websites for that?

Along with the video posted. If you are looking for a quick hands on. I recommend this book

 

[Scott Larock]

First Question really depends on the company. If you have the skills most will not care about your age unless you are close to retirement or something.

A usual day , We have what's called Sprints( how long the sprint is depends on the company and the project ) One project may be 6 weeks , another one may be 4 weeks. During that time frame you are assigned tasks/User Stories, example : Implement this business rule ,fix an issue with a common library or refactor this class by taking some of the logic out and put it into another class. Each day we have what's called a Scrum call, which consist of

1.) what did you do since the last call
2.) What do you plan on doing today
3.)Are there any issues holding you back.

The call should be no more than 15-30 minutes. Me personally, now I'm on 3 Scrum calls a day. On my last project we never did Scrum calls. But see I'm speaking from a perspective of working at a company that has 34K+ employees and work with just about any technology you can think of. I'm sure the experience is pretty different at a small shop.

Honestly, I would focus on doing some programming before and seeing if it's really for you. All the other stuff will not matter if you hate programming. I'm 34 now and been programming since I was 15( Shoutout to Qbasic ) and I still have days where I want to throw the computer out the window, with my bonus I'll probably hit $105K this year salary wise, but I would take $70K to work on a game like Battlefield. So not only look at programming, but also look at the type of programming you want to do. My suggestions:

1.) Create a couple of simple projects.
2.) Decide what type of programmer you want to be, just saying I want to program don't cut it anymore. do you want to do Mobile Apps, Desktop Apps or Web apps?
3.) Unless you are 50+, don't worry about the age thing or the type of environment and benefits. If you truly have a passion for programming, none of that will really matter when starting out.
4.) This field constantly requires you to keep learning. I really have no reason to go back to school, but I have plans to work for companies like Nvidia/Google/Dice one day. So just because you know programming dont mean you can just jump to any other type of programming( if that makes sense ).

If you are looking for a quick come up( not saying you are ). I would find another field.

I'm not the type to. Create apps I just want make some money, it's probably not for me if I do any programming I'm going to want to do website maintenance, I'm closer to tech support than anything else, creativity is not my thing, I just want money and have alot of women as selfish as that sounds, I'm probably better off doing networking or pursing that.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[MaccabeanRebel]

Humble Book Bundle: Joy of Coding presented by No Starch Press (pay what you want and help charity)

$15 for all those dope ass books all from free

Get ya code on brehs and brehettes

 

[Renkz]

Starting my last year of college
Operating Systems
Software Architecture and Design
Software Projects Computers Networks
Mathematical Foundations
Almost there

 

[Apollo Creed]

Starting my last year of college
Operating Systems
Software Architecture and Design
Software Projects Computers Networks
Mathematical Foundations
Almost there

start applying to jobs now

 

[Sane]

Humble Book Bundle: Joy of Coding presented by No Starch Press (pay what you want and help charity)

$15 for all those dope ass books all from free

Get ya code on brehs and brehettes

I've got too many programming books taking up space though

 

[Jimi Swagger]

I'm serious but where would I start? I want to start from stratch and get a gig in 5 months...


but where would I start with this programming stuff? I'm actually ready though the 70-697 right now but I'm uncertain about it. i got the op video on udemy as well as other stuff.

I flip flop between this and networking a lot. deciding whats easier? I need a desk job due to my condition.

Like @Matt504 mentioned, codeschool. KhanAcademy is another great resource as it offers classes on just about anything, so if you don't have the mathematical foundations, you can also use it for this as well as coding classes. Intro to Javascript and mySQL are good lessons to start. Udemy and Thinkster are ok. If you are a LinkedIN Premium subscriber, may coding courses are on their partner site Lynda which you can post completed classes to LinkedIn resume.

 

[D1renegade]

I just picked up a beginner's Python course thanks to the sale Udemy had going on this week. I'm not planning on becoming a full-time programmer, but I heard this skill could be useful in my cyber security pursuits.

I'm excited to see what this could do for me.

 

[Renkz]

@ORDER_66 how's that android game going?

 

[you're NOT "n!ggas"]

Anybody know of a program that lets you dynamically add/delete pages to a document?

I'm want to create an EZ drafting type of deal for my job... there's a number of different forms that are repeatedly filled out whenever a new client comes in. I want to load all of them into a document and have a facesheet type of page where you can enter info like name, DOB, check boxes that apply to the client, etc and the document dynamically autopopulates and cuts/adds forms as requested....



anybody?!

 

[kevm3]

Testing is extremely annoying, especially front-end testing.

 

[Jimi Swagger]

Starting my last year of college
Operating Systems
Software Architecture and Design
Software Projects Computers Networks
Mathematical Foundations
Almost there

If you want to be a developer and you haven't already done so, then:

1. Make sure you have functional readable code on a public repository like Github or portfolio on Codepen. Be able to explain to an interviewer why you wrote this code and it's function (I suggest commenting because I often forget why I wrote shyt and am a copy paste/GTS coder; my end goal was consulting rather than being a code monkey like the other CSers). Companies like to see your thought process.

2. Create an interactive resume in addition to a paper copy, show employers your skill and creativity. Include links to your portfolio mentioned in the previous step. That will set you above your competition (Southeast and East Asians) as they tend not to promote themselves. This is one reason why they dominate in tech/engineering department but are non-existent as managers, who are generally White even though the Asian grunts are much more educated, efficient, talented and smarter from my experience. Make friends with them too.

3. Intern as a QA Engineer or look for entry level QA jobs right now once you have completed the previous steps.
Startup companies are good as they are willing to take chances, have younger management, and less people so many roles to learn and more lenient when you fukk up as they are growing as well. Also, you can be a big fish in a small pond vs. corporate. QA allows you to explore different aspects of Software Development Life Cycle(SDLC), especially requirements, data analyst and testing, generally writing automated scripts and it's easier to move into junior and associate level software engineering once you have that experience under your belt and you will be in better competition. Also will help you write less buggy code vs to someone who is a straight developer bc you know how to test and less attached/biased bc it's someone else's code you are reviewing . Also easier to move into management since you have other experience besides staring at an IDE for 8+ hours a day, unless thats something you want to do forever.

5. Go to Meetups. A lot of CTOs for companies have book clubs and host hackathons. They are always looking for new talent. The best jobs come through networking and connections and not applying on a website and "hard work" despite the bullshyt adults will tell you. Also, you will connect with like minds with a range of experience and learn emerging technologies. I recently attended one for D3 data driven docs for JS.

6. Learn read up on Agile and obtain a ITIL v3 foundation certification.

Edit: Apologies for the fluent ebonics and typos - let me know if I need to clarify anything. Just freetyping. Feel free to PM me if you want more advice.

 

[Ralph Wiggum]

What do you guys think of those udacity nanodegree programs?
Android Basics Nanodegree by Google | Udacity

Theyre 200 bucks a month but they come with a job guarantee. I live in a small town and with the exception of a military base(which is impossible to get a job at unless you have family working there) all jobs here are minimum wage and part time. So any type of internship is really not possible. I already got an associates in computer science from my local CC but my programming classes were like 3 years ago and to say I'm rusty would be an understatement. I guess my goal is to be able to support myself in a bigger city while finding a job in programming since there is nothing in my area really. Can these udacity nanodegree be worth it?

edit: I still got my java and C++ textbooks, Im currently going through the java one at the moment.

 

[kevm3]

Can't say anything about one of those 'nanodegrees'. What I've found that is most important is your actual portfolio. Like can you show them actual things you've made?