Success Story: Pivoting into CS at 32 and going from never making over 45k to 120k as a new grad. After two great life failures, I finally found success in CS. learn programming |
- Success Story: Pivoting into CS at 32 and going from never making over 45k to 120k as a new grad. After two great life failures, I finally found success in CS.
- Resources similar to Odin Project but for Python/Django?
- How good is nand2tetris?
- How to get past the "CRUD" phase?
- MySQL vs Postgres
- depressed all weekend after failing at flask then realized today after work a space after one character was crashing my website
- Fun Coding Activities?
- Advice on overcoming being a three-day monk and rushing while learning
- Help with C assignment
- What does it mean in C that data type "Double" is more "expensive" than data type "Float"
- If I find a typo in documentation and contact the creators of the site to fix it, can I count that as contributing to open source?
- C++: how to initialize this array?
- Really dumb question about loops for a beginner
- Using recursive quick sort on a vector
- How do you comprehend making a program?
- Looking for some advice with a Firebase project regarding GCP / node.js
- Learning programming with Bootcamps
| Posted: 06 Dec 2021 06:35 PM PST Being up front Because I will be sharing many deidentifying pieces of information, I have chosen not to write on my real account. I believe this allows me to share much more detail while still preserving some sense of anonymity. I hope that not only will this additional level of detail, of which seems to be uncommon in success stories will more than make up for any missing credibility by posting on a new account. I do not believe my story is particularly exceptional, but in the end people will need to make up their own mind. I have provided my background and where I came from because it may help inspire some people. I think success stories are often less impactful than they could be because there is always a sense of "well you must have had x, or you were privileged in the following y,z ways." I don't intend to complete resolve that by sharing my background but rather just to make it less ambiguous. Some people will always have some excuse as to why they weren't or can't be successful. My goal isn't to make it sound like a "if I can do it, anyone can story." About meI grew up in a lower-middle class family in the US. My parents had a nasty divorce when I was young and there was constant custody battles, I attended many schools, had no friends, and was constantly bullied. The police were not uncommon visitors to my house. In high school, things settled and I gained some notion of stability. Up until then, I had no vision of a future, no idea of how I could possibly make it in the world and no confidence. This began to change after I became inspired by the Japanese Anime Dragon Ball Z (yeah I know). It awaken me to the fact that one could self-improve through discipline and perseverance. This initially took the form of physical conditioning and after a while my confidence grew and for the first time I a "passion." From this came my first vision of a future - I set out to join the military with the goal of becoming a Navy SEAL. I graduated high school (with a 2.1 GPA) and attempted to enroll in the Navy. However, I soon discovered I am medically disqualified from service. I had an undiagnosed kidney issue that barred me from enlisting. However I remained hopeful that if I could get it treated I may still enlist. So I began a 2 year process of treating the disease in hopes that I could get the levels of proteinuria (the diagnostic) to an acceptable level. But after being strung along by recruiters, I eventually got a hold of the recruiting command who said that even if my condition was cured, I would never be elidable for service - in any military service. The mere history of having it was permanently disqualified. That didn't matter in the end because the kidney disease is IgA nephropathy and is incurable and progressive. So here I was back to square one with no hope of a future. I worked for a time as a fitness instructor and I continued to work on myself, personally. I soon become inspired again. I had always been interested in science, but I never thought I had a future in it. However, I had gained the confidence to pursue the academic route. I knew I wouldn't get into a decent university with the traditional route given my academic history (GPA 2.1, and ACT 18). So I went to a community college and did very well which allowed me to transfer to a good university from there. I took out student loans to cover tuition and expenses. By this time I was able to claim myself as an independent on the FAFSA and thus allowed me to get enough loans and grants to cover most expenses. I had set graduate and pursue an MD/PhD. I wanted to practice medicine and I liked science. Most MD/PhD programs are completely funded and thus would allow me financially to pursue an MD. However, I failed in this pursuit. I had one particularly rough semester which sent me into a spiral of depression and self-doubt. I believed that since these programs were extremely competitive, there would be no way I could achieve success. In hindsight, I probably still could have been admitted. A big failure on my part was my failure to seek mental help. I had a certain sense of pride which prevented me from doing so. All my success until had been self-driven and I believed no one but me could help me, I didn't have the capacity to ask for help. My depression