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F*ck it, i'm learning to code

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

Marcel101

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Hello,

I didn't read through the whole thread but I just want to tell everyone who is thinking about starting to code. DO IT.

Let me explain why.

I read TMF and Unscripted a while ago but I was still working a horrible office job without any perspective.

Fortunately as I am from germany I was able to find a so called "training" as software developer so I don't earn much each month but they will teach me everything. The focus of my company is web development which is exactly what I was searching for.

So.. what can I tell you that provides value from the experiences of the last 8 Months learning code:

- it can be a lot of fun because you are able to create things out of nothing and it is a skill that will be even more important in the future. In my office job I wasn't learning much.
- start now, no matter how old you are
- practice, practice, practice. I read a lot of books additionaly when I was taking the bus etc. but you will learn the most by actually coding
- be patient. You will feel like an idiot at start. You will think it is not for you. Keep pushing through it. EVERYONE can learn it.
- find a mentor. I know I am really lucky having my coworkers which are also really like friends for me. This point is invaluable!!!!! Without a mentor you will have a much harder time. I would even pay for it.

Best regards
Marcel
 
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alexkuzmov

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I guess that could work, I think i'm still unsure of what skills i need to show in order to get hired. Would having functioning smaller segments on github be enough? if so i could easily start working on those and then just reuse them when building my actual MVP.
It could happen, but its unlikely.
Even if you have functioning code snippets, there is no guarantee that a company will have interest in them, or that the company wont make you do a code test which is unrelated to what you want to do.
There is no downside though.
Either they accept it or not, but you gain experince so its worth it, even if just a little.
 

AidenRafi

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With the advent of no-code communities and platforms like airtable + zappier, how important is it to learn coding?
 

alexkuzmov

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With the advent of no-code communities and platforms like airtable + zappier, how important is it to learn coding?
With the advent of none stick pans and pots, how important is it to learn how electricity works?
 
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flavius

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Which language is best to build a web app, php?

There are likely as many opinions as there are languages/frameworks. Php is one of the most popular languages to build the server side functionality (saving data, routing etc.) and from what I've heard of, modern php is also quite pleasant to work with. Depends on the app you are building, but usually you also need some javascript on the client side. I suggest picking one and starting to work on your project. In the end the techonologies are just a means to end and there are several viable options.
 

BlindSide

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February has been a month of uncertainty.

I’ve been learning ReactJS and progress has been slow and it's been getting harder to drag myself in front of the computer, not because i find it difficult but because my intentions have not been clear.

I’ve had to take a step back, I've had to really look at where I am in life.

I have a great idea for a Saas business. Businesses in this industry are currently paying tens of thousands of dollars and spending months doing what this could help them do in days if not hours.

The thing is..

I’m not sure which order to do things in, this is where I need your advice.

On one hand this project is a true fastlane venture, this business aligns perfectly with my 10 year vision.

On the other hand this will take a long time to develop so it might be smarter to build a smaller portfolio project(to show my skill), start getting some work and actually making some money first. Then once I have some more experience and disposable income I can focus on my fastlane venture.

What are your thoughts? Am i being foolish or realistic?

What? You have a project that you feel can make that much impact, and you want to wait for “experience?”

Nope, strongly disagree.

If I’m you, I’m diving in the waters. I’m making a landing page and driving traffic (I’m on Mobile, can’t link well.. find @Andy Black and his content on it). See what you can get. In fact, if it’s that disruptive, ask for pre-sales. Use the money to hire others and develop faster.

Even if you don’t agree with that approach, you need to do something. Wait too long, and someone else will come by and build it, and they’ll be laughing all the way to the bank.

Start today. Validate the idea.
 

Kraelog

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February has been a month of uncertainty.

I’ve been learning ReactJS and progress has been slow and it's been getting harder to drag myself in front of the computer, not because i find it difficult but because my intentions have not been clear.

I’ve had to take a step back, I've had to really look at where I am in life.

I have a great idea for a Saas business. Businesses in this industry are currently paying tens of thousands of dollars and spending months doing what this could help them do in days if not hours.

The thing is..

I’m not sure which order to do things in, this is where I need your advice.

On one hand this project is a true fastlane venture, this business aligns perfectly with my 10 year vision.

On the other hand this will take a long time to develop so it might be smarter to build a smaller portfolio project(to show my skill), start getting some work and actually making some money first. Then once I have some more experience and disposable income I can focus on my fastlane venture.

What are your thoughts? Am i being foolish or realistic?

I noticed from your posts that you started learning about programming just a few months ago. Now, it is very commendable that you have a long term vision and an idea for a possible product, but in the short & medium-term I would advice patience and baby-steps.

Personally I have been programming full-time for about two years and I'm only really scratching the surface of what is possible. A fully fledged SAAS product is a humongous project which can take more than a year for an experienced developer.

