I've been going to developer meetups in my city since the beginning of this year (2019). Up until that point I had been teaching myself to code using books and online resources like stack overflow.
Going to these meetups has proven to be the best decision I have made after making the commitment to learning Android development. There is a lot you can learn on your own, but making friends with other people in the industry is so valuable. This is especially true if you are changing industries.
I have made it a point to be as friendly as possible to everyone I meet, and because of it everyone has been very supportive and helpful to me as a new developer. I have had people offer me suggestions on what to focus on and what to avoid, advice that could possibly save me years of wasted time. I have also had senior developers review my code and straight up offer to mentor me.
The biggest thing for me was overcoming the fear of having started "too late", when a lot of these guys have been coding since they were young teens. One of the guys I met admitted that he didn't consider himself the smartest developer, but he attributes his success to his drive to produce and participation in competitions, hackathons, etc.
For anyone on the fence about the value of meetups, just do it. Especially in software development, most people tend to be introverted, so going to meetups sets you apart from the keyboard crowd and lets you connect with the top performers in the field.
Going to these meetups has proven to be the best decision I have made after making the commitment to learning Android development. There is a lot you can learn on your own, but making friends with other people in the industry is so valuable. This is especially true if you are changing industries.
I have made it a point to be as friendly as possible to everyone I meet, and because of it everyone has been very supportive and helpful to me as a new developer. I have had people offer me suggestions on what to focus on and what to avoid, advice that could possibly save me years of wasted time. I have also had senior developers review my code and straight up offer to mentor me.
The biggest thing for me was overcoming the fear of having started "too late", when a lot of these guys have been coding since they were young teens. One of the guys I met admitted that he didn't consider himself the smartest developer, but he attributes his success to his drive to produce and participation in competitions, hackathons, etc.
For anyone on the fence about the value of meetups, just do it. Especially in software development, most people tend to be introverted, so going to meetups sets you apart from the keyboard crowd and lets you connect with the top performers in the field.
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