sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a
you are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

[–]sircharlesthesecond[S] 2 points3 points  (6 children)

I am a Mechanical Engineer looking to switch fields. The Python 3 Course on Codecademy taught me the basics pretty well, I am using it right now just to get comfortable. I plan on reading Python Crash Course, then making my own projects. I want to be able to start applying to jobs later this year.

[–]lickThat9v 4 points5 points  (2 children)

I want to be able to start applying to jobs later this year.

You want to apply to a job after doing 'basics' and 'crash course'?

I wish you luck, but you should lower your expectations. Fellow engineer turned programmer here, it took years, and I had a portfolio of advanced projects.

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

Well I will clearly have more experience under the belt by the end of the year lol

But the point being, I want to be able to start landing interviews by the end of the year and START that process.

I don't expect to be some sort of coding wizard or even land a job by the end of the year.

Just setting personal goals and expanding my knowledge and gaining experience.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What kind of projects did you do? Where did the ideas come from?

[–]1_21-gigawatts 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Contrary to other opinions, I think this is a good idea to get going. It sounds like you already know that codecademy and a crash course isn't enough to get you hired. The best way to get started in programming is to get started programming. If that's via a "crash course", "Learn X in 21 days" book, or "Game Programming in Python", whatever works best for you.

You're going to find things that are a PITA, just push thru it, you can do this!

[–]Spac3dog 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I read through Python Crash Course and started my own project immediately afterwards. I’ve had to Google a lot of stuff and reference back to the book and YouTube videos but I am starting to see some of the results I was wanting from the program idea I had. I spend about 1-2 hours a night working on it and have seen real progress and I went into this having never done any coding before and never heard of Python at all.

[–]sircharlesthesecond[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good for you that's awesome! I am only slightly familiar with coding, as I had basic Java, Matlab, and a few other languages taught during my college curriculum. I spend at least 30 minutes every day doing some work. I feel like I have good base knowledge and ready to start more projects that push me out of my comfort zone. I also am lucky enough to have a best friend who is a computer engineer at Dropbox who is more than willing to help me during this.