I’ve always been fascinated by computers.
I think a lot of it has to do with just being good at using them. It’s encouraging to find something you’re good at, especially when you’re just a young kid.
Well, after a long time in another career, I decided to give coding a shot. I figured it can’t hurt to have another skill, right?
A rewarding journey
If you’ve ever tried coding, you’re surely familiar with Coding Bipolar II, as characterized by two states:
- The mania of success, a.k.a. iamgodbowdowntome
- The depression of failure, a.k.a. thiss#!tisnevergoingtowork
Happiness comes from a sense of purpose. Enduring hardships is the only way to find purpose.
Imagine how easy it would be if your life’s purpose was written on your birth certificate? Just follow instructions.
Sadly, it’s not that easy.
If you want the euphoria of getting a bit of code running, you need to learn the tyranny of debugging.
Spread the wealth
I’ve learned a few things along the way. I’ve tried some courses that did not help so much, and I’ve found some cheap books that were like a gold mine of good information.
I can recommend those, sure, but I certainly don’t know everything.
Even some of the things that are most basic… once you get outside your normal pattern of design, things change.
And in the day and age of useful, reusable frameworks — like React, Angular, Flask, Django, Rails, and Laravel — so much of the code is hidden from you.
I liken it to a maze: there is path that will lead you out, but you can’t see through the walls. The correct path could be just ahead, but without trying a few things and getting a sense for the maze as a whole, you’re just going to be guessing.
That’s when people like you and me start diving not just into the documentation, but beyond it. We find out some things that are less commonly discussed, but still objectively useful.
That’s why StartCodingNow.com came to exist.
This site is here to spread the wealth of knowledge that you have.
If you just want to lurk and read, that’s fine. I can’t chase you down.
But if you’re looking for an opportunity to grow, what better place than among your peers?