Software Development and Programming Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

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I did so bad when I interviewed for my apprenticeship that I honestly thought there was no way I would get it. I was shocked when they called me back.
O man, I remember one time when I was a junior dev, the interview was for Java, and they asked me "Does Java allow you to write this piece of code: 'ABCD1234'.substring('BCD')?" I said no, and they asked if I was sure. And a remember in high school, one of my teachers said "Always answer confidently, even if you aren't sure". My dumbass said "No, I'm pretty sure you can't do that". Interviewer said "Yes, you can" and that was the end of that. Then I found out I made it past the technical round, lol. Didn't take the job, as I went to a C# shop, but I always thought that was funny. I'll only embellish if I know its possible
 

Obreh Winfrey

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O man, I remember one time when I was a junior dev, the interview was for Java, and they asked me "Does Java allow you to write this piece of code: 'ABCD1234'.substring('BCD')?" I said no, and they asked if I was sure. And a remember in high school, one of my teachers said "Always answer confidently, even if you aren't sure". My dumbass said "No, I'm pretty sure you can't do that". Interviewer said "Yes, you can" and that was the end of that. Then I found out I made it past the technical round, lol. Didn't take the job, as I went to a C# shop, but I always thought that was funny. I'll only embellish if I know its possible
shyt I'd still have said no right now. I didn't know you could pass in a substring, I thought it was only indexes. The difference is that now I'd explain WHY I thought that.
 

Duke Wy Lin

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Yall do know how to get all these books for free right? :dwillhuh:

I have so many free programming books that it would make your head spin.

Im sure I could get the ones yall are talking about right now.

libgen is a life saver. If you got an ebook reader, just convert them to epub/mobi and eat :banderas:

You can get almost any book for free.
 

Duke Wy Lin

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A lot of 'getting the job' comes down to just persistence. I've done several interviews where I thought I did very well only to get ghosted or denied. Then the job that I had a bad interview is the one I end up getting. Realistically, as a senior, you might have to do 5 to 10 interviews to really start getting the pay you want. As a junior, you will have to do much more to get in the door. Don't get discouraged with rejection.

Thanks for the encouragement breh :salute:
 
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Macallik86 thanks for the link. It is very interesting. I see that devepers over 45 learned mostly with books vs their younger counterparts had mostly learned online. It makes sense. But I was surprised to read that collocated devs get paid more on average than their cloud only devs. I don't know why that surprises me but it does.
 

Macallik86

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Macallik86 thanks for the link. It is very interesting. I see that devepers over 45 learned mostly with books vs their younger counterparts had mostly learned online. It makes sense. But I was surprised to read that collocated devs get paid more on average than their cloud only devs. I don't know why that surprises me but it does.
I was surprised how highly Udemy ranked with 66% of respondents learning online using it as a resource. I use them almost exclusively even tho my job lets me use Pluralsight for free (and my library lets me use LinkedIn Learning for free). I think they are clearly attracting better courses/instructors than other learning websites. For $10 you can get like a +30 hour course which is unrivaled imo
 

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I have a degree and 5 year experience as a chemical engineer with some programming knowledge . What advice can I get to get a SWE job?
Well the good thing is, I know a lot of people who have an engineering degree but not computer related who are in this field. I'd say the obvious career thing would be to pursue something where you can do software work for a company big into chemical engineering. So like, if you see a need at your company for maybe data analytics or a better user interface, those might be good ways to get yourself some work experience (it puts you in the unique position of having business domain knowledge, which I think most developers can lack). If you're looking for just a straight SWE job, you'll probably need to do a bit more work and you'll probably get started at an entry/junior level position.

I'd like to hear what other advice people would give
 

null

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I have a degree and 5 year experience as a chemical engineer with some programming knowledge . What advice can I get to get a SWE job?

which languages did you learn and how well do you know them?
what type of programming do you want to do? hardware? phone apps? application enterprise? webby? industrial? consultancy?
do you want to stay within the same business field?
are you a tech minded person. do you play with installing stuff on your tv, android? do you configure your network at home? etc?
are you willing to undertake formal study? cross-train? teach yourself?
what sort of timescales?
 
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which languages did you learn and how well do you know them?
what type of programming do you want to do? hardware? phone apps? application enterprise? webby? industrial? consultancy?
do you want to stay within the same business field?
are you a tech minded person. do you play with installing stuff on your tv, android? do you configure your network at home? etc?
are you willing to undertake formal study? cross-train? teach yourself?
what sort of timescales?
C+ , html, python. Intermediate level.
Whatever pays
Not really
Yes, I have made some programs
Yes
I got time
 

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C+ , html, python. Intermediate level.
Whatever pays
Not really
Yes, I have made some programs
Yes
I got time

it's always about maximising your chances by picking suitable fields, languages, industries and education for your target locations and your personal situation.

one general rule across the board with more or less any c-like language including modern ones is that being an excellent programmer is probably the no.1 determinant in improving your chances. this is true for truly excellent devs even above formal training or a degree (especially given that you have a degree already).

in terms of languages (and associated technologies) the most popular with the most opportunities are full-stack development, front-end web development, back-end web development, java development (J2EE including sprlng). C++ is pretty niche these days and to get a good job you will likely need to understand more recent versions like 14 or 17.

from the languages that you know today your best bet immediately would be a C++/python development role. when you say you are an intermediate programmer what do you mean? is it good enough to get a job now? companies are going to want a competent developer even if they take you on as a junior and the more background topics that you know the better.

further on your C++ have you read stoustrup and myers? do you understand threads? streams? memory management?

how do you do on those hacker rank type tests?

with C++ if you understand math(s), discrete maths, algorithms, data structures you will be at a distinct advantage.

do you understand why someone might write the following class? and what the danger would be in using it?

Code:
template<typename T>
class coli_set {

  using value_type [[maybe_unused]] = typename std::enable_if<
  std::is_same<int, T>::value ||
  std::is_same<bool, T>::value>::type;

public:
  coli_set(std::atomic<T> &var, const T &val) :
      _var(var), _val(val) {
  }

  virtual ~coli_set() {
    _var.store(_val);
  }

private:
  std::atomic<T> &_var;
  const T _val;

private:
  coli_set(const coli_set&) = delete;
  coli_set& operator=(const coli_set&) = delete;
};

so choice .. i think your first choice is to know the broad direction you want to go in.

to make choices you need to be armed. you need to understand programming and what the above sub-fields mean.

spend the next two weeks researching the various areas and the opportunities in your target areas.

follow programming related topics in general. watch scishow comp sci series on youtube. watch computerphile - these will give you background.

-

my own personal recommendation would be full-stack JS, Python, Java and associated tech but it would be quite an undertaking from scratch and at the end of the day YOU HAVE TO MAKE YOUR OWN CHOICE.

-

more questions: (if you want to answer them)

what are your target areas?

how much math is involved in your current work / field?

what sort of salary range would you be willing to start at?

have you worked for big companies/blue chips before?

does you company have in-house development?

what sub-field of chemical engineering do you work in?
 
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Dr. Acula

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Obreh Winfrey

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If you ever need to do a project to increase your skills but can't think of one, I came across this Github repo of various project ideas to challenge yourself.

I needed this about 10 years ago. Emailed my professor for ideas going into the summer and she didn't reply until like 2 years later
oprah-winfrey-oprah.gif
 

Macallik86

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Just did some digging in the last few months @Cobreh how are you making out w/ the Colt Steele course? I finished the first iteration but then he revamped the entire course. He's a very entertaining lecturer and has a course on Python and Data Visualization that I plan on knocking out over the next few months.
 
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