# becoming a self taught programmer/web designer?



## anthropy (Sep 5, 2014)

i think i have established that the only possible route for someone with bad communication skills is to become a computer programmer.
i think i'd prefer not to go to school for multiple reasons, one is its cost, another my health problems, another being that im very far behind in the education system and i dont know how id get in, and of course the thing about being around other ppl, even if it might be the only way to be around others, i think that environment would destroy me further as it did in HS.. id be around 6'5 robust jocks with their hot dumb gfs and id be the only one that wasnt always happy, talkative, laughing, and enjoying life, and the only one with NO social circle.

anyway, 
I want to know if anyone has experience in this field and can tell me some good resources to teach myself, what types of coding should I learn, some recommended sites for freelancing, what sort of jobs should i go after, and whether or not you think its a good idea and can be a successful path.
Honestly I think its my only option at this point, it will be quite hard to concentrate in this chronic pain but I cant keep doing nothing.


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## PunkGirl01 (Aug 9, 2015)

Technical schools. Most people are average. Or an online course. All of which could be paid for with financial aid. If you need more education before these, you can also take online GED or similar classes that will allow you to achieve your goals.


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## IllmaticJJ (Dec 29, 2013)

teamtreehouse is great site. but be warned that web designers and programmers usually need good social skills.


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## thaswasup (Mar 20, 2009)

IllmaticJJ said:


> teamtreehouse is great site. but be warned that web designers and programmers usually need good social skills.


Maybe, but its one of the top rated/best jobs for introverts at the moment along with software developers so even tho they may need some social skills i dont think it will be as constant. I could be wrong but I havent read too much about those jobs needing that many social skills.


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## Proud Paperclip (Jul 11, 2014)

I have been working in the industry of design, web and development for a long time and the best way, for me, to learn is by self-teaching. In fact, with code, the quickest way to learn is by doing it. We can't learn how to ride a bike just by staring at it. Luckily we have the internet which gives us an abundance of resources to utilize to acquire the knowledge we need.

Some good resources:

https://teamtreehouse.com/ (This is kind of class-based and will take a fee depending on how deep you want to go)
http://www.w3schools.com/ (Great resources for many web technologies. You can even take quizzes to test yourself)
http://www.lynda.com/ (Video resources in case you would rather watch to learn instead of read to learn. I have viewed many of their web-based video tutorials and it's structured professionally in my opinion.)

Those sites will cover multiple programming languages but there are other great tools for other languages that you may want to work with. Usually each language has its own library/documentation of how it works and its syntax. You just have to do a simple internet search specifying which language you want to dig into to find them.

For web, definitely start with HTML and I'm sure you have heard of this before. It's the foundation code for any website. Think of it has the foundation to a house. Houses have and need these foundations in order for anything else to exist. This language is layout/text-based only.

Once you have a good idea of HTML down, get at CSS. This is where you can decorate the web page; give it structure, colors, fonts, font sizes and so on.

After you have decorated enough, get into JavaScript. This is where you can add functionality to your epic web page that is now full of color. Say you want to prompt a user to fill in a required field, you can have a script say, no, it's empty. What are you doing? Stuff like that. JavaScript.

Those three are client-side languages and can therefore be done locally. If you want to get deeper, hit up server-side scripts like .NET or PHP. With these, you can create sessions, log someone in, call a database to retrieve their information. You can use SQL to talk to the database but in my opinion, PHP is a great tool that works side by side with SQL.

I think that's a good place to start. You can do this all from home! If you want to freelance, it would be good if you had an online portfolio to showcase so that clients and interested parties know that you are credible. When you are ready for that, I like to use https://www.elance.com/ to seek out projects.

Good bye, and have a nice day. =)


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## thaswasup (Mar 20, 2009)

Proud Paperclip said:


> I have been working in the industry of design, web and development for a long time and the best way, for me, to learn is by self-teaching. In fact, with code, the quickest way to learn is by doing it.


How long did it take you from learning it to making money with it? Also is it a decent amount?


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## Proud Paperclip (Jul 11, 2014)

thaswasup said:


> How long did it take you from learning it to making money with it? Also is it a decent amount?


The coding by itself I would say I spent two years studying it and experimenting with it before being credible enough to earn money from it. I jumped around from about five different programming languages and started with websites then went to web apps which evolved into native apps and then games.

The income is decent in that I can get by comfortably with cushion money left over. I am able to live on my own which is cool. You got to have fun with code though and have patience as it can throw errors at you left and right. I see that as a learning opportunity though. ^_^


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## iCod (Feb 17, 2015)

You can learn code for free at this website:
https://www.codecademy.com/

Programming, you can probably find some cheap/free online courses.


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## SelfCompulsoryIsolation (Dec 30, 2013)

What you should start with depends entirely on what you want to do.

If you just want to start with _something_, I'd say to start with a .NET language, like C# or VB. You can start building useful applications pretty rapidly. This is useful if you're working alone, because while languages like C++ give you more control, you need a _lot _more time to make something useful.


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## anthropy (Sep 5, 2014)

thanks all I appreciate the help.
i know next to nothing about the whole thing as it stands but i am historically a natural so we'll see.
checking out the sites.


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## anthropy (Sep 5, 2014)

do u guys think its worth getting a degree though? how much will my chances of getting work increase? ive heard various opinions on the matter.


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## DefineLife (Aug 13, 2015)

Programmers don't need degree. They need skills. You need to be little above average to get good job.


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## Proud Paperclip (Jul 11, 2014)

anthropy said:


> do u guys think its worth getting a degree though? how much will my chances of getting work increase? ive heard various opinions on the matter.


Employers care about whether you can perform or not; if you have the talent or not. They like to see what you can do and not necessarily what a piece of paper -- like a degree -- says you can do. They want to see that you got an education. Self-teaching is still an education. There may be some that want to see an accredited school on your resume though. A degree never hurts and the school you go to may provide a good structure for learning the right materials.

You can always do both (take classes and work on some things on the side). I did this as in my situation, I felt I wasn't getting enough from my school and I wanted to dig in more than they were offering me. Most of what I know is through self-teaching.


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## Watching (Aug 7, 2015)

http://hackaday.com/ Begin.


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## anthropy (Sep 5, 2014)

ok ill learn myself i think.
unfortunately i dont find it too interesting but i do find it alluring as an income prospect and a way to say im employed.
the other thing is i simply find it impossible to focus on things in this pain.. i cant ignore it and concentrate on what i want, its torture.
at least i know now that theres possibly an option for me in life though.


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## Krauser (Aug 11, 2014)

I'm learning web dev but I have had the html/php/css/mysql basics in my bag for a while now. In my case, I'm learning it to my future attempt at my own very small hobby/business where a website is obviously needed. Even if it's not a favorite thing for you or other people, I can tell that it's worthy. Learning is always good, you never know when you might need the info.

Just try to keep in contact with it daily or weekly cuz if you go one month or 2 without touching it, at least in my case, I end up forgetting some syntaxes and such.


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## SofaKing (May 9, 2014)

Yes, a degree is always preferred since some employers use that as an immediate, though arbitrary filter on the hiring process. Does a degree determine your talent? Absolutely not, but it can be a minimum ante to play the game unless you have other ways of networking your way into a position where you can demonstrate talents.

Now, the good news is this. You can teach yourself since there are so many "free" platforms to develop on.

There are two approaches you should take. Go through as many tutorials as you possibly can to understand how to use the development platforms, languages, tools, etc. Learn both native languages like Java, C#, etc., but also some of the content management tools like WordPress, Drupal, etc., as they are also becoming big parts of rapid site development.

But, you should also be prepared to come up with a website that you want to build for your own purpose, even if it's just a blog or something. It becomes part of your portfolio as well as anecdotal work experience you can discuss on interviews.

Good luck!


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