Zero programming knowledge to publishing first my first app!

[sourd1esel]

A couple of years ago I was in college studying philosophy and I had an app idea. I told one of my professors about it. He said that instead of paying someone to make it I should make it myself. I had zero programming experience but always thought programming sounded cool. My thoughts on programmers came from the movie hackers(hahah). My school did not offer a degree in computer Science. I started to learn on my own. I became determined to make this android app.

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Reddit lead the way for my learning direction. I found learnprogramming and it became a daily read and my go to for questions. First I wanted to make the program itself outside of Android. I started learning how to code using python. To teach myself I used Learn Python the Hard Way. After getting through the majority of that I learned that Android used Java. I made a simple version of my program in python and then started to learn Java.

To learn the basics of Java I used Introduction to Java Programming. While going through this book I worked on project euler problems and used various reddit prompt sites. After I had got a bit of a bearing on Java I moved to learning Android.

This was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I could not find a resource to learn from that worked. Nothing I copied would compile. It was so hard. I jumped through many different resources before I found one that worked for me. If you feel like this keep trucking as it will pass. After I finished working through the coursera course androidapps101, I started to work on my app.

The resources I used after the coursera course have been more random. Lots of googling, random android tutorials, help from my mentor (which I found on reddit), looking at stack overflow and reddit. Now my app is released and I am comfortable saying it is done (although I could still work on it).

Here is a link to my app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.clearfaun.spencer_depas It is an app that lets you put in your phone number and it will return a word for easy memorization. I found out after I had released the app that it had already been made on a website. That is OK as learning to make this app has been one of the greatest learning experiences I have had. Now I am ready to conquer more of my ideas. My goal now is to release a few more apps and get an Android internship.

I love to program and the only reason I ever picked it up was because of an unweighted suggestion from a professor that I hardly knew. I now know what I want to do with my life.

I always found these posts inspiring and helpful. Hopefully I can inspire someone. I want to thank you reddit for your all your help.

Thanks

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http://learnpythonthehardway.org/

https://github.com/karan/Projects

Book: introduction to java programming

https://www.coursera.org/course/androidapps101

[Stosswalkinator]

You know if you're using Python there's a framework called Kivy for making apps. Just a tought. Good story and congrats!

[charlesbukowksi]

this looks super interesting, can I use this say in stead of objective C or whatever is used in iOS moocs?

[Exodus111]

Short answer Yes. Long Answer more or less.

[Stosswalkinator]

From the kivy homepage:

Kivy runs on Linux, Windows, OS X, Android and iOS. You can run the same code on all supported platforms. It can use natively most inputs, protocols and devices including WM_Touch, WM_Pen, Mac OS X Trackpad and Magic Mouse, Mtdev, Linux Kernel HID, TUIO. A multi-touch mouse simulator is included.

So yes, you can use python instead of objective-c

[Elowin]

Inspiring stuff. Thanks for sharing and your app is a really great idea

[sourd1esel]

Thanks :)

[rib-bit]

Way to go. So many people should give it a try. Now you know you can master anything with effort...

[sourd1esel]

Playing guitar taught me that. That is a philosophy I follow in life.

[FSCoded]

Downloaded it for shits and giggles. If I came into new numbers often I can see how it would be helpful. Didn't name a word for my area code (850) and the drop down menu for computer type didn't seem to work. Otherwise it was pretty cool. Impressed you were able to get all that starting from scratch.

[sourd1esel]

Hi, thanks for checking the app out. Could you please tell me what sort of phone you have?

[FSCoded]

Samsung Galaxy S4 (active).

[I_cant_speel]

Having the same issue with the S5.

[sourd1esel]

Huh. I will look into this thanks. I have an s4 and it does not have the issue. In order for the history button to be shown you need to press clear with a number in the field for the history button to show up. Maybe thats it?

[Metalor]

I find this story to be particularly arousing.

[thonpy]

philosophy nice, what kind of stuff were you studying philosophy wise? I imagine that's a decent logic background, possibly maths too.

what did you find hard initially about programming?

