Are there any self taught developers here?

Question

I know this is a app for beginners but is there anyone that is self taught here that has made it in the door of any company as a entry or junior developer or even freelancing?

Answer 1

I started studying when i was around 19, and i studied religiously for roughly 2 years before i tried to apply as a developer, however 5 years later i'd still see myself as a student rather then a professional as there is always something left to learn. You don't have to be a master to score a job, think of it as when you take your drivers license. They expect you to be able to drive in a good manner and thinking but there are still experiences you can only get by actually driving the car and perhaps those you wont encounter until years later. I hope I made any sense to you.

Answer 2

The biggest mistakes i did was trying to focus on to many languages in the start, this would only confuse most people and while you might get a broader view of languages it usually helps to have one primary as this is what you would use to show an employer or customer in a portfolio. This is also because programming language applications these days becomes a lot more common and you will have to compete with other applicants so if you have something you can shine in there is a bigger chance for you to get hired.

Another thing to avoid is to fall off the train, try to not stop using the languages you learned as it is with any language, if you don't use it you will start forgetting it.

To aid you in the future you can setup something i mentioned before, an idea bag that consists of ideas or concepts of applications you want to make and try to create them using what you learned, if it's successful maybe this is something you can show in your future portfolio or just look back at to see how much you improved.

Answer 3

I started in 2015 to learn Web design, I learned html, css & JavaScript and then june 2016 I started learning VB.net and got job as Developer in August as junior programmer. I had less education and used to work in marketing, restaurant. Before being as programmer, my last job was data entry operator. Now my age is 31. I am still learning and want to become senior developer by next year.

Answer 4

I taught myself enough to get hired as developer by reading books and following online examples, i later moved on to create "idea apps" to get a feel for how i would use the languages i learned in real world applications. Now i spend most of my time when not programming trying to teach others as this approach allows you to see where you lack knowledge to teach and provides me a way to learn what i should read up on.

This app is merely an introduction to what you can do with the languages.
I would also say that you are going to learn the most of it when you get hired as there is usually senior developers or courses available to teach you extensively as well.

Answer 5

Self taught programmer here. Dropped out of highschool and went travelling for 4 years, started programming with the goal to make a living. Went from basic frontend web development(js, html, css) to NodeJS. Then I started learning python and Django. Also did a bit of C just for fun. Landed my first junior dev position with ease, had multiple employers offering me positions. My advice is to not give up, although that sounds really clichee, but there are heeps of opportunities for somewhat skilled programmers out there. I dont even consider myself intelligent, but discipline and dedication goes a long way with practically any skill.

Answer 6

I taught myself C# and basic HTML-CSS 4 years ago when I was 12 , 2 years later I learned C++ and some SQL and F#. This year(or you could say last year :2016) HTML5/CSS3/JS as well as Haskell ,Java, F# and right now learning Prolog. I am planning to join a programming course this(2017) year for my school.

Answer 7

@alex thank you that makes a lot of sense. I feel more confidence now about it. 😀

Answer 8

I am trying this at 46 ...I am learning C# and xaml to create apps. I don't really need a job as I already have a career as a controls engineer. I don't think it be too much of a stretch from programming machinery to programming mobile phones. but I would like to move into Mobile development. mostly to create my own apps...

Answer 9

Im only 9 and I self taught myself JavaScript

Answer 10

@alex can you provide any advice and note any mistakes to avoid on your journey of self teaching