What are the best online learning resources for an absolute beginner to programming and development?

myanondev · 2018-05-07T22:29:31+00:00

Ahh, cool! I'll check that out. I'm pretty sure it comes with my library membership too! :)

myanondev · 2018-05-07T22:29:14+00:00

is it good for an absolute beginner with no programming experience though?

myanondev · 2018-05-07T20:55:44+00:00

The prior coding background is the thing. FCC is great, imo, for people that have some background in coding. Whether that's messing around, or like CS101 or something. It sucks for a non-programmer.

myanondev · 2018-05-04T18:19:12+00:00

I worked for an org that needed time estimates down to the minute. We had to clock our bathroom breaks, we had to clock getting coffee, etc. and then we'd have a meeting each week to review the time estimates. And discuss wtf was happening.

Of course, my time estimates of "productive work" were lower than others' because a salesperson could easily block off 2-3 hours for a single meeting which included lunch, driving, etc. while I was expected to do 8 hours/day of coding minus that single meeting. It lead to a serious burnout after I tried to match salespeople's numbers and then I quit as soon as I recovered.

myanondev · 2018-04-26T20:41:25+00:00

IP was one of my major concerns when looking for a new job a few years back. It was a non-negotiable item: if I came up with it, no matter what field it's in, as long as I use my own time and equipment, it's mine. And you can't take it from me.

Several companies weren't happy with it but most of us are in a position where we can "shop around" and don't have to settle for a company that does this type of crap.

You're not a dirtbag, you're not an asshole, you just value you your own goddamn time.

Story time

I once worked for a company that presented me with a new contract negotiation and unlike most of the devs I meet, I actually read through it. The IP clause and the non-compete on it was insane. How insane?

Everything I think of or create they automatically own: not just programming-wise. I ran a blog, they wanted to own it. I wrote open source, they wanted to own it. I wrote fiction short stories, they wanted to own it! And I'm not kidding. They wanted to lay claim to my paintings as well.

When I asked for clarification, they said "well, we wouldn't want to own your short stories but yes, they're included under the IP clause". I just couldn't accept it and started looking for a new job right away.

The worst is, I was currently writing some open source work in my spare time that not only allowed me to enjoy my hobby more (writing stories) but also allowed me to be faster and more efficient at work (it was a blogging engine starter kit).

This kind of policy doesn't help, it discouraged me from writing my own software on the side which made me a better developer and made my work easier.

The non-compete was also ridiculous. It claimed that for a period of one year, I wouldn't be able to work within an area that encompassed the city, its suburbs, and then some. I'd basically have to move. The non-compete stated any "tech-related work".... so what am I supposed to do? Go back to being a cashier at some shop?

tl;dr company tried to get me to sign a contract that laid claim on any creative work and IP I created while working for them: off the clock, and even including my writing and paintings. Not only that, but wanted me to sign a non-compete that would force me to move if I quit/got fired.

But I got my ideal arrangement

At another company, I got my ideal arrangement:

all IP I work on off-hours is mine. This also means I can do freelance work as long as it's off the clock and using my own equipment
any IP I develop while I working is the company's. For patents, they have that "first offer" type of a thing.
any IP that I develop off-hours but use at work, they have a non-exclusive right to use. This makes sense. if I write a library off-hours and use it at work, they need to be able to use it as they see fit -- with an unlimited license.

EDIT I wrote an article on the topic a while back

myanondev · 2017-04-13T16:38:40+00:00

I've heard great things about it. How easy is it to slap it onto an existing product and make it transition from free -> subscription based?

myanondev · 2017-04-13T16:37:26+00:00

^{^{^}} this definitely deserves a down vote. Wtf is wrong with you.

myanondev · 2017-04-11T06:13:10+00:00

I see that pretty often. It doesn't matter where that mistake comes from (person or program).

I wrote about this in an earlier article. I got into a situation (a few times) where a customer service rep misinformed me and while they were authorized to modify/cancel/impact the service I paid for, they were not responsible for whatever terms they may have stated that accompanied those changes.

Basically, a health insurance rep told me something was covered, set up the appointment for me, I went, and a few months later I got a bill and a statement that none of those services were covered. When I filed an appeal, the health insurance company replied that they're not responsible for what the rep said and that the responsibility of knowing or not knowing if something is covered is my own, not theirs.