I would suggest that your current goal should be to get employed as a developer, so that you get paid while learning.

So:

- Build a portfolio
- Get employed as a developer
- Spend X months/years building your skills
- Develop your idea's into MVP's and try to find a golden egg.
 
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csalvato

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On the other hand this will take a long time to develop so it might be smarter to build a smaller portfolio project(to show my skill), start getting some work and actually making some money first. Then once I have some more experience and disposable income I can focus on my fastlane venture.

What are your thoughts? Am i being foolish or realistic?

Keep your eye on your own project. Work on it on the side. Put together basic proof-of-concepts, contact potential customers to get them to use your prototypes and give you feedback. If you're touching a problem that's a major pain point for them you should easily be able to get 2-3 people to do this with you.

Don't expect it to make money any time soon.

If you notice that you're getting a lot of interest and can't build it fast enough, you're in a position to build a team in exchange for equity, to raise money, or both.

If that never materializes into a business, use the work you do for your side project as evidence that you know what you're doing and land a job/freelance gig that is remote + more money than you're making now.

Repeat this process until you're at about $100-$150/hour as a contractor or 120-150k+/year as a W2 employee, or the business that you're working on on-the-side can support you.

Just my 2¢.
 

BlindSide

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Keep your eye on your own project. Work on it on the side. Put together basic proof-of-concepts, contact potential customers to get them to use your prototypes and give you feedback. If you're touching a problem that's a major pain point for them you should easily be able to get 2-3 people to do this with you.

Don't expect it to make money any time soon.

If you notice that you're getting a lot of interest and can't build it fast enough, you're in a position to build a team in exchange for equity, to raise money, or both.

If that never materializes into a business, use the work you do for your side project as evidence that you know what you're doing and land a job/freelance gig that is remote + more money than you're making now.

Repeat this process until you're at about $100-$150/hour as a contractor or 120-150k+/year as a W2 employee, or the business that you're working on on-the-side can support you.

Just my 2¢.

I like this approach as well. I think that working remote for companies is a huge advantage that people should be striving for, given the opportunity. For Fastlane members, it provides so much freedom with time back to work on the business.
 

SeanLewis

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I might lose my job.

I work in a department store(major chain) and long story short I've taken over my manager's duties while he is on sick leave (a couple of weeks).

Today I was in a meeting with the other managers and the head of the store. I found out that there will be major downsizing and all stores are to be run at a minimum expense.

Basically none of the contracts of part time workers are valid anymore and they can let anyone go and they don’t have to let you work all your hours(this comes from the state so perfectly legal).

Technically I only have a part time employment so hearing this was like a knife in the gut. Especially just having moved out for the first time a month ago.

So best case scenario i will get to work between 0-80 hours a month or worst case i’ll be let go with nothing.(not even sure which one is the worst case tbh)

This was the last drop for me.

There really isn’t any safety in a regular job. I guess my dumb a$$ had to go through it to actually believe it.

Before this I was thinking about a plan for investing my money smartly with this market crash, and now it’s all about how long i’ll be able to pay rent if the worst happens.

This is my own fault, I've put myself in this situation and I need to fix it.

Friday to Sunday I'm off from work(might be longer), I'm gonna finish my full stack portfolio project to prove I know what I'm doing(to myself and others) and then I’m gonna do whatever it takes to get freelance work.

I need cash and I need it yesterday, the whole spending a couple of months building a saas is just not gonna work now.

Time to hustle.

(I use the MERN stack if you need anything..)
 
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alexkuzmov

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I might lose my job.

I work in a department store(major chain) and long story short I've taken over my manager's duties while he is on sick leave (a couple of weeks).

Today I was in a meeting with the other managers and the head of the store. I found out that there will be major downsizing and all stores are to be run at a minimum expense.

Basically none of the contracts of part time workers are valid anymore and they can let anyone go and they don’t have to let you work all your hours(this comes from the state so perfectly legal).

Technically I only have a part time employment so hearing this was like a knife in the gut. Especially just having moved out for the first time a month ago.

So best case scenario i will get to work between 0-80 hours a month or worst case i’ll be let go with nothing.(not even sure which one is the worst case tbh)

This was the last drop for me.

There really isn’t any safety in a regular job. I guess my dumb a$$ had to go through it to actually believe it.

Before this I was thinking about a plan for investing my money smartly with this market crash, and now it’s all about how long i’ll be able to pay rent if the worst happens.

This is my own fault, I've put myself in this situation and I need to fix it.

Friday to Sunday I'm off from work(might be longer), I'm gonna finish my full stack portfolio project to prove I know what I'm doing(to myself and others) and then I’m gonna do whatever it takes to get freelance work.

I need cash and I need it yesterday, the whole spending a couple of months building a saas is just not gonna work now.

