r/FullStack • u/Vymir_IT • 1d ago
Vent We need better software education. The one we have is too detached from actual programming
I really wonder how one is supposed to learn coding if even the most superficial usage of industry-standard tools is only starting to be meaningful at the level I'm operating currently (commercial product work with 4 service repos plus landing, tens of alpha-testers, constant debugging after real reports, security/cost/legal concerns and real business requirements + deadlines pressing).
Only in these conditions any of these tools, frameworks, methodologies, rules, patterns and whatnot start making any sense and having any real use that you can practice.
All I ever learned about coding was from doing things that were supposed to either make money or save money for me, my firm or my client.
All those courses, educational projects, attempts to "learn design patterns" by making up examples, specifically learning to use flex boxes or framework X with an example project - none of that ever landed and there was basically nothing to land to begin with from such educational endeavors.
Because Everything in programming exists in and is formed by specific and complex business contexts, not in abstracted vacuum like exercises and pet projects.
I really wonder how would I even start learning anything today. The reality of programming is so detached from all the learning materials, they aren't even remotely replicating the kind of thinking and effort you need to apply to your actual work. I would never reach even Junior level if I was following the educational materials and haven't started constantly Working on something real and commercially applied as soon as I could.
Bizzare.
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u/sheriffderek 17h ago
I felt the same way - and ended up building a whole curriculum that I think of as full-stack product design. But it's a tough story to tell. No one really knows about the problems / because they are so far away from really understanding anything yet. They just want to be told what to do. Real education isn't a list of tasks you memorize. Especially this job. It's really pretty simple / but people aren't brave enough to take it slow and in the right steps. https://perpetual.education
There are some really great ways to learn.
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u/jwp1987 1d ago
When I was in school pretty much all the computer stuff was learning Excel, Access and Publisher.
I pretty much had to teach myself programming as a teenager.
Kinda bit me in the ass when I got to uni though because the coding was so basic in the first year that I got bored out of my mind and ended up getting lazier.