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Becoming a Programmer

the_Grinch

I've decided to formulate a backup plan if my current plans don't pan out. I'm looking into maybe becoming a programmer. I took a bunch of courses in High School (VB, C++, Java) and in college I took VB.net and Java (again). I was a decent programmer and probably would have been a good one if I stuck to it for 4 years through college. The past three years I have been doing IT (helpdesk, servers, networking, and some security work). I'd like to think that perhaps this will give me an advantage as a programmer, but who knows. The questions I have is, has anyone made this jump? I am aiming more towards web programming and I still have to figure out which way I will go (open source or Microsoft). My worry is the lack of formal education, what will companies think? I would need at least a year to get up to speed (probably longer). Just looking for a little advice...

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Comments

veritas_libertas

Out of curiosity, what do you REALLY want to do? No offense but you seem to be jumping around a bit. Not long ago I remember you saying that you were thinking about getting away from IT all together.

RobertKaucher

What is your current position and what other IT jobs have you held?

phantasm

Let me be blunt. If you want to be a programmer, you need a B.S. degree in Computer Science. No one will take you serious without it. So, right now, you need to have a come to Jesus with yourself and decide what you want to do.. IT or program software. Sorry, but that's how it works.

Cisco Inferno

phantasm wrote: »

Let me be blunt. If you want to be a programmer, you need a B.S. degree in Computer Science. No one will take you serious without it. So, right now, you need to have a come to Jesus with yourself and decide what you want to do.. IT or program software. Sorry, but that's how it works.

+1 B.Sc Computer Science

Bl8ckr0uter

phantasm wrote: »

Let me be blunt. If you want to be a programmer, you need a B.S. degree in Computer Science. No one will take you serious without it. So, right now, you need to have a come to Jesus with yourself and decide what you want to do.. IT or program software. Sorry, but that's how it works.

To be a programmer all you need is to be able to program

Furthermore I think learning how to code would make you a badass security pro. Just something to think about it.

joneno

I personally think it is very doable, opensource and programming is a marriage made in heaven. Since you already know a lil bit about c/c++, I would look into linux/unix, ajax, mysql, php/perl/shell scripting. Plus you don't have to take a lot of certification exams compared to cisco and microsoft anyways...just my thought.

Pash

I don't know many developers/programmers without Computer Science Degrees, this is true.

But that said one of the best developers I have personally kept in contact with has a Phd in Biology. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE A BSC IN COMPUTER SCIENCE TO BE A GOOD PROGRAMMER.

You need to be able to write well structured code and work methodically to solve problems.

tomaifauchai

Before enrolling yourself into a 4 years program, i would think about what you love the most, networking or programming? It's pretty rare someone mastering the both! With your 3 years experience and earned certifications, i wouldn't be surprised if you can get a better job soon while you pursue CCNA and so on.

I have a small story to share about a choice i made 3 years ago before enrolling in Cisco academy....

I learned PHP at home 5 years ago because i wanted to grab data from a browser game and store it to mysql, for analysis purposes, so Curl/PHP was the obvious choice.
I still play that game and maintain that website and then i developped a small C# app lol...

So the experience was good, learned PHP, mySQL, basic C# and excel from it but since that moment i decided that i should go in networking because programming was too "structured" and a complete headache to get into!

I tried 2-3 times to start a website project in PHP and it always ended by receiving an e-mail from the domain registrar telling me the domain was about to expire and of course... i never renewed

phantasm

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

To be a programmer all you need is to be able to program

Furthermore I think learning how to code would make you a badass security pro. Just something to think about it.

While I agree with you the industry has said otherwise. I've known plenty of programmers without degrees who couldn't even interview for a programming job because they didn't have a B.S. degree. If you want to be a code monkey and get paid for it, then a degree is advisable.

That was my point.

Webmaster

It really depends a lot on what type of programmer position you want to apply for. Although I think getting a degree is always advisable, experience is at least as valuable (same old story), which you can get and show by creating a portfolio. There are many paid jobs available for those who have proven they can deliver a finished product regardless of whether they have a degree, but there's a lot of competition in that arena too. If you are going to apply for a permanent / in-house position at an organization however, they usually want more than just the ability to write code in a certain language, such has as understanding of software development methodologies (e.g. agile and scrum) and other theoretic stuff you don't learn from writing code.

the_Grinch

True, I have been jumping around a lot. I'm just trying to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life. I'm 25 and not happy with my current lot in life. I'm working on the helpdesk (not my first choice) and basically looking a various options to get out of it. In the local area, I lack the experience to get a security position and due to my student loans it would be hard to move. As I search for jobs, I find tons of postings for web programmers. Most don't ask for a ton of experience, pay more that I'm making for entry level positions, and offer something different to the "my printer won't print". I would love to know what I would like to do with my life, but sadly I am fairly indecisive. At this point, I am looking at any option that will pay more, get me off the helpdesk, and perhaps even make me happy...

Thanks for the advice guy and as always, thanks for keeping me on the straight and narrow!

Essendon

You may not be able to get a security position right away, but you could try getting a server admin position and then when you have put in a couple of years into that role an employer might look at your more favourably. See I would I love to work on the SAN, but noone aint going to hand me the keys to it. You need to be doing servers, backups and if your stars line up right, get some minor SAN duties and that's the track I am going on.