spiraled and I was at risk of getting dropped from my program (biology). One semester I failed 3 out of the 5 classes I was enrolled in. I eventually completed my required courses by the skin of my teeth and graduated with a 2.7 GPA, but I found myself again (in my eyes) back to square one. Only now with a massive amount of student debt. I realized I could get some lab tech job, but I had no desire to pursue this route. The pay is poor and the work is not intellectually challenging. I was tired of being strapped for cash, living paycheck to paycheck and I thought if my life was worth living, I needed to have a decent income. So I went back to doing what I though could amount to a decent pay - fitness trainer. I worked as a fitness trainer for a few years but I began to realize, this is a dead-end career for me. It was too intellectually unstimulated and I did not have the personality required for a long and successful career. I hated approaching people and I hated pressuring people to buy training. Eventually I heard about machine learning/deep learning. Up until then, I had no interest in CS or programming. But learning about deep neural networks greatly intrigued me. The level of empiricism involved reminded me of the natural sciences - experimentation, observation, etc. So that's when I started reading about the CS field as whole and I became even more fascinated - not to mention the pay is good. My pivot into CSUntil then, I had presuppositions about what it meant to be a programmer/SWE. One of the big ones I had was that you had to be really good at typing in order to be a successful programmer, which was unappealing to me because I've always sucked at typing and had no confidence I could be proficient to a high level. I have large muscular hands with little finger dexterity. Obviously, I eventually realized this was ridiculous. So now I had my third inspiration for the future - become a software engineer. But with a BS in biology and a 2.7 GPA, I had to find a way to find a way. After researching what the best approach was for me I decided that pursing a masters degree in CS would be best. That way I could feel like my bachelors was not a complete failure and I could theoretically graduate and have a job in just 2 years. I was ineligible for most graduate programs because of my undergrad (most need 3.0 at a minimum). However, I landed on DePaul University's Master of Science in Computer Science which had a 2.5 GPA minimum. Just as important, they allowed you the option to test out of the introductory CS coursework if you can pass the proficiency exams. This was huge for me because it meant I could save over $20000 and graduate a year sooner. The FAFSA direct grad loans were just enough to cover full-time tuition. I applied and was accepted to the program, to begin the following Autumn quarter. This gave me about 5 months to self-study and attempt to pass the proficiency exams (you only get one chance). My CS journeyTo do this, I discovered the ample amount of study resources available online. This included, reddit, edx, coursera, and youtube. However, the most valuable resources I discovered came from the open-sourced materials and lectures from elite universities like Berkeley, Stanford, and MIT. I "audited" several courses in preparation. Here are the audited courses and the corresponding DePaul courses I used to prepare for. https://cs61a.org/ (DeNero version)- CSC 401, Intro to CS https://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs61b/fa21/ (Hug version) - CSC 402, CSC 403, Data structures https://www.eecs70.org/ and http://imt-decal.org/ - CSC 400, Discrete math CMU Video lectures and CMU 15-213 - CSC 405, 406, Systems I also realized that gaining some experience ASAP was crucial, so I began sending out applications for internships anywhere and everywhere. I was lucky enough to encounter a programming internship at a university research center which specialized in biomedical research. I think my bachelors in biology helped me land this even know I had no formal experience in programming. I started the summer before my first quarter began and I worked as an intern there the entire time I was in graduate school. During my studies, I continually supplemented with additional material, auditing other courses. I wanted to land a good job after graduation and while I was glad to be admitted to DePaul's MSCS, the program was weak and I knew if I wanted a good job I would have to go above and beyond the coursework. I graduated with a 3.9 GPA and landed a new grad role at a F100 making 120k in a med CoL area at 34 years old. I prepared for new grad roles through all the ways you frequently read about on here. Grinding leetcode (about 30 easy, 80 med, 10 hard over 2 months), doing mock interviews on platforms like Pramp, and applying to lots of places. I couldn't grind any more than that because I was working (20 hours/week) and going to school fulltime. I failed several interviews. However, all you need is one success and eventually I found it. [link] [comments] |
| Resources similar to Odin Project but for Python/Django? Posted: 06 Dec 2021 12:52 PM PST I found the Odin Project to be the best free resource for programming and was wondering if someone here could point me in the direction of something similar but for Python/Django? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 06 Dec 2021 04:16 PM PST I found recently about nand2tetris resources and its courses, is it worth going through it? Does any of you would recomend me to take it to be a better programmer? And another question, does understanding how a computer works this deep can actually make me a better programmer? (I know it can sound illogical to question it in the first place as of course the more knowledge, the better, but I'm curious about what any of you could say) Pd: English is not my first language so if I said something wrong or out of place, say it so I know next time [link] [comments] |
