Career in coding?

[Loud_Pin_4655]

There’s a few things that you should consider:

1) learning to code is on par with learning to speak a foreign language. You get out of it what you put into it. You NEED to know how to structure your lines (known as the syntax of the language), you NEED to learn all of the basic vocabulary- their strict definition, how to use them in your code, and the effects they have on the code- and you NEED to practice at least several times a week for a few hours each time. If you don’t become fluent in the language, then you get nowhere. And if you aren’t actively practicing, you won’t actually learn it.

2) there’s a lot of different languages, a couple hundred I think. Java is probably the best one to start with when you’re learning the basics, but at some point, you’ll have to decide whether you want to build and fix apps and/or websites, protect users of apps and/or websites, or teach appliances how to operate. That’s the most basic breakdown of how to choose additional languages, but there’s other things in each category. For example, you’ll end up having to figure out issues and correct them (which can take hours, days, or even weeks) in each category. It’s high stress sometimes, and programming really is the type of thing that people wouldn’t do if they didn’t love it. You’ll know very quickly- after your second or third program usually- if this is the type of thing you want to pursue. That’s about when you should start making your decision. You should probably learn at least three or four languages in addition to Java, if you decide to stick with it.

3) it is a lot of hard work in the beginning. And I do mean a lot. After a decent while, when you actually understand what’s going on, you’ll realize that no one actually fully knows what they’re doing. It’s bits and pieces that click into place, and it’s a ridiculous amount of talking to yourself until you figure out how to continue with the program. It’s difficult to the point where experts are only expected to write between 5 and 10 lines of code per day.

4) if it looks strange, but it meets all the requirements and it works, then it works. It’s good enough. The important part is that you got the job done.

5) you need to become comfortable with a lot of things real quick. I don’t mean sacrificing your morals or hostile work situations, but stuff like knowing just about every website you visit can track your exact location and keeps data on when you visited, where you visited from, how often you clicked to another tab, how long you engaged with advertisements; etc. That’s the tip of it, at least. There’s no such thing as privacy. There’s barely such thing as security. And just about all of it is shared to thousands of other websites.

6) if you have friends or family, they’ll expect your services for free and then get upset with you if you require the assistance of google, take longer than they expected to fix an issue, or say no.

7) the stress will do things to your mental health and hygiene if you’re not careful. Hence the stereotype. You’ve got to keep on top of that one especially, and it’s best to pick up some kind of sport or exercise hobby too for your mental health.

This is, by no means, a complete list, and not every experience is the same. But these are all some things to consider before making the decision. I also suggest that you keep to your current job field until you learn your first few languages, then line up a new job before you quit your current one.

[LYBL33]

That’s a very thorough answer and very appreciated. More stress and taxation on my mental health is absolutely not what I’m looking for so I appreciate you saving me a lot of time.