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Feb 7 2014 12:13pm
Quote (carteblanche @ Feb 6 2014 09:27pm)
Sounds like a silly idea imo. but what you're asking for is to be a QA/tester. you will see the results of the programs and verify it works.

If you want ideas, just look at other websites/programs and mimic them. Or get some internship as a programmer. Best thing you can do is build experience, not getting coffee for programmers.


Yeahh it does sound kind of meagerly, but I feel like it's a really good way to get my foot in the door to some real life, business oriented programming experience. I feel like when I do actually apply to upper tier programming jobs, it'll be a lot more convincing if I say "hey, I worked at this software place and did this stuff on the side" rather than saying "well I waited tables and dabbled in it a little bit" I mean don't get me wrong, my knowledge of the software industry is limited, but I don't see any reason why they wouldn't see things this way.

Having mentioned the QA/Tester thing, I did some googling on some job search sites and some tech company websites, and it looks like you're right, that's a good gateway, but they all want B.S. degrees and/or 5 years of experience. They also say they'll pay anywhere from $35-50 an hr, which is great, but I'm far from expecting that kind of income based on my skill level. Do you think I'm just looking in the wrong places, or it just takes a massive amount of digging?>

Mm, it's not so much ideas, it's that it all seems really abstract. It'd be great if I could watch someone do it, right in front of me, and explain exactly what they're doing and why they're doing each thing. I guess that comes from school though. I'll also look into some internships.

Quote (Minkomonster @ Feb 6 2014 10:50pm)
I wish I had someone to bring me coffee and snacks at my office. I have to walk my own ass to the break room to get this. What's your rates, kid? You can be my "Administrative Assistant." Not sure if it will fly with the security folks or anything, seeing as how I can't get you an ID badge to get you through the doors. But you can wait in the halls I guess, and when I come out to smoke or something you can hand me coffee and hear me bitch about last minute design changes, asinine client requirements, and other developers changesets that broke everything under the sun due to their incompetence.

Could be fun?


haha, I feel like what you're really looking for is a device that keeps beverages warm. Just make about a gallon of coffee and store it in said device under your desk. Maybe get one of those 5 ft long straws...

Quote (rockonkenshin @ Feb 7 2014 07:55am)
I'm now taking applicants for being my unpaid intern that makes my coffee while I write code. Please don't all apply at once.


lol, I'll do w/e, just be prepared to let me stand over your shoulder constantly while you code and answer a barrage of questions.

Quote (oOn @ Feb 6 2014 11:04pm)
Honestly OP, you should try to challenge yourself more. The best way you really learn is by writing code yourself. Theres no limit to what you can code, so this roadblock you are talking about should not be existent.

If you want a fun project, try this

1) install netbeans and set up the gui mod : https://netbeans.org/kb/docs/java/gui-functionality.html and familiarize yourself with how it works... very easy, just dragging in buttons / text boxes.  If you prefer C++, I'd recommend eclipse or qtgui

2) Think of some kind of software that can be used in a company

3) Start designing the project. Alternate between design and source to understand the code structure

4) Google is your friend - for almost every programming issue you run into, you can find tons of boards that can help solve your problem

Make it your goal to finish the project and not quit working - you'll be surprised how much you can learn


That actually looks very promising, thank you for that link. I'll check it out.

True dat on #4 - I've found stack exchange to be unbelievably helpful.
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Feb 7 2014 12:17pm
All joking aside, if you are in school look into your universities intern program, because that is specifically what this is designed for.
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Feb 7 2014 01:33pm
If you want to be a programmer I suggest taking an internship. To get good at coding you really just need to do it consistently.
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Feb 10 2014 09:27pm
Quote (Minkomonster @ Feb 7 2014 12:17pm)
All joking aside, if you are in school look into your universities intern program, because that is specifically what this is designed for.


my rinky-dink community college has no such thing haha.

Quote (whitehh @ Feb 7 2014 01:33pm)
If you want to be a programmer I suggest taking an internship.  To get good at coding you really just need to do it consistently.


yeah, just like anything i suppose. I've been making completely random classes like dog classes, rectangle classes, etc, just so i can make crazy overloaded operators, copy constructors, and just crazy shiz for practice. i've also looked at that gui thing that someone posted earlier - i'm itching to get into that too ;D
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Feb 12 2014 03:53pm
Jobs to consider if you want to work around programmers.

Graphic Designer, maybe for a local web studio, if you're artistically inclined.
QA/Tester, though these positions can sometimes have some tough qualifications.
System Analyst, these can also have steep qualifications.


Perhaps a faster route to becoming a programmer.

step 1. Learn HTML and CSS (these are pretty damn easy).
step 2. learn JavaScript, PhP, and MySQL
step 3. learn dynamic web design
step 4. create web application(s)
step 5. copy and paste all your work into a folder called "portfolio"
step 6. bullshit a resume detailing your awesome cs skills, include a link to your portfolio

my logic:
html and css are much easier than direct x / opengl / etc.
php, sql, and javascript which used properly are effective languages. in addition they are well documented and fairly easy to learn and use effectively.
web applications are becoming more and more desirable with the prevalence of 'the cloud' and mobile devices such as smart phones, tablets, etc.
php and javascript, while interpreted web languages, have a lot in common with compiled languages such as C++, Java, etc
there is a lot of freelance work in the web design / web application design industry
you can easily build a portfolio by creating personal websites / web applications

Also, try checking here to learn more.

http://cs.harvard.edu/malan/courses/

Follow the OpenCourseWare links for whichever courses interest you the most.
Harvard education, for free.

This post was edited by grievance on Feb 12 2014 03:59pm
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