| How to get past the "CRUD" phase? Posted: 06 Dec 2021 04:53 PM PST So a lot of my projects are just CRUD: simple backend API, simple JWT auth, front end, and a DB. But I want to get past this stage and possibly get into systems design. I want to implement, caching, Kubernetes, docker, microservices, kalfka/rabbitmq, load balancing, CI/deployments, maybe even distributed systems (but this seems a little of an overreach at my current skill level). However, I am having a hard time trying to figure out a project idea for this such a learning process, I guess you can call it a "hello world" project. Any project ideas, possibly anything I should add to the list to learn, and so on would be much appreciated. Maybe even some books, or resources. Thank you! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 06 Dec 2021 07:08 PM PST I've been seeing a lot of stuff about Postgres being the best for databases. I can confidently use MySQL really well without any issues though so is it worth switching over? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 06 Dec 2021 06:31 PM PST teaching myself flask, just to have a project to work on while studying for my python intro course. Today I was ready to give up and go right back to SQL. Only SQL. Anyway decided I would revisit stack overflow for this jinja error. The problem was a space character I didn't notice after an endblock. I never heard about flask or jinja until a few days ago. Once again I am reading more of the documentation on flask but had to share. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 06 Dec 2021 06:24 PM PST I "like" to code but at the same time I would never come home and sit down to code for fun. I'll play an instrument or a video game I'm good at as a fun activity. For some reason I can't figure out why coding isn't fun, even though I have fond memories of it. I tell people coding is fun because I feel like I am in a playground and I can make anything I want. I am the creator and I can do anything. But I never do make anything. What are some fun activities I can do that'll help me as a programmer? Do you guys do anything fun that you actively look forward to working on? Are there any cool easy projects that show me what I can do? Background: CS Major, started with web dev, learned java/python at university, lots of OOP experience. [link] [comments] |
| Advice on overcoming being a three-day monk and rushing while learning Posted: 06 Dec 2021 07:34 PM PST Hi, for the last few years I've been working as a React developer, but webdev always seemed to me too not-challenging and boring, so I always wanted to work in another niche. Unfortunately webdev is the only thing I could get successful at. I learned a few things about system programming, embedded programming, operating systems, multimedia programming, graphics programming, etc. but every my attempt at actually becoming proficient at some topic ended in me completely forgetting about it. I learnt C - to some extent - I fiddled around in OpenGL and got a small game working - and forgot about it - I started learning linear algebra, got familiar with a few things - and stopped - I bought an FPGA and fiddled around with Verilog, got a simple ALU working - and that FPGA is now long gone - I started learning CPU architecture - the excitement lasted for a week - I attempted to start learning linear algebra once again with WebGL - got a cube spinning - and forgot about it - I tried myself in osdev - couldn't get past setting up paging - and the most recent: started reading Concrete Mathematics - stopped after just two days. I guess my main problem is me wanting to learn everything right here and right now, to do everything correctly from the start... And for the life of me I can't get my shit together and focus on one thing, one concept at a time, I keep jumping too much ahead, trying to do things too advanced immediately and eventually burning out as a result. I'm not sure if that's bad or good, but to me it currently seems like what's stopping me. I tried everything from different resources, courses, books, videos to meditation, all to no success. If anyone had experience like that I'd be extremely grateful for any advice on how to overcome it, thanks. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 06 Dec 2021 12:42 PM PST hey everyone. I need some help with an assignment I got in my C programming class...it´s probably pretty simple but i'm kind of lost. so what i have to do is write a function with the prototype "void convert (char ch);". it needs to receive a char and show 0 if the char is a whole number, 1 if its a letter (upper or lowercase) or 2 for anything else. my biggest problem is comparing a char to other values. i know i have to use the ascii table but how do i convert my char into an int to do that? do i even have to convert it or am i looking at this problem the wrong way? thanks in advance for any advice! [link] [comments] |
