Tech I just got laid from my job so I wanted to change my career and thinking about taking up coding.
I have a degree in BA and some familiarity with high school level algebra.
How much time is needed to learn a language?
How hard is coding
Nolan Johnson
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Sebastian Cook
probably easier and better to go into system administration
Jeremiah Miller
How?
Matthew Foster
to build internets you need
en.wikipedia.org
Adrian Gutierrez
Don't get into IT, it sucks and will suck even more in the near future.
Camden Campbell
Depends on what you want to do.
If you only want to program user programs that don't really rely on performance optimization techniques, resource management, etc., then picking up "coding", as you put it, is quite easy and requires only a short yet modest time of dedication to learn through application, by doing.
If you are wanting to get into something like programming games which does require performance optimization techniques, resource management, etc., then you are looking at many years of study.
John Thomas
6/10 post, had a chuckle at it
For people who don't know, there was mass layoffs at "news" outlets like Buzzfeed and HuffPo a few days ago and people who were fired are being trolled by being told "learn to code"
Ryder Jones
Depends on the language. There are two factors: size and complexity. For example, C is a small but complex language (many ways to shoot yourself in the foot), while Python is a simple but huge language. Small and simple languages (think Scheme or Lua) are quick to learn, while large and complex languages (think C++ or Common Lisp) take very long to learn.
The question is, what do you want to do with a language? For example, Scheme might be quick to learn, but if you want to go into systems administration you're not going to get much use out of it, while Python or Perl would be more useful.
The first thing anyone should learn is the command-line interface and shell scripting. This is going to be the most useful skill because you will be able to glue together small programs to solve larger problems without having to actually write programs. It does not take very long (let's say a week to get comfortable enough for everyday use) and every little progress you make will give you new practical skill instead of academic masturbation points.
Beyond that it depend on what you want to use the language for. The right tool for the job and all that.
Ryan Ramirez
What if I wanted to be my own boss? What's the short list of shit to know? Not OP by the way
Charles Sanchez
if you have fun programming, learn it in your own time and don't rely on school to teach you as they tend to appoint you to watching resources you could find online.