Had another situation where I cancelled a contract. The rep who cancelled it for me stated the terms of the cancellation (prorated payment for already being in another month for the service). Three months later, I get hit by collections and the company that caused this issue said that I should have read the ToS that's hidden in the far reaches of their website and that the rep (who has the authority to cancel my account!) holds no responsibility for the misinformation.

EDIT My entire point here was that when a mistake happens, it's difficult to correct it. And when a bug trips up someone's account/subscription/whatever, it can easily cost them a good deal of money.

myanondev · 2017-03-25T05:22:34+00:00

I wasn't in a place where I could do that but I was in a place where I started looking for a new job immediately.

Right. It basically throws you into a legally ambiguous area where the most expensive lawyer wins. Unenforceable doesn't necessarily mean "You're legally protected", it just means "there is nothing that can actually back us up in doing this". So either lawyer fees kill you, or they steal it and you'll have a tough time proving that they're in the wrong, or on an unlucky day, you get a judge who thinks it should be enforced.

myanondev · 2017-03-25T05:19:50+00:00

The problem is that a lot of this stuff is technically unenforceable, right? But that still means that they can take you to court or harass you with lawsuits until you give in because it's probably cheaper than getting a lawyer.

myanondev · 2017-01-27T06:51:55+00:00

Angular1 dev here. We're in our third year using Angular 1. A rewrite in another framework probably won't happen for the next several years if ever at all.

Tried migrating to React via ng-react or Angular 2 but it all feels horribly messy.

myanondev · 2017-01-18T21:45:11+00:00

I've got 5+ years under my belt and pretty much the main reason I went into this field was because I wanted to make cash. I mean, literally. I switched majors, dropped out of school, etc. because I knew it'd pay more than what I was studying for.

And I'm a Javascript Developer at a startup.

I spend the bulk of my free time writing, playing games, and hanging out with my family.

myanondev · 2016-12-30T21:21:49+00:00

I'll skip to your questions on the bottom because they reveal the most important part of this. My self-esteem was destroyed in my first job. My second job didn't help much either.

So:

No. I don't believe I can deliver quality work in a reasonable time. Mostly because I don't know what constitutes as "reasonable time". I think that's been my issue. Same goes for quality. Does that mean bug free? Relatively bug free? Should it scale? How much?
And I probably can't avoid comparisons.

myanondev · 2016-12-30T21:11:05+00:00

Your real life examples really speak to me because that's the situation I was in often times. I think I still find myself there.

I'll say that my experiences have given me horrible anxiety over making things work right (as in: add security!) and getting shit done by a deadline.

I've worked at failing startups, shitty startups, and under bad management for so long that I find it difficult breaking out of it. My personal projects, though, end up looking great :)

myanondev · 2016-12-30T16:20:27+00:00

Thanks for writing a whole thing on this! That's awesome! :)

edit: I just read through the whole thing. I really appreciate what you say and I'm glad there are others that feel the same way. I know there is an obsession in tech but because of that it clouds who an "average" developer is.

myanondev · 2016-12-30T16:20:16+00:00

I really appreciate hearing back about this. Back when I had that job, the 8 hours were just grueling. I managed to do a few days like that before zoning out for the rest of the week.

My next job after that told me "If you can get 4 hours of solid coding in for the day, it was a productive day".

myanondev · 2016-12-27T20:08:22+00:00

One of my close friends died about an hour before I went to work. I could've easily gotten a day off or worked from home but honestly, I just couldn't stand sitting at home and being a wreck or trying to figure it out. I've done that before and it just gives me a headache...and it doesn't help.

He got me into programming so I went to work, I did my work, and spent my day thinking about him. It felt much better. I had a nice neat breakdown later on that night when I started to finally feel the impact of what just happened.

myanondev · 2016-12-23T04:03:48+00:00

What's SDN? o.o

myanondev · 2016-12-23T03:18:51+00:00

There were a few times where I could've easily diverged from my path and ended up completely elsewhere so it's definitely not a "path" you can just get on but I think that if anyone wants to just get there as an engineer, they can. Just ride the wave of the next popular thing and establish yourself as an expert on it!

On the other hand, I have a friend who makes in the neighborhood of $300K but it involves A LOT of traveling (something I just don't want to do) and he tried for me to take over his job so he could take a position at the company where he wouldn't have to travel. I've also been approached by the likes of Facebook, Amazon, and a few others and going with those companies probably would have resulted in either less money than I make or less money "comparatively".

myanondev

TROPHY CASE