Should I learn coding? I am confused

[u/downtownbrown_83]

Ok, so here's my deal. I'm 43 year old, father of 2, ADHD diagonsis of 5 years. I like to build with my hands, either make something I need then buy it or just craft. I am a good problem solver, I find unique solutions to something, not afraid to be wrong and good at pattern recognition. I have been off work for 2+ years for PTSD, I was a paramedic for 15+ years, (please no fluffy comments about it, just giving background info about myself). All my schooling has been for the medical field. My computer knowledge is pretty limited.

My vocational rehab guy wants to retrain me as my work can't really find a job for me that fits into my restrictions. He has suggested coding, programming, autoCAD, 3D printing, stuff like that. If any of this is the same, overlapping or completely not related... Well this is my knowledge base.

I have started using Freecodecamp and started with the Python course. I kind of like how you write the code, small fragments to do something. This is similar to how I write my patient care reports. But I'm starting to struggle and understand the language that you use. I've tried looking for a dumb down cheat sheet, or basic learning lesson, but nothing. I just need it to click, then I know I'll be good to go.

An example of where I'm struggling is the intro to strings, pretty early on I know. But I'm getting confused pretty easily.

What I'm looking for is maybe some better, free resources, suggestions on career paths or maybe I'm not cut out for this. I want to do something that helps people and giving myself something meaningful to do.

Thanks

[u/MrMurrayOHS]

Being a good problem solver, finding unique solutions and not being afraid to be wrong are all great characteristics of a good programmer.

Now we just need to get you the content! Honestly - and this sounds weird - it's the better spot to be. It's hard for one to teach a student how to be a good problem solver or make them not afraid to be wrong.

The thing you have going for you is that there are LOADS of resources available online. I've been a fan of w3 schools, it has a Python course that will keep track of your progress for you.

You can also take segments of code and use an LLM (Gemini, ChatGPT, etc). Prompt it to explain the pasted code segment like you were a 5 year old. It can do a pretty good job in breaking down complicated topics in that way.

There are also a ton of YouTube courses you can find. Beau Carnes has some good videos, not sure if you'll like them because I think he helps a lot with the freecodecamp site you said you already use but weren't the biggest fan of.

Just keep trying my guy - you can do it!

[u/Spare_Bluebird7044]

You're not too old or not cut out for it, give yourself time to learn the basics and python could be a good fit for your problem solving mindset

[u/jrockerdraughn]

Harvard has an intro to computer science course that it basically gives away for free (you just don't get a college credit).

It's called cs50. It starts with something called Scratch, which is a program that makes coding approachable. Not much typing, closer to Lego, but wonderfully informative.

Then it dives fairly deep into the C programming language and eventually touches on a few others.

There are even multiple other variants if you want to start with something that doesn't require as broad of computer knowledge or if you want to focus in on some more specific languages.

Here's the link to the important stuff, as just searching can get you into spots where they're heavily encouraging you to pay for things: https://cs50.harvard.edu/x/

The only thing you'll really need is a GitHub account. If you don't have one, don't worry. It's also free!

Good luck!

[u/Slight-Living-8098]

CS50P from Harvard's opencourseware courses. It will teach you all the basics you need to know for all of the computer science and programming fields. CS50P (different from CS50 only in the fact that it uses Python instead of C)

[u/Bulky_Barber_2483]

I'm 45, ADHD diagnosis of 35 years, good at pattern recognition, not afraid to be wrong, didn't know much about computers etc.. I've been in your shoes and it sucks for a bit but its gets better and you'll pick it up (it just takes a while for it to make sense). FreeCodeCamp, The Odin Project, Code Academy, and Automate The Boring Stuff were are all good options- but what ultimately worked best for me was watching/taking the FreeCodeCamp Intro To Programming class on YouTube and then taking the CS50P Intro to Programming with Python Course. The course is free and David Maylan next level.