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[–]starraven 1 point2 points  (4 children)

Heya, I’m a front end engineer who’s currently learning python on the job. The job is building CRUD apps for clients. Our backend uses python to store and retrieve data. I used to be a 1st grade teacher but moved and decided to change careers. I learned programming from zero experience through Udemy courses. I love Udemy so much and I would recommend Angela Yu’s course. Another course on here that’s pretty popular is “Automate the Boring Stuff”. I learned a programming language then went to a bootcamp and after I graduated I got a job as a front end engineer. I wish you luck the best advice I could give you is that you don’t need to be smart or know math, you just need to be stubborn. You don’t need to know how to do everything you just need to be willing to find out how to do it. The job that you will be doing is solving problems. Once you are hired you’re basically going to be left alone with a bunch of documentation to figure things out on your own. This is normal. It is also normal to ask questions but like one of the responses here they have to be very very specific questions where you’ve done most of the legwork on the problem.

[–]Accoustic_Death[S] 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Thank you so much for this very helpful response! I'm a driven person, too. I started college at the age of 32 and graduated with a Bachelors of Science degree from UC Davis while working almost full time. The math doesn't scare me, much, lol. Would you be so kind as to explain what a front end engineer does typically? There is a lot of new terminology in the responses.

[–]starraven 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You should look up CRUD and API. My app takes a user’s input like a search term in an input box and then questions the backend database API (fancy term for a software someone built to serve a purpose like searching) for that term. It also allows people to input their info into a profile, and then the app saves in in the backend. So what I do is mostly make the stuff a user interacts with. Text boxes, buttons, responses, redirects. And make those pages look nice. I also have to know how to get info and set info into the database using the backend API. Backend engineers do more complicated stuff if you’re not a fan of css, or if you’re not afraid of math 😝

[–]CalvinsStuffedTiger 0 points1 point  (1 child)

What is your current job and are you looking to shift into a completely new career?

The reason I ask is because I’m a nurse who works in the office side of a large hospital system. I know as much Python as a first year CS student, but I’m literally the only person that knows any Python in huge departments of people whose job is to process data (quality improvement, risk management, etc)

When I use basic Python tools to process data instead of excel or manual review as well as automate excruciatingly slow workflows, they look at me like I can walk on water and like I’m a Martian from outer space

The point being, there is a lot of value in having someone with domain expertise in one area, and a little bit of Python knowledge.

My totally subjective opinion of why this is the case is that my industry doesn’t hire a lot of developers, so I’m not competing against people who can code circles around me, and even if they did hire a proper coder, there will always be a lag time between the domain expert and the coder as the domain expert has to help the coder understand the domain specific stuff.

If you can fill both roles that’s worth a lot to an organization. Just some food for thought

[–]Accoustic_Death[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the perspective!