| What does it mean in C that data type "Double" is more "expensive" than data type "Float" Posted: 06 Dec 2021 02:39 PM PST I was wondering why you wouldn't just use a double all the time instead of a float. I googled and found this as an explanation: Double is more precise than float and can store 64 bits; double the number of bits float can store. We prefer double over float if we need to do precision up to 15 or 16 decimal points; otherwise, we can stick to float in most applications, as double is more expensive. Difference between float and double in C/C++ | Coding Ninjas Blog Can anyone clarify what being "more expensive" means in this context? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 06 Dec 2021 12:04 PM PST |
| C++: how to initialize this array? Posted: 06 Dec 2021 05:57 PM PST Hello I have a piece of code which gives me this error: I feel like there is something I unfortunately still not quite understand about std::ref and references, which leads me to not being able to get past this compile error. The code: Could someone clarify what the correct way of proceeding is? I will make sure to dig further into it. Thank you [link] [comments] |
| Really dumb question about loops for a beginner Posted: 06 Dec 2021 12:53 PM PST Hey all. I'm in a bootcamp that spent a week teaching JavaScript, we are past JavaScript and now learning react. Besides not being able to keep up due to a lack of understanding, I'm really hung up on loops. When you loop through an object or an array, how does it translate into creating a function that does something? My base understanding is that you can do a for loop and return all items in an array or object but then what? I can make a new array of items from the original array, but what do you Do after that? is that when you do something like add an event listener Or onClick to the items in the new array? Forgive me if I sound really dumb, but apparently I am because I'm just not understanding the JavaScript. The bootcamp instructions for projects are incredibly confusing, I complained and they said they made them confusing on purpose. 🤦🏻♀️ [link] [comments] |
| Using recursive quick sort on a vector Posted: 06 Dec 2021 05:50 PM PST Hello, I've been tasked with creating a series of members of a class "Course", sorting them (based on Course ID) with recursive quick sort, and then searching (via Course ID) with recursive binary search. It seemed the easiest way to arrange a bunch of class members would be by placing them into a vector. From then, it's a matter of adjusting the example provided in class (which sorted an array) into a form that can handle a vector. Here's what I have so far: https://gist.github.com/SloaneT/5cdab146c5e3d2d03f4d30d69a64d755 Things are looking pretty good but I seem to be misunderstanding how to access an index of the vector with type "Course" and compare it with an integer. My main concern is an error message I receive for line 131, which is something along the lines of "cannot convert 'Course' to 'int'". Will you please let me know if you can point me in the right direction? Thank you, A.Y. PS -- I know that my way of populating the vector isn't ideal -- there are quite a few areas I plan on cleaning up once I get the program to at least fulfill its main purpose. [link] [comments] |
| How do you comprehend making a program? Posted: 06 Dec 2021 05:35 PM PST I know how syntax work but don't know how to mash it all together. [link] [comments] |
| Looking for some advice with a Firebase project regarding GCP / node.js Posted: 06 Dec 2021 05:35 PM PST Hey! I am working on a project for a client that essentially takes lab reports, processes the data and turns it into useable formats, on display in a 'portal' where a customer of my client can login and view their results. I am confident with extracting the data, and interacting with the db to display it nicely in the front end. My question is regarding the 'in between' :) Having worked with firebase previously, and having written the script that currently extracts the data in JavaScript, I figured firebase is the best option. I also don't have any experience with serverside programming.. Currently, the lab provides the files by depositing them in a directory which we access using SFTP. They have specified that they can also deposit them to a storage bucket of our choosing such as Google cloud storage. This, IMO, fits well with the firebase motive. My question is, is there a way of using GCP to interact with the files, run scripts on them, and write data from the scripts to firebase? I've seen some documentation regarding node.JS, and even python for interacting with the storage however I presume this means moving away from serverless? I'm also happy to continue using the sftp approach if you have any reasons why that may be suitable! Not looking for a solution but just some experience to guide my research! Any opinions on the workflow or methodology welcome 🙏 Thanks Reddit. [link] [comments] |
| Learning programming with Bootcamps Posted: 06 Dec 2021 01:40 PM PST Hello there! I bought a web developer bootcamp from Udemy, for now I've done with more than 50% of it. At the moment, I started to learn NodeJS, and I guess I am a bit "stucked". I think I can learn fast, and my goal is about 1 lesson per day since they are about 1hr(max 2) long approx. So my problem is that the fact that I'm "only learning" is getting a bit frustrating. I did make a simple web page with HTML, CSS, Bootstrap already, but don't really know that should I finish with the course first, then make some projects, or just try to make some now. Is there a best practice for learning programming with bootcamps like that? [link] [comments] |
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