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Ask HN: What should I learn to become a dev?

by bleachedsleet on 1/23/23, 3:03 PM with 5 comments

Hello HN! I have a long background in tinkering with development, but I never really sat down to learn it in a way that could get me hired. Part of the issue is because while programming languages can be picked up quite easily by me, their tool chains and all the surrounding dev ops type work is not. I’m just looking for some guidance on where to focus time and energy and what development language ecosystem I should ultimately adhere to. JavaScript as an ecosystem has long seemed to be the pinnacle of employability right now thanks to the sheer number of frameworks that allow it to be implemented for nearly anything these days, but I just feel like I really missed the boat there: While a new generation of devs was busy with JS, I was teaching myself Python and the ecosystem around JS exploded and is now just very difficult to break into and play catch-up. Rust seems like an interesting focus for me potentially (I always liked C/C++ and a modern successor to the venerable systems level languages of yesterday is exciting to me). Swift also seems interesting: Philosophically I love building and using native software on a platform and iOS/Mac development seems like a solid breadwinning career that doesn’t need an immense amount of educational effort to find some success in.

I suppose my true question is twofold and I hope it may also help some others:

1. Thanks to ignorant parenting and a series of bad choices in my life over the years, I lack serious direction right now. I’ve had very well paying jobs, but I hate what I can do for work right now and want to pivot. What can I learn quickly that pays the bills and gets my foot in the door of development? One thing I will say: I prefer the cutting edge and the risks it brings. I have always lived there precariously and would like to continue to do so.

2. Is there a certification I should also focus on? I hear extremely mixed signals on this in the wild. I hold several unrelated certifications in adjacent (still technical) fields and I must say they’ve never really helped me in a practical way other than checking off a box for various employers.

Thanks for any suggestions and guidance

  • by liberia on 1/23/23, 7:43 PM

  • by TimButterfield on 1/23/23, 9:24 PM

    Your mention of 'pivot' brings to mind this analogy. I want to pivot from riding a motorcycle to driving a car. Which brand, model, and trim level would you recommend (without knowing anything else about intended usage)? Except, your choices of technology may be even wider.

    The problem is there are too many things that are interesting and desirable to learn and not enough time for everything.

    I recently had a similar conversation of a younger person who wanted to learn development and wondered on what to focus on to start. You need some way to filter the very broad scope of possibilities to something narrow enough to begin a focus. One possibility is to decide on a platform. Do you prefer to work on web apps, desktop apps, back-end, DB, mobile, etc.? That selection will help to narrow down which tech may be better suited. Another option is to pick an open-source project that you use and like. You could then learn that tech stack and begin to contribute to it, thus getting your efforts and new knowledge documented.

  • by nullish_signal on 1/23/23, 3:09 PM

    I think the two most important things are Your Portfolio of Projects, and Who You Know. My first gamedev job (Unity/C#) was thanks to a friend who had just been hired in Design. He let me know they had an opening, and I sent them my application including links to a small fluid-based character controller, and during the interview the 3 guys had a lot of questions about it, and I was clearly very excited and deeply knowledgable about the project (ie, I had not stolen it).

    I don't have any certs besides my 4-year degree in Computer Systems. As for Building Projects, look for problems you want to solve, have a grasp of what Language/Tools you will explore, and just Get Started.

    chatGPT was very useful when I wanted to host a php forum, having tried and failed webdev multiple times. Great at linux owners/permissions/nginx, stumbled a bit with emacs php packages due to being out of date, led me on an infuriating logic loop until I resorted to Google->Stack Overflow.

    Good Luck!

  • by roflyear on 1/23/23, 5:00 PM

    No one is going to set out a roadmap for you to follow that will be sure to work, and if they do I would take it with a big grain of salt.

    You'll have to immerse yourself in a job and do trial by fire. Give it your best shot.

    You don't need to know everything to program. You should be able to pick up on new things quickly, and have an ever-expanding area of expertise.

  • by Leftium on 1/23/23, 8:53 PM

    Slightly different perspective: learn marketing (i.e. persuasion):

    - Interviews/resumes are just a form of marketing.

    - It's better to understand your target market: the needs/desires/fears of business (owners) than any single certification/technology.

    - Businesses/companies don't want devs; they want solutions to problems. Devs/code are just a tool to solve business problems.

    Explained in more detail much more eloquently: https://www.kalzumeus.com/2011/10/28/dont-call-yourself-a-pr...