HN Gopher Feed (2017-06-27) - page 1 of 10 ___________________________________________________________________
How I learned to code in my 30s
57 points by bradcrispin
https://medium.com/udacity/how-i-learned-to-code-in-my-30s-61ad2...___________________________________________________________________
oblio - 46 minutes ago
Somewhat related, perhaps the most spectacular story of a late
coder I've ever heard is that of
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Pruteanu (somewhat
controversial Romanian literary critic and politician).Basically,
despite having a major in Romanian literature and spending a
lifetime as a literary critic, with almost 0 contact with
computers, he decided in his late 40s and early 50s to understand
the things behind the internet.So he picked up, on his own, PC
usage, internet browsing, PHP and MySQL coding, enough to make his
own website and a few apps. That, starting from a point where he
could barely use a mouse.When asked during a TV show how he did it,
he replied:Like I did things for my literary criticism: I read an 1
meter [high stack] of books about the subject.Every time I need
motivation I think about that quote :)
flubert - 16 minutes ago
>I read an 1 meter [high stack] of books about the subject.Sounds
like a good hook for website. Instead of learn X in 21 days:
http://www.1meterofbooks/programming
dzink - 6 minutes ago
You need more stories like this to show people who wouldn't
normally consider CS as a viable, lucrative path to a second
career. Areas with high unemployment and people in dwindling old
industries may get a second wind in life if they tried his
approach. A big change like this also requires multiple exposures
to the currently much easier to reach CS education as a possible
solution, so I hope more people produce accessible content like
this.
CognacBastard - 45 minutes ago
This is great advice for someone learning to break into the coding
world.
jarsin - 45 minutes ago
What i always tell people if you find yourself naturally drawn to
it then you will eventually find some level of success. If your in
for just the money then you will not stick with it and it probably
won't happen.Same is true for just about most things in life.This
guy found he was naturally drawn to it. End of story.
udkl - 29 minutes ago
In a sense, you just described the beginning of a passion.
projectramo - 44 minutes ago
This is generally a decent article about the balancing non-
technical skills, and exerting effort in learning.I found it
noteworthy that the "hook" in the title is that the person started
in (gasp) their 30s. Why should that be noteworthy? Why wouldn't
someone start coding in their 30s, 40s or 50s?Now it is true that
starting a new profession late in life may not always make sense
because, presumably, you have to little time left you might as well
"ride it out" contributing what you know.So, yes, it is unusual for
a doctor to start learning mathematics in their 40s (though not
unheard of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endre_Szemer%C3%A9di),
but it isn't less strange to make such a change in computer science
than any other field.
sumoboy - 30 minutes ago
I agree about the age reference, it's irrelevant. If grandma
wants to learn javascript then so be it, challenge the brain and
code away. I don't find his story that uplifting or even worthy
of a challenge that any other 30 year couldn't do.
buckbova - 27 minutes ago
> Why should that be noteworthy?Because there's perceived ageism
in this industry, so saying you're just getting started in your
30's is interesting.
projectramo - 23 minutes ago
Isn't the same ageism -- true or perceived -- in all
industries?Would you be feel comfortable starting med-school in
your 30s? A PhD? Training to be a plumber or an architect?If
anything, because programming takes a shorter time to become
productive (say 2 years), I would think it would attract older
job switchers.(edit: Before people give me counter-examples,
note:I know these things do happen)
ggambetta - 22 minutes ago
I found the article very interesting, and I thought the hook was
valid - coding is one of these disciplines where the general
consensus is that you need to start very young to be good,
similar to Olympic athletes. I wrote my first trivial but working
program aged 5 so I believe this to be true to some extent;
reading an experience that contradicts this was valuable to me.I
also liked the article for a different reason; I don't aspire to
be an Olympic athlete but I do want to become good at certain
skillsets that I've only started exploring after my 30s, so I'm
definitely hoping the author's experience generalises, and
rooting for him :)
SilasX - 1 minutes ago
Yeah, I think the relevant part is "getting into software/tech in
30s", not learning to code per se which should be non-newsworthy
at least through one's 50s.Then again, I changed careers into
software in my 30s (had just turned 30 when I left aerospace),
though I had coded in some capacity my entire life. Newsworthy?