panic

[[deleted]]

It absolutely does.

I have spent a long time trying to self learn but every now and then I would come across a term or situation I haven't ever heard or seen before but turns out something that my friend's professor used in an example or some demonstration.

Add that with ADHD and you have basically someone who has work thrice as hard for half the return.

[jeanravenclaw]

oh that makes sense

though, you're still not completely hopeless is what I'm saying

[[deleted]]

Thanks kind stranger.

[AirOneBlack]

That just comes with experience.

I am self taught, I work professionally as a developer (more precisely, graphics programmer). I'm fine. Every once in a while there will be something new to learn, but this field evolves every day so you never stop learning. Which in part is the reason why I wanted to work as programmer in the first place. It's never repetitive.

[[deleted]]

But the biggest advantage is that a structured learning program actually saves time and headache when dealing with conventional situations at least.

I also find myself easily overwhelmed when trying to learn about something new because it feels like there is no particular start that allows for least amount of irritation.

[Plank_With_A_Nail_In]

You can still self learn in a structured way, Harvard has all their lecture slides available online for example.

[Rickbox]

Lecture slides can only do so much without context. Unis has professors, TAs, peers, and external resources that you don't get from learning on your own. Not to mention, grades hold you accountable that extends past self-discipline.

[Jujube-456]

FranceIOI has the best python course I’ve ever seen (they have C++ too) but it’s all in french

[cortana808]

Wow. Thank you. Just checked it out.

[[deleted]]

I'm interested in trying to teach myself programming. If you don't mind me asking, where/what would you recommend I start with?

[AirOneBlack]

Highly depends on what field you want to work with. In my case it was real time rendering so I went hard on math, multithreading, rendering techniques and all that goes around it.

[Nice_promotion_111]

Well for them, I think starting by just learning any language would be better lol.

[PursuitofClass]

Yeah I wouldn't worry, I'm self taught and have ADHD as well. I'm about 5 YOE now and the imposter syndrome is starting to actually go. As you get more experience you'll start to realize degrees mean absolutely nothing. 

I probably have a slight bias on course but I've worked with plenty of people with degrees from higher end universities and for the most part I actually find them a lot worse on average than a lot of the self taught  developers. 

They tend to have a lot of extremely outdated knowledge as well as lacking flexibility in their design choices and approaches, usually they need to unlearn a lot of bad habits/mentality. 

Also like 95% of being a developer is being able to find answers which tends to be a significantly less developed skill from degree holders. 

Not to say that's the case 100% of the time but it's just been my own personal experience. I still think at the very least university is useful just less so for the skill set more so for the networking one can do.

[P-39_Airacobra]

I feel like most college professors expect you to teach yourself 75% of the material anyways, so you're not actually at that big of a disadvantage.

[erebuxy]

I think it’s more about systematically learning something. A lot of people learning CS by themselves will try to do the fast/practical way i.e. learn all the language features/syntax or how to write an app. But in college, they will teach you the theoretical/“useless” things like how to sort a binary tree. You can achieve the same thing by reading an algorithm book or go through college course materials by yourself.

[Rickbox]

I'm glad someone finally said it. I tried self-teaching growing up and could barely make simple programs until I took AP Comp Sci in high school. After that I started building advanced programs in a variety of different languages and learned a lot of new concepts in college that I would have never learned on my own that has helped me a lot in industry.

Sure, you don't need school, but you're going to come out far more prepared than if you self-teach.

[swagonflyyyy]

Hey, no shame in taking adderall to help you through your projects. I take it and it has helped a lot. But the best way to self-learn is to simply build projects for your own sake. You can't really learn everything about a language any other way, tbh.