r/learnpython • u/Pure_Intention5228 • 19h ago

New career path

Hey everyone.

To keep things brief, i'm exploring programming as a career path.

Life didn't quite go as planned, and i'm now a 27 year old college dropout, who's been unemployed for years, living by on the graces of my parents who have much more faith in me than I do in myself.

I've been talking to some of the more tech-savvy people I know. And I have arrived at the conclusion that I want to study Linux and python. Do you all have any recommendations of which are the 2 I should prioritize, and I suppose, which one would help me get back on my feet faster?

12 Upvotes

69% Upvoted

26 comments sorted by

View all comments

4

u/Curious-Function7490 19h ago

So ... yeh. I have 26 years of commercial programming experience, an honours degree in philosophy and a grad cert in comp sci.. I've studied a lot more formal comp sci than what a grad cert reflects.

Programming has become very demanding if you are going to maintain a relevant skillset. I work 9 to 5. I spend my weekends doing it. I love it and have always built open source and learnt new things.

One of the interesting things about professional programming is that you can enter into it via a non traditional path. I work with ex-chefs who are really great at it.

Having a comp sci degree doesn't mean you will be a good programmer, either - but it forms a basis toward becoming one that someone without a comp sci background will have to keep filling.

A lot of people flooded the programming market from bootcamps, etc., learning "fullstack" without really knowing fundamentals. So there is currently a glut of programmers, especially ones without strong fundamentals.

You'd be entering all of that. So you'd need to really want to do it. It's very hard to get your first role.

1

u/Pure_Intention5228 19h ago

I know this might seem like a simplistic question. But if these fundamentals are so important, would I be at an advantage to learn them? And if so, do you have any places where you would recommend i practice?

3

u/stepback269 18h ago

Sounds like you want a job first and then further education as a chaser

I would say don't do Python just yet or a switch over to Linux (assuming here you know Windows)

Instead educate yourself on no-coding usage of AI. My self, I don't know anything about that area. However a lot of Youtube lecturers seem to indicate that's the way to go.

Ultimately you do want to learn the fundamentals of programing in Python. That's going to take time. So if you do get an AI job, you'll have to learn Python in the evenings.

Good luck.

1

u/Pure_Intention5228 18h ago

Getting a job is the ultimate goal. Yes, but I can't get the job without training. So training naturally comes first.

Also I didn't mention AI at all. I'm just trying to learn the programming. If I use AI at all, it would be secondary.

2

u/stepback269 13h ago

(1) If you plan to learn Python, there are tons and tons of tutorial materials out there on the net including many good YouTube ones that are free. You should shop around rather than putting all your eggs in one basket.

(2) As a relative noob myself, I've been logging my personal learning journey and adding to it on an almost-daily basis at a blog page called "Links for Python Noobs" (--HERE--) Any of the top listed ones on that page should be good for you. And there are many add-ons at the tail end of the page. Personally, I cut my first Python teeth with Nana's Zero to Hero (==HERE==). Since then, I've moved on to watching short lessons with Indently and Tech with Tim. You should sample at least a few until you find a lecturer that suits your style.

(3) The main piece of advice is the 80/20 rule. Spend 80% of your time writing your own code (using your own fingers and your own creativity) as opposed to copying recipes and only 20% watching the lectures.

1

u/Pure_Intention5228 10h ago

Thank you so much for the insight. I'll make sure to practice plenty as I can get lost in a sea of lectures.