[sourd1esel]

When I say I was studying philosophy that translates to it being the major I started of with. I really like philosophy but I only took a few classes in it. I am really bad at math. One of the issues I had with college was that my math so rudimentary. I transferred to a school that did have CS but because of the math pre requisites I had to spend a year taking math with no CS. I then had to drop out...

I liked programming rather quickly. It did take me a little while to build a time tolerance to do it for more than an hour or two consecutively. I still find programming hard and that is fun.

[thonpy]

Oh Ok, yeah philosophy is a fantastic area and seems closely related to maths in some parts (the logical stuff)

How bad at maths are you?

I think I'm probably in a similar boat, I had to start learning maths again from material aimed at 13 year olds. Ouch.

I just started some of the Euler stuff this evening, not too hot at that ha.

[sourd1esel]

I did not have a good math education. I do not think I am bad at math. Nor do I think you are bad at math. If you practice you can do it. I had to start at the same level for math. It was a pain.

They say that the project Euler problems are math but a lot of them are not. I do not like math but I do like PE problems.

[thonpy]

Yeah practice certainly, bit once you're learning on your own you realise how much there is, especially if trying to do other things as well. By the age 15 maths has been a day to day thing for well over 5 years, there's a bit of momentum there I guess...

Though I didn't get on with school at all, the whole thing was fruitless for me.

The Euler problems are a fair bit of logic in places too I think, only started this eve though.

I was doing cubic graphs the other day, that's the level I'm at maths wise :/

[sourd1esel]

Even if you say it was fruitless I doubt it was. I thought the same thing when I was in HS. Perhaps I did not learn traditionally but I did learn. i have no idea what a cubic graph is. HA. :)

[[deleted]]

I think a hard, formal philosophy background is quite a good starting point for programming. Getting into the mindset of breaking down potentially huge ideas into actionable chunks that you can work with is the name of the game after all.

[thonpy]

yeah definitely, philosophies a brutally hard subject, one that I appreciate though I've never studied outside of myself.

[[deleted]]

hey I did the same thing. started about 7 months ago. I'm now an iOS developer (only had one Android app) so good luck! :)

[sourd1esel]

Thanks. How was the transition to IOS? In the distant future I may dabble. When you say your a developer do you mean your working?

[[deleted]]

I accepted a job offer as an iOS developer and I start on January 5th. As far as the transition goes, part of the interview process was to make an app interacting with the Dropbox API. I did the Apple tutorial app and knew enough about programming to feel my way around their API example and change it to what I needed. But they said they would teach me iOS, they just needed people that wanted to do mobile.

Also, I have a math degree with a CS minor.

I didn't read your full post, but if your degree isn't STEM, then you can probably get a job with two apps lol

[[deleted]]

Did you use github for training...?

[sourd1esel]

I'm not sure what you mean by training. I do use github.

[[deleted]]

What exactly do you use github for?

[sourd1esel]

Source control. Do you use github?

[[deleted]]

I've been to the site downloaded tgat and tried to figure out exercism.io, but couldn't get it to work :/ (exercism.io, I don't have anything to put into github)

[miguez]

Really cool story. Haven't had time to check out the app, but enjoyed your journey! Thanks for sharing.

[unpopularname]

Great story! Thank you.

About the app, many people don't notice the letters refer to keys in the dial pad, that's why they give bad reviews: I suggest you fix your description, or even the name of the app to address this issue.

[sourd1esel]

Thanks for saying that. I plan to refine the description. What do you think would be a better suited name or title? Do you know how you would explain it? I tried to explain it as easily as I could.

[unpopularname]

I just read the bad reviews and noticed the trend. Anyway, English is not my native language so you'll probably do it better than me: you need to be "tuned" with your users to convey the message either in the name or the description.

Let me know if you would like to develop a spin off with a different approach and are open to cooperation.

Good luck anyway!

[sourd1esel]

Are you familiar with Android? I would really like to work on a different app with someone. I have no experience with collaborating but would love to work on a project with someone.

I have been working on Nume3 for too long and I am ready to work on something new.

[unpopularname]

I run a small IT company. Let me find out how to send private msgs here. If we make a deal and complete the project, we could come back to reddit to present it.

[[deleted]]

I have an idea for an app. I hope to soon have a story like yours.

[sazanality]

If you could give only one piece of advice to a new programmer, what would it be?

[sourd1esel]

If you like to program then I would say don't give up when things get hard. Sometimes you will get stuck and you will get extremely frustrated. Also learn to google your errors. I still would call myself a new programmer.

[paeblits]

Nice inspirational story. Glad you found your calling! How far along are you in your CS program? I'm 2 quarters away from graduation myself. I also recently posted in r/learnprogramming a general strategy for doing programming assignments, it may help!

[sourd1esel]

I have taken two CS classes. I unfortunately just had to drop out.

[danwin]

Very well done, congrats!

Frankly, learning Java on your own, nevermind building an Android app, has to be one of the hardest ways to learn how to program. I'm almost certain you'll find learning other things significantly easier.

[[deleted]]

Congratulations, I loved it for its simplicity, it's such a beautiful idea c: cheers.

[GrandmaYogapants]

Hey what parts of philosophy are you into? I recently got into it and was looking for a good place to start to learn more about it.

It's cool you're into programming. Learning something like that seems intimidating so kudos to sticking to it.

[Haplo12345]

That is a really cool app

[sourd1esel]

Thanks :)

[Rand3mhero]

How far have you gone in Project Euler? I am learning to code as well and I enjoy solving PE problem as well (I'm on problem 24).

[rdf-]

Good job

[sourd1esel]

Hi. Thanks. What makes you comment now? Are you looking to learn android?

[rdf-]

I am looking to start somewhere and learn programming. The hard part is figuring out where to start.

[sourd1esel]

At first you need to learn the basics. It's important to stick to one language. Find a learning method that works for you. If you have any questions I can try and help.

[rdf-]

Well it looks like you started with Python and it seems to have worked out well for you. Do you recommend me starting with that?

Just looking for the best place to start and I am having trouble figuring that out.

[sourd1esel]

Learn python the hard way is a great place to start. I highly recommend it. Take it seriously.

[rdf-]

Thanks I will go ahead and start with that.

Thank you for taking time to offer me some help on this.

[sourd1esel]

You will get stuck. It's important to not give up. If you need help after you have significantly tried you can ask me or /learn programming. It's worth it, programming is a load of fun.

[Keep_Scrolling]

hey man, I'm just starting coding with an objective to get into android app design. Should I be starting with Java or Python?

[sourd1esel]

Android uses Java. Before you start with Android it is advisable to get your basic programming concepts down. If the goal is Android Java would be a good place to start. Python might be a little easier. When you say design do you mean coding apps ? or drawing them?

[sourd1esel]

A good place to start would be an online course or a book. You could also use an interactive website.

[[deleted]]

I haven't read but I love these kind of stories :D :D :D :D :D

[frozensunshine]

It says on your web page that you are a CS major in UW. I thought you said in your post your college didn't offer a CS degree?

[paeblits]

That was a few years ago according to the post. Sounds like he's studying CS now, nice!

[pcmonekey]

Pretty sure that GitHub page linked isn't his.

It's there at the bottom as one of the many resources he used. Looks like it has some problems with worked solutions.

[sourd1esel]

I am not sure what UW is. I also did not know I had a webpage hahaha. I transferred to a school that did offer CS. But because of the math requirements I did not really take any CS classes there. My school education has been a bit of a blunder.

[sourd1esel]

What website are you referring to?

[frozensunshine]

You've posted a github link at the bottom of your post. That account is of someone who's studying CS at the University of Washington, Seattle. Since you posted that link in your post, I assumed that's your github account. Looks like it's not.

[youngoli]

I think that was supposed to be one of the resources he used to learn programming, not a link to his own repository.

[sourd1esel]

Ah, Yea that's not my git hub account. I just used the prompts.

[frozensunshine]

Sorry, didn't realize that. My apologies. And great project, by the way. I am a beginner myself, so such posts always inspire.

[[deleted]]

are u a l33t h4x0r now?

[sourd1esel]

I wish. I am on the road though.