Am I too old to start programming?
Programming is something I've been interested in for a little while now, but with so much going on recently I haven't had the time to really look into it. I'm 23 years old. I haven't really done anything to further myself in life for the last 4 years, stuck in a dead end retail job. When I tell people I would like to start learning to be a programmer but feel I'm maybe too old and 'missed the boat' they look at me like I'm crazy... which In a way I understand. Its the way I feel about most things really. That I've wasted a good 4-5yrs of time that could of been spent in education and now I feel like that opportunity has passed. I'm in the UK so going back to college would be expensive at my age and its money I don't have. Everyone I know that programs in some form or another seems like they got started when they were 12-14 in the 80's messing around on 16bit consoles or w/e. I found myself watching a 1hr 26min talk by John Carmack at Quakecon yesterday, and while I didn't understand 90% of the tools he mentioned, I got the gist of most of it from being a gamer. I thought to myself again that if I'm able to sit and watch an hr and a half of someone talking about stuff I don't really understand right now but still couldn't stop watching... I should probably look into starting to teaching myself. I'm just worried if with enough drive and commitment could I make a career in programming when I start at 23? If I found I really enjoyed it then courses are definitely something I would start looking into... but did I need to be 14 when I started looking into this?
Why programming sucks ? it makes me cry?
Programming is not for everyone. Just like some people can sing, some cannot. Some people are good at math, some are not. Some people are good at thinking logically and have the ability to break down problems, translate solution into code. Most people cannot do that quickly and efficiently, because humans are not made to think that way. You should choose a career path best fits your talent. I'd like to be a world famous singer, but I know I really don't have the voice. Knowing one's strength and weakness is important in making the right decision in choosing a profession. If you like technology. There are a lot of fields other than programming you can get into, such as networking, telecommunication, hardware, engineering. Or maybe you have the capacity to understand technology quickly and able to evaluate pros and cons of each setup, although you cannot program yourself. And you have leadership skill and is a good organizer. That would be an ideal candidate for positions such as IT director.
I am a 35 year old computer programmer with ten years experience. Yet I am continually released from positions for poor performance. Why?
You, my friend, have a bad case of procrastination. Main indication - allowing dark side to attract you [Facebook, forums, porn]. Luckily, curable.You've got too used to the fact that everything you've done so far - you've done it with great ease. You didn't have to focus for extended period of time, because you only needed short time for high-end results.As I see it from where I'm standing, you can do two things: 1] Deal with procrastination [this would be great, otherwise it would be such a waste of talent], or2] Change industry [be very, very cautious - can you guarantee to yourself that you will not procrastinate in banking too? Or Interior Design? Or, you name it. Plus, it would be a huge waste and shame].So, hopefully, you choose 1]. I do not intend to give you step by step instruction, but rather some guidelines. It will require self-discipline and strict following of your own rules and schedules. Check these two names up: Dr. Terry Sejnowski [particularly his work on dealing with procrastination] and his associate Dr. Barbara Oakley. Find Barbara's life story. Don't float away towards Facebook.Check out some time management techniques, like Pomodoro. Or any other. Don't float away towards porn.Anyway, the term you want to focus on is PROCRASTINATION. I find this your only and major problem. Everything else, every other problem is a child problem of this major one, and will fade away, when you resist temptations. Work against it, and send me a follow up after 3 to 6 moths, if you don't mind. Just don't float pointlessly. Too much time on quora can be dangerous, too.Thanks for a2a.
Is it possible for a 22 year old to learn coding from scratch?
22 is the age of someone who has just completed his graduation.The number of engineers produced by India every year is 1.5 MILLION.And according to various reports found in the internet,at least 75% of the engineers are unemployable. Despite this , a handful of them get placed in companies like Wipro, Infosys, TCS, Cognizant, HCL.Lets talk about people who get placed in these glorified CALL CENTER kind of companies.Their Interview is completely based on soft skills and stupid illogical puzzles with arithmetic and logical aptitude.The job they do is completely mechanical which does not need any algorithmic skill and the coding is very mundane.All I am trying to say is that if your rating is 0,they would stand at 0.1 to 0.3.If you are aspiring to get that kind of a job,you seriously need some kind of a degree preferably Engineering.Go and do few courses which are labelled HOT in the industry like Java,.NET etc. But if you want to do a real Computer Science job,you need to start from Mathematics(Discrete Maths).You need to learn programming in some language and take part in coding forums very actively.Learn core concepts like OS,Computer Networking,Database Systems.You should also make Coursera your best buddy.This will not happen overnight and you should be proud of yourself if you do all this stuff.I would also like to clear a big misconception of yours.Being a GEEK has got nothing to do with programming.Excessive programming can make you geeky but the converse need not be always true.I assume that you are fond of computers which makes you think about yourself as a geek.But the irony is that Computer Science has got little with the common user interface of Computers. Computer Science is more of a MATH kind of thing. Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes(Quote by Edsger Dijkstra).All the best :) and thanks for the A2A.PS : I am no CS expert.I am just a kid like you trying to learn Computer Science.
How much money do computer Programmers make?
Well, depending on your skill in programming. I know of 2 computer languages so far. They make about $20-30 an hour. So they should make about 200-500k a year. There is program tools for of course creating a game. Be sure to know about C++ or C#. Because C++ is a high level computer language that most video game company's use. It is fast as a "rocket", is what most developers describe how fast it is. The skills are pretty common, communicating, making charts (so you don't screw up and waste your time coding). Depending if you want to be working at a company or freelancing. Since "freelancing" is basically working by yourself.