It's do-able and highly lucrative for those folks who stick it out.
> be me
> teach myself to program at night on the side
> 4 years later making a comfy 120k
> have worked remotely all over the world
> currently living 5 minutes from the beach without spending half my monthly paycheck
It can be done, bros.
How do you get past the "tutorial" phase of programming?
I can't do anything without Googling a how to (what I want to do) in X
When I pull github projects and plan to contribute or fork my own, the shit is so god awfully written that I can't understand any of it. Every variable and function are just random letters
I just feel like a loser.
You get out by understanding the things you have to look up piece by piece. Each new problem solved doesn't just increase your knowledge in the context you're working in, but programming in general.
After a few years of learning and improving, you will have built an expertise that let's you charter into new territories much, much quicker because you understand the basics already.
ok, who isn't a "self-taught programmer"?
is there some magical school that will teach you every language along with every feature of it?
This.
If you just depend on your school to teach you everything you need to know to become a programmer, you'll never become one.
Thank you for inspiration.
What languages?
hate to break it to you, but the "tutorial phase" can last 15-20 years in some areas. i don't know why you're complaining, APIs with thorough documentation are a good thing.
>equivocating learning and understanding
the bulk of understanding will be gained by doing the homework assignments, but there's still a benefit to attending lectures. what self-taught programmers (and pooindaloos) lack is constructive feedback. improvement comes a lot quicker if you have someone to tell you when your shit sucks and you need to fix it. this applies to all areas in life. somehow Jow Forums naturally understands this concept, but Jow Forums just wants to go at it solo.
>4 years to 120k
>takes me 6 years to graduate college
>21 year old kids are getting 130k offers fresh out
I may as well end myself now
What languages?
I've been only doing stupid sht like video game projects in C and C++ but I can't freelance with this. I can't get a job either since im in college right now.
I've been thinking to try freelancing with Python or Java, or even to get into UE4 and start selling stuff on the marketplace like plugins and shit.
Thoughts?
Get a good internship, really. It will be way better for you to get a good internship than a mediocre job
I'm studying Monday-Friday in a college, I seriously doubt I could get a weekend based internship.
I debated applying for a Google internship in nearby city but I don't think I'd be picked lmao
Just find a more intern-friendly place and work your ass off. I have an CE degree, and during the last 3 of my 5-year degree I worked part-time AND studied full-time, it's completely doable (you are not going to many parties, and get someone to help you with lecture notes, as you're going to miss a few)
My "tutorial phase" lasted for 3 years, man. 3 Years. That's a long time in my eyes.
Noone hires interns for weekends, not in my country, and definitely not in my city.
Said nothing about weekends
How do I "find a more intern-friendly place and work your ass" if noone will hire me for a weekend only job ? And I can't work outside of weekends because I'm on my 2nd year of compsci?
You have to be fairly intelligent and disciplined to teach yourself anything effectively.
How many hours per week of actual classes do you have? How many of those hours are actually useful to you?
Talk with your employer about how to fit your work and class hours in the week. Do your uni assignments at night
I have really unstable schedule of classes. They pop up and disappear from days at will and I gotta check online when they happen. Sometimes there's a free friday, sometimes a monday, sometimes none of them. Some days its 10-14, some its 16-20
Besides how do i even apply for a job that way?
"Heres my CV btw im a student so i cant work fulltime" - Noone would hire someone like that lol
>How do you get past the "tutorial" phase of programming?
>I can't do anything without Googling a how to (what I want to do) in X
Just do it enough and over time you will have to Google less but never really stop Googling because you will never know all facets of programming.
>When I pull github projects and plan to contribute or fork my own, the shit is so god awfully written that I can't understand any of it. Every variable and function are just random letters
Collaborative software development requires communication. You are shooting yourself in the foot when you try to work on someone else's code without every talking to them, especially at a novice level.
tl;dr: Practice, it will take time.
>what self-taught programmers (and pooindaloos) lack is constructive feedback
Do you ever think you're just looking for reasons to feel superior to others? If someone is skilled at their craft, I doubt you could tell if they went to university or are self-taught based on the quality of their work.
Holy shit, how does that even work? Your uni fucked you
You would be surprised. Interns earn less and are easier to get rid of than normal employees. Interns are usually motivated and if they are any good, they can actually lend an useful hand to the more senior employees
>if you have someone to tell you when your shit sucks and you need to fix it. this applies to all areas in life. somehow Jow Forums naturally understands this concept, but Jow Forums just wants to go at it solo.
youtu.be
If you don't have a full ride to an Ivy League then university exists just to take your money.
It's just a bit of a mess with the start of the year really and its mostly professors calling shit off for whatever reason.
How would I come about getting a weekend only or 'flexible time' Internship? Do I just legit send my CV alongside a literal "Hey im a student so I'd need to work in a flexible timeframe"? Or what?
t. Never-had-a-job-user
Geting job that pays nice it is easy, the problem for me is getting remote, i cannot find any decent willing company
Most intern employers already expect that kind of stuff.
Check if your uni has an internship program, many of the good ones have a database of businesses actively looking for young developers to exploit (that's the best-case scenario for you).
If they don't have one, you can look online for internship or junior dev offers and apply anyway (make sure you tell them you are still in uni right at the start). You could also check local businesses, if you live in a reasonably large city. Small companies are more likely to be more flexible, but avoid companies not related to tech.
Also, check if your uni has anything like a "Software Factory", normally run by a professor. They are REALLY GOOD internships, but pay like shit. If not, you can look for a lab/professor related to an area you like and ask if they can fit an intern in their lab. Labs also pay like shit (if pay at all), but you will most likely learn a lot and work in some really cool projects.
So no upwork or whatever then?
The whole point right now is to learn as much as you can from people better than you at your (future) job. I can't see how you can do that by freelancing Web Dev Job #3820. You won't even know how bad you are doing
My current priority is to get some quick dough. I'm guaranteed a spot in the future at my college's programing team (unofficially), but before I graduate theres still 2 years. And I need some quick money for, well, life, I don't want to feel guilty for buying a pizza instead of eating bread for lunch because it's too expensive.
That's why i thought about freelancing, just some quick dough, not some future building right now.
Any tip in regards to that? Thanks for the help by the way.
Come on, being so broke you cry yourself to sleep is part of the college experience.
Also sciencealert.com
Thank you so much for this thread, OP.
A great inspiration.
I will quit my job and go for it.
No but i really need SOME money, I hate feeling pathetic enough to keep ask parents for 20 bucks for some pizza
Like im fine with starving in the immediate future but for now i need some extra money, for the next few weeks, any tips for that?
Do you have to be smart? Because I'm pretty fuckin dumb. But I want to names lots of money so I can live out my dream is going to Thailand and being topped by a group of Ladyboys.
You will never get past the googling phase. That's what professionals do as well.
Every good programmer is self taught. A CS degree provides peripheral knowledge, but is no substitute for hacking together programs for fun in your spare time.
this topic can be misleading
the main misleading problem is that people consider webdevs and system programmers as same programmers. The one can be done by literal monkey the other with formally educated person, mainly in mathematics
The only path I see that generally works well if self-taught was gamedev. It might depend on the field in question.