“A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.” Someone important said that. Not me, but I’m trying to run with it.
The pandemic sucks. Can’t deny that. I’m in a very fortunate situation: still employed, etc. It’s a health-care job, I’m a bit exposed to risk, though nothing like the exposure risk ER workers face on the daily. Props to them. Can’t complain about putting on gloves, mask and face shield to sell glasses to a population generally compliant with mask-wearing in a region that’s not too hot on the case-load currently, when there’s people donning full-on bunny suits to care for patients who are actually sick and contagious.
So I’m working, and mostly laying low off shift. Bars and restaurants are open in my area, but we’re mostly avoiding them. No theaters, no concerts, no big travel plans. More time at home. So I’m trying, again, to learn to code. I started learning HTML, CSS and JavaScript a couple of years ago. Made good progress, but then got discouraged because I hit a point where I just didn’t know what to study. So many languages, how do I know where to focus my time? How do I learn about the shape of the industry, what skills employers are looking for? How do I make sure I don’t spend weeks learning something that’s obsolete? This is what frustrated me in the past.
So why am I trying again? What changed? As I mentioned, I’ve got more time at home. And then my wife sent me this blog post from Microsoft. There’s a lot of info there, but the gist is that Microsoft, LinkedIn and GitHub have made a lot of learning content free, and a lot of certifications free or very cheap. The learning paths are what got me re-hooked. They provide some structure to self-study, guideposts, and info on how all the different skills work together. Studying different languages on my own a couple of years ago using SoloLearn, inference, intuition, and internet searches got me a good ways. But the lessons were a bit like, “Here’s an adjustable wrench, and how it works. And this is a socket wrench and all the attachments. Aren’t they neat? Now you’re a mechanic!” I made what connections I could. Now that I’ve been following the Linedin Learning Software Developer path for a while, I’ve been getting more info like “here’s how you tell what kind of wrench is best suited for each task, and how to use the tools in conjunction to achieve greatest results.”*
The paths aren’t perfect. There’s still plenty of info I have to hunt for on my own. But my understanding of what I’m missing is getting better. I wish the modules had more project-based learning, as most people learn better by doing, not just absorbing info. I’ve set up my own project, and that’s what I’d advise anyone who wants to get into this: when you start learning code, be ready to start making things you’re interested in from the get-go. Find or create projects for yourself.
*: In case you wonder, I am reasonable wrench-savvy. Hope the analogy holds up. 😛