Jennifer Dewalt documents her project of building 180 websites in 180 days to teach herself programming.
HN commenters recommend it as an inspiring example of learning to code by building, often suggested to people starting web development.
I know in the moment things seem very dire for you. Step back, take a deep breath, and know that countless other people have been in your situation or worse. We're humans and throughout history we've adapted to conditions 10x more horrid than you can even imagine.
First, the DUI. I'm also a member of the bad judgment club, but it has never impacted my career in any way. It's an expensive lesson, but depending on your conviction, the state you reside in, where you are in the legal process, etc., employers may never see it. Do your research. In San Francisco and for public employers, it's actually legal to inquire about your criminal history if it has no relevance to the job. Out of all the things you could have been convicted of, people will probably be the least judgmental about a DUI because the vast majority of people ahve driven drunk, you just got caught. Depending on your level of desperation and/or your personal ethics, lying or massaging the truth is also an option.
> I find it hard and give up at times because everything is so overwhelming and I don't have anyone to ask questions to because I have so many questions
Guess what? That sentiment is very common amongst software engineers. In fact, from my personal experience, devs have a higher level of impostor syndrome and professional inadequacy than any other profession, save for doctors and scientists, I've witnessed. I had the exact same feelings as well in the beginning. However, I funneled these feelings to…
You can learn on your own, I think this would be better than a boot camp depending on your skill level anyway.
You're not going to pay the bills right away so you're going to need a 'day' job though and learn on your own nights and weekends. Maybe see about a non-programming job at a web development agency.
If you are just getting started . . .
Get a copy or pdf of
Head First HTML and CSS
google head first html and css pdf
This will get you started with the basics.
I recommend using a mac if you have one (PC will work too)
Use SublimeText, MAMP or WAMP and filezilla, buy a domain and get a hostgator account learn about the domain, DNS (pointing A record to your hosting), uploading/updating your website.
Learn some Javascript and jQUery there are head first books for these too.
After you get through that book move on to . . .
Headfirst PHP and MySQL
Once you make it through that book you should checkout Rails and/or Laravel which are frameworks for building web applications.
TeamTreehouse.com is a great place to learn a wide variety of skills.
RailsCasts.com and LaraCasts.com for Rails/Laravel.
Once you have HTML and CSS down you might be able to get an entry level position at a local web development agency.
Also working through those books you'll learn if you have a knack for programming. Do you track down/notice bugs quickly? Or do you spend hours tracking down a : that should be a;.
Inspiration:
http://jenniferdewalt.com/
Good luck.
I am not saying I am one of those coders. But I know that they are on HackerNews. There is a large chance that the founder and VCs of Yo will see this thread. If you post about a computer language, chances are the authors are reading it.
Yes, there are a lot of coders on here that can code your MVP or a basic mobile app in 48 hours. And I think some of them are still constantly learning new ways to code and getting better.
I made no qualitative statements about these topcoders vs. those coders who can't (or won't) deliver in a weekend.
> ...will suddenly start to wonder what's the point of learning to code if they'll only be good once they can build any app in a weekend.
I think that's more of an issue with self-esteem than it is with the observation that there are hackers on here who can crank out production-ready code in a short amount of time.
HN really seemed to like the posts by Jennifer Dewalt (http://jenniferdewalt.com/). It is not unwelcome to starting coders. You may be interested in Norvig's article: http://norvig.com/21-days.html "Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years" which aligns much more with my true view on this.
Speed is not everything. Often these weekend hacks lack market demand, lack user experience, can't overcome the chicken-and-egg problem.
Don't beat yourself too much. 100% of the "overnight successes" you hear from the media bubble were ALWAYS X years in the making, where X >= 10.
> If I want to do kaggle competition: I won't even try to do single submission thinking - "I won't make it to the top 10, why bother, instead do something else."
If you want to achieve mastery, you already lost. When the Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa received a honorary Lifetime Achievement Award at Oscars at the age of 80 he said, "I don't think I understand the cinema yet".
Seeking mastery has nothing to do with learning and everything to do with our own insecurities: "If I'm the best maybe women will love me", "If I'm the best maybe people will like me", "If I'm the best maybe I will find my own identity".
Give up mastery. Embrace learning.
> "It doesn't look like the one I saw on the internet".
This is the wrong mindset. Instead ask yourself: Does it look better than the work I did yesterday?.
> Maybe I am completely unaware of how time it actually takes to master something and setting up wrong expectations.
It takes time and consistency. Small, quantifiable steps every day. This applies to everything: dancing http://danceinayear.com/, web development http://jenniferdewalt.com/, ...
Good luck!
Start hacking.
CodeFellows/Udacity/College is expensive. Hack: Figure out what they teach you, and find other, cheaper sources of the same information. (edit: Check out Zed Shaw's stuff http://learnrubythehardway.org/book/ http://learnpythonthehardway.org/book/)
CodeFellows/Udacity/College says they teach you what you need to know to get a job. Hack: Ask employers directly what they look for when hiring. Learn that instead.
I don't have experience/proof of skills. Hack: Start posting your work online. (Get a free blog or use GitHub or something.) Even if it's a tiