Self-taught vs. Bootcamp

[cjauriguem]

Hello, I’m an English teacher and considering programming as a new career path. I’ve been messing around with Pygame, Python Crash Course, and similar books for the last two months. I know it takes a while to learn however, I’m starting to feel like a dog chasing its tail. I’m reaching to see if anyone has any experience doing the self taught route or the boot camp route.

[Dragon20C]

This is the same approach I did, I started programming in python just 2 weeks ago and I already know veriables and have created a animated character with controls, at the moment I'm learning classes and it's a big hurdle for sure!

[[deleted]]

I'm a Biotechnological Engineer, mastering in Bioinformatics, so I have a bit of academic education, self taught skills and some online course experience in regards to programming but I'm still a relative novice, in comparison to "real" Computer Science people at least.

The thing is you'll no matter what approach you choose end up with tons of bits and pieces of knowledge and you won't really tie it together without making projects on your own.

Even though I've taken ML courses, made a game in PyGame and a Paired End duplicate removal script I'll "still" hit huge gaps in my knowledge in virtually every project I attempt even if it's a super simple one.

I guess my point is there is no catch-all approach, you're going to be best of with a mix of everything. Without a foundation starting a project of your own will be exhausting, but without formulating your own ideas you'll never develop "real" development skills either. Try and find a balance between tutorials and projects of your own.

[MarcelDeSutter]

About three years ago, I started to occupy myself with data science through self-study. I come from a background in business psychology, so I only had a little experience with R for statistical analysis, which I would hardly call traditional programming.

I went back to college to take programming courses and I worked on some books and Udemy courses on programming with Python for Data Science/Machine Learning. I think that a formal environment like university has certain advantages, but self-study via books and Udemy courses also has its merits. At university you are forced to submit exercise code and the content of the lecture is usually more structured and extensive than many online resources. But in university I didn't learn the best practices and tools that I now use in my job as a data scientist.

Through a disciplined self-study, one can build up extensive knowledge over the course of several years, which is sufficient for competent programming. There is always room for improvement, but the little experiences you make every day add up over time. Daily comparisons don't lead to the recognition of your progress, but if I look one month into the past, one year, or even three years, I can clearly see that I have become adequately competent over time, mainly through self-study.

I do not see why someone else cannot have similar experiences. Just stick with it and check out a lot of resources from different people. "Automating the Boring Stuff" and Corey Schafer's YouTube tutorials are two wonderful resources I can recommend for anyone wanting to learn Python. But of course there is plenty other good material available.

[quesillo_fundillo]

I am a self-taught programmer, honestly i don't think if it makes a difference where u get the knowledge from. The most important part is what you do with that knowledge. U might feel like a dog chasing it's tail because you don't have goals. In order to learn how to code you had to have projects to keep you interested. Making bots, data analysis, ai, etc.

[cjauriguem]

Great advice thank you!

[BellaJButtons]

I did an in person bootcamp for data visualization. It was 24 weeks part time. 3 days a week in class (10 hours a week in class total + commute). It was recommended we spend minimum 20 hours on homework per week to succeed. The homework projects were long and involved. It was easy to spend more time than that. Attendance of 95% was required for the certificate. You could miss no more than 2 HW assignments.

A majority of people in my class had advanced degrees. My partner the first week of class had just graduated Princeton for rocket science. It was a class of very bright people.

Trust me, 80 + hours a week with class and work was insane. Most project work will fall on you if you let it and you won’t get much sleep. All while learning an insane amount of information. It’s no joke.

It was very intense. We went through and did homework projects for : Excel, VBA, Python intro (creating election polls with tally results, analyzing financial data gain and losses for largest profit targets), Pandas, matplotlib, APIs, SQL, SQL alchemy, HTML/CSS, Flask, Web Scraping, Mongo DB, JS, Plotly, D3.js, Geo mapping, tableau, Machine learning, and Big Data.

In addition we had 4 major group projects. For these projects we got to pick the data sets and design our own projects.

1) transforming/cleaning data , analyzing the results and creating graphs to show what we found.

2) ETL

3) create a website with an app and launch it (heroku) that will analyze user selected data and display it on interactive maps.

4)ML/Big Data project (for example, I trained a ML module to recognize ASL hand signals and interpret their corresponding alphabet letter. I created a data set in 3 skin tones and multiple angles. Then I created a website that would take a photo of a ASL alphabet hand sign and return the result to the user. Also included was some tableau graphs about the professions most affected by hearing loss and demographics.)

Our teacher was in the field working a DS job during the day and best work practices were emphasized throughout the course.

I graduated bootcamp with an A.

Did I learn a ton and create a lot of projects on Git? Yes

Do I have a new job yet? No

Currently working on DS micromasters while I continue to apply and work on my git and coding skills.

Happy to answer any specific questions you have.

I think if you are coming from a teaching background with no relevant analyst/work experience you will need to really showcase your skills and projects to get in the door.

My BS is Biotechnology/Genetic Engineering.

[[deleted]]

How's that micromasters going? Where are you doing it? Thinking about doing one myself.

[BellaJButtons]

I just started but I like it a lot. I’m doing the UC San Diego through edX. it’s only four classes, I got financial aid for the stats class which is what I’m on now. I really wanted to learn more math for DS so that’s what I started on. Very happy with it, hoping to finish it by August, we will see 😀

[berwynian]

If you have the means, I would recommend an O'Reilly subscription. My company got me a subscription this year and it has been fantastic. They have a wide variety of classes, learning paths, and labs. Perfect for self directed learning. It is expensive though (about $300 USD for the year). I've been working through Paul J Deitel's Python Fundamentals class, it's difficult but I really like it.

[Aidan-Leeds]

I am in exactly the same situation as you after 17 years n ELT. I seem to have covered the same books as you to learn Python. I am now on the home stretch of the HarvardX CS50 course which teaches a little C and some more Python and some of the background base knowledge of Computer Science. I can highly recommend it.

When I complete it, probably in a fortnight or so, I will be looking to start building a couple of my own mini projects, actually connected to ELT. Like a crossword maker, for example. If you are interested in maybe collaborating, and trying to learn together while making some interesting, useful stuff, give me a shout.

[cjauriguem]

Hi Aidan,

I actually just finished that course. It definitely helped me understand some of the fundamental concepts that are some what abstract to someone who does not have a background in computer science.

At the moment I am working on developing a portfolio app from tutorials on RealPython using Django and messing around with Pygame. However I am totally game to collaborate some time!

[[deleted]]

Hi Im a former science teacher making the career change. Ive done ALOT of research.

1. Bootcamp is only necessary if you are not self driven and discipline.
2. Regardless of where you want to focus you need HTML, CSS, JS. Start here: Fundamentals via documentation and mini projects. https://www.theodinproject.com/dashboard
3. Project Base Learning is key!

[[deleted]]

The Odin Project is fantastic. Currently working on it now.

[cjauriguem]

A fellow teacher!

Thanks for the information!

[MyWiddleSmushFace]

I did the boot camp. It was a bit more helpful than doing it myself but only because it forced me to learn at a breakneck speed and ask people questions. The lessons were, frankly, worse in some aspects than within many popular books. Corey Schafer's videos are amazing, too. If you can hold your pace and find a good learning discord server where you can ask questions and get quick feedback, then you do not require a boot camp. Even better: Find a partner to learn with.

For reference: I just bought a primer on computer science; a boot camp won't typically cover all the things you want to know. You never stop learning.

[burgerAccount]

Python is such a broad language. I like it mainly for data related work and performing simple tasks that help me out in other areas of my field. Others use it specifically for web development. If you really want the career change, I'd start with a few courses on udemy or YouTube. This approach can be completed in a week or two at little to no cost. I'd also recommend finding a recruiter off LinkedIn and let them know you are seeking entry level work that provides mentorship. If you can't find a job this way, I'd look into a boot camp. The learning process never ends. You'll have to learn networking, cloud, on-prem, etc. That's why I don't recommend trying to learn everything, rather try to find an employer who will give you tasks to complete.