Computer programming question

[dmiles2186]

So I have an associate's degree, I work for a technology company in development (QA) for a vet software. I've been thinking lately about taking online classes to complete a degree learning how to program/code. Is it worth it? Moneywise? Time wise? Those that do it, is it a total bore once you get in a working environment? What about web development?

I'm hesitant to go back to school. I don't do well in a classroom setting, I just don't have the attention span for it. With a son and a full time job, I'm just debating if it's worth it. Any advice would help.

[dmiles2186]

Cool. Thanks guys.

[Portland Blues]

Pretty sure this section of the board quietly passed away a couple years ago.

[cprice12]

I never noticed this thread.

If you like tedious work, then coding may be for you.

I love web development because it involves a lot of visual creativity where graphic design plays a significant role. I'm not a programmer outside of web development...so I can't comment too much on that...but being a programmer pretty much means you are in a basement at your desk the entire day, looking through thousands of lines of code and either trying to find a problem with existing code or creating something for someone from scratch. It's not for everyone, and you can get burned out very easily if that is all you do. It just depends on what kind of person you are. I know some guys who love it.

I'm lucky enough to work in a place that allows me to do a number of things...including web development, graphic design, application management, support, etc. I also have a home business where I do web design & hosting for a number of businesses. It's fun and it's extra money...plus it allows me to do more of what I want to do (creatively), as opposed to just doing what my employer wants.

If you like that kind of thing, I'm sure it would be worth it to you.

[cardsfan04]

I know you mentioned not wanting to go back to school, but have you considered a Computer Science degree? I went back to school in Fall 2012 for EE, but think I'm going to change to CS. It's supposed to be one of the most marketable degrees right now, so I assume (and certainly hope) that it is worth it time and money-wise.

This would also involve school, but maybe take an intro to programming or intro to C++ class somewhere. I took one last summer at STLCC and really liked it and is the main reason I'm probably going the CS route now. I don't know if you have any experience coding, but that's the only way I can think of to see if you like it.

Alternatively, there's probably ways online to teach yourself code without actually going to school.

[cprice12]

I know you mentioned not wanting to go back to school, but have you considered a Computer Science degree? I went back to school in Fall 2012 for EE, but think I'm going to change to CS. It's supposed to be one of the most marketable degrees right now, so I assume (and certainly hope) that it is worth it time and money-wise.

This would also involve school, but maybe take an intro to programming or intro to C++ class somewhere. I took one last summer at STLCC and really liked it and is the main reason I'm probably going the CS route now. I don't know if you have any experience coding, but that's the only way I can think of to see if you like it.

Alternatively, there's probably ways online to teach yourself code without actually going to school.

There are all kinds of places to learn how to code online without going to school. It's just a language.
w3schools.com is a great resource for teaching yourself a number of programming languages.

[dmiles2186]

Thanks for the ideas guys. Web Development definitely seems like something that would interest me. I work with software programmers, and yeah, sorting through all those lines of code doesn't seem like my bag. Actually, though work, I'm taking a basic web development course here in a few weeks. It's just as basic as you can get but will at least give me a taste of it. Definitely looking forward to that.

[cprice12]

Thanks for the ideas guys. Web Development definitely seems like something that would interest me. I work with software programmers, and yeah, sorting through all those lines of code doesn't seem like my bag. Actually, though work, I'm taking a basic web development course here in a few weeks. It's just as basic as you can get but will at least give me a taste of it. Definitely looking forward to that.

You can still pour through lines of code as a web developer...especially when looking for an error, but it's usually not near as many.

If you are interested in Web Development, buy a domain name then get some cheap hosting (hostgator.com is like $5 for basic hosting) and play around with it. You'll learn more by tinkering with your personal site and googling how to do certain things and then doing them, than you will ever learn in a class. I took one web design class, and I taught myself everything else just by tinkering and discovering.

If you can get a copy of Dreamweaver, it is helpful as you can build parts of a site in the WYSIWYG editor and then view the code and see how it codes those parts. That's a good way to learn.
Also, go to sites you like and view the source.

[cardsfan04]

I know you mentioned not wanting to go back to school, but have you considered a Computer Science degree? I went back to school in Fall 2012 for EE, but think I'm going to change to CS. It's supposed to be one of the most marketable degrees right now, so I assume (and certainly hope) that it is worth it time and money-wise.

This would also involve school, but maybe take an intro to programming or intro to C++ class somewhere. I took one last summer at STLCC and really liked it and is the main reason I'm probably going the CS route now. I don't know if you have any experience coding, but that's the only way I can think of to see if you like it.

Alternatively, there's probably ways online to teach yourself code without actually going to school.

There are all kinds of places to learn how to code online without going to school. It's just a language.
w3schools.com is a great resource for teaching yourself a number of programming languages.

Oh wow, that site is awesome. Thanks! I know the basics of C++, and can usually guess what is happening in other languages if I read code. But, I don't know much about them. I'm probably going to spend some time with that this summer.