Time to hustle.

(I use the MERN stack if you need anything..)

Remote/Regular work:


Good cheap resume templates: Shop - Grind Reel

Good Luck :)
 

SeanLewis

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Kraelog

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You might also want to consider getting employed as a developer, is there is still an enormous demand and relatively few supply. At my company (IBM in Belgium) they're so desperate that anyone who can type "Hello World" can basically get an interview.

Especially with the near certain recession something stable where you can learn your craft might be a good idea...
 
D

Deleted78083

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Also, there are concepts in programing which apply for any language (excluding HTML, XML, CSS, LESS, etc. the UI languages basically, or SQL and others). You should focus on them regardless of which language you choose.
Dont focus on ALL of them, just the ones which are available in the language you are learning.

1. Logical structures. (if then, else, switch ...)
2. Cycle/Loop operators (for, for..in, while, foreach ...)
3. Variable types(string, bool, int ...) and scope (learn where a variable is visible and where not, SUPER IMPORTANT!)
4. Data structures (Array, Matrix, Stack, Heap ...)
5. Object oriented programing (abstraction, inheritance, interfaces, implementation ...)
6. Design patterns (Repository, Factory, Singleton ...)

If you understand these, you can learn any language.


Any resources you'd recommend to learn these?
 

alexkuzmov

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SeanLewis

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Any resources you'd recommend to learn these?

Check out the odin projects "web dev 101" it's free and i think it's the reason i've learned so much in this little time. They teach you how to actually think like a programmer instead of just teaching you some stuff about programming.
 

josealberto

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Hey, Sean.

One month has passed since your last post on this thread. How has it been? I'm following it close, planning on learning to code.
 
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SeanLewis

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Sorry about not updating this thread. I lost my job because of this whole covid19 thing, had to hustle a bit and get a new one.

Since i graduated a few years ago i’ve worked every possible shit job there is and it’s really getting to me.

I can’t believe i’ve cleaned bathroom walls covered in shit for 8 bucks an hour, i’ve done customer support, construction, retail, sales etc etc.

All this while middle management treats you like absolute garbage and simultaneously spits quotes like: “your best interest in mind”, “we’re in this together” and my favorite “we’re a family!”.

Thank god we're a family otherwise i might be mad about losing my job!

I’m not even gonna talk about what i do for a living now because it doesn’t matter, if i’m not a developer(getting paid to grow this skill) before the end of the year i welcome you to blow my brains out.

Enough bitching.

In my last post i talked about doing some freelance work and the truth is that i wasn’t ready for it at the time.

Sure i could probably have completed some freelance gigs but at the time i didn’t have any proof of my skills.

After getting myself out of unemployment I started work on a small web app for my portfolio. I just need to add some final touches and it should be deployable next week.

I’ve gained tons of experience planning and building something bigger and I feel a lot more comfortable coding now. I'm starting to be able to figure stuff out in my head when I'm not even at the computer.

Once the project is deployed I'm gonna try and land an interview. I can be very charismatic and I'm good at sales so once I actually get an interview I should be able to stand out.

A lot of you reading might be appalled at the idea of getting a “regular job” but the truth is I'm so tired of working odd hours, doing bullshit for little pay.

I think getting a regular job where i can get paid to learn and develop this skill is what I need right now.

I know this isn't much of an update but life had me sidetracked for a bit, but now i'm back on the grind.
 
D

Deleted78083

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I know this isn't much of an update but life had me sidetracked for a bit, but now i'm back on the grind.
Good luck, there is a nice quote from Jack Ma that is always interesting when hustling: "today is difficult, tomorrow will be even harder, but the day after tomorrow will be beautiful. Most people will die tomorrow night." Don't be most people.
 
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alexkuzmov

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Why do you need a portfolio to land an interview?
Apply, email, call, go to their office and ask to speak with HR if you have to.
Hustle.

I can’t believe i’ve cleaned bathroom walls covered in shit for 8 bucks an hour
I`ve cleaned vomit of a bar top and chairs for 8 bucks a day.

Even after I became a developer there were tough times when I had no money.
 

SeanLewis

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Why do you need a portfolio to land an interview?
Apply, email, call, go to their office and ask to speak with HR if you have to.
Hustle.

I would never hire a developer without any previous work. So how can i expect someone else too?

Anyways it's a few hours away from being done so there's no need to dwell on it. :)
 

LiveEntrepreneur

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Don't get caught up in tutorial purgatory. Tutorials exist to answer a specific question that you encounter while working on a project. This shift in mindset will double your rate of learning or better.
This advice is 100% fact. Don't do what I do, i spent 3 years watching tutorials and shit and could never figure out why i wasn't making progress. Can't believe what a mistake i made. I should have spent 3 years making projects not F*cking tutorials or books. Theory can be a killer.
 

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