Hello people,
I am new to web developing and programming in general. I am looking for some advice and motivation becoming a web developer with/without a BS in computer science. Before I go any further I like to add I looked at P1xt’s “Guide: Get Job ready with 1 FCC cert, 3 projects, 2 courses, and 10 books.” Furthermore, I am thinking whether or not I want to continue college and earn a degree in CS or learn specific skills online for web development.
- Does a degree in computer science tremendously help learn web development and earn a job?
- What is a good beginner programming language to learn first? Is it best to learn and practice one programming language one-at-a-time?
- What is the job security like for web developers with and without a degree?
- Does front-end + back-end development = a full-stack web developer?
- What kind of work do web developers do on a DAILY basis?
- What are some good habits to start right now?
- What are some bad habits to avoid?
- What are some school and/or code-camp recommendations?
- What are some big differences between freelance and a long-term employed web developer?
- Do web developers typically work from home or in an office environment?
- Do web developers work in teams?
- What kind of internships I need to look out for?
A few things I have looked at:
https://forum.freecodecamp.com/t/computer-guide-get-job-ready-with-1-fcc-cert-3-projects-2-courses-and-10-books/64027
https://forum.freecodecamp.com/t/computer-guide-web-development-with-computer-science-foundations-comprehensive-path/64516
https://forum.freecodecamp.com/t/computer-guide-computer-science-and-web-development-comprehensive-path/64470
Thank you for your time and input. 
That’s not the point of a university degree. It definitely helps make it easier to find and be prepared for a job, but a CS degree is not vocational training.
Article: What programming language should you learn first?
Turnover is often pretty high, but the job market is in your favor.
Sure.
Attend more meetings and phone calls than they want to.
Write code. Write lots of code. Write good code. Finish what you start.
Making excuses not to be programming and not to finish projects.
Free Code Camp (duh)
They are so obviously different I wouldn’t know how to answer this.
In an office environment more often than from home.
Sometimes.
One that pays you.
2 Likes
Nobody on this planet can give you reassurance.
Why do you want to become a programmer? You want money? Then look at the market, do they pay as much as you expect? Then study what skills are necessary to be hired.
You wanna build stuff? What is it that you wanna build? Look for the necessary skills to build that thing, then start building it.
These things take time, there is no right way and most advice ends up being useless since nobody besides yourself can know your needs, aptitudes and weaknesses. You might hate college-structured-courses, you might not enjoy reading technical books, only you can know that stuff and only you can create a study plan appropriate for you.
Also, most of your questions serve no purpose, why do you care about internships, habits and freelancing? That’s completely irrelevant if you don’t yet know why you want to take on this craft. It’s like asking if a painter makes good money when you have yet to make your first drawing. First your have to make up your mind if you even like drawing.
There are no plans on the internet to make you good and i can pretty much guarantee that every single plan is horrible for you. Studying is complex, there’s a reason people forget everything about high school a year after leaving highschool, standardized learning is bound to fail for most people, online guides are only advice, you don’t have to do it literally neither should you. Use your head, do whatever is best for you.
I do not know how to explain without giving personal details away, so here goes being a fool and opening the floodgates.
I never knew what I wanted to be when I grow up. Sure when I was a kid, I said I wanted to be president, an astronaut (kid dreams). As I grew up, I wanted to join the military, which interest went away. Later I became interested in becoming a concept artist, but how can art pay the bills/food/gas without creating a name for yourself? Recently, I felt inclined becoming a psychologist/psychiatrist, but an unfortunate event happened to me. To this day, I feel like I am in limbo, because I have interests in many subjects and careers; computer science, web developer, nursing, psychology, social worker, astrophysics, bioengineering, graphic designer, et cetera. So sure, I am “Overthinking and procrastinating by fluttering around trying to find the “right way” instead of just diving into one of those guides headfirst and keeping at it without faltering until it’s complete,” as P1xt mentioned, but I am trying to make due of what I have and where I am. I do not believe there is a “right way” of anything. My parents wanted me to become an accountant (not like Ben Affleck). Later, they suggested becoming a nurse/doctor/something in the medical field (typical Asian family, I guess). Life is NOT an exponential growth, but more of a distorted sine wave. Advice and suggestions needs to be taken with a grain of salt. I am trying to figure out what I want to do for a living, and my questions help me decide whether or not this is something I want to do. However, if I am asking the ‘wrong’ questions, then please feel free to guide me what I should be asking myself (like GregoryGoncalves mentioned). I have been using freeCodeCamp, CodeAcademy, SoloLearn and Youtube for learning material while I am in college. So far, I am enjoying what I am learning. When I started I did not follow any of P1xt’s guides, but dove straight into the freeCodeCamp challenges. Now when I am going to follow a guide, I feel like I am starting over again. I guess, I do not know what I am looking for, but I am trying to make due of life. Maybe I came to wrong forum, especially with stupid irrelevant questions.
Anyways, you can burn me on a stake and throw rocks at me.
It isn’t that your questions are good, bad, stupid, or irrelevant, but that you’ve come here with a list of questions that are either too general to be answered well by anyone, or have already been answered many times over and can be found with a simple search. You should absolutely feel welcome to come here and seek advice, guidance, and support, but at the same time, remember that folks here are volunteers with limited time. Asking something you could just as easily have googled is not the most productive use of your time. There are threads discussing what web developers do, whether formal education really matters, and how to study. The official FreeCodeCamp position on “Which language should I learn?” is JavaScript. The #1 recommended code-camp in these forums is FreeCodeCamp. I’m not sure what other answers you think you’d get, or what these answers would do for you.
You have all of the resources you need, but none of them will do anything for you. You have to put in the effort, and you’ll never know if this is your calling until you’ve tried it out. I see from your FreeCodeCamp profile that you’ve already got a tribute and a portfolio page and that you’ve completed a lot of the challenges. This is what you should be doing, so keep going!
My personal experience, both in programming and other things, is that when I go over basic material that I already know again, I get a deeper and better understanding. So while yeah, I’ve got to move forward, I don’t think of it as “starting over again,” but more like “finally getting it.”
Your questions are not stupid; uninformed at worst, which is only to be expected, as if you were fully informed, you would be answering questions more than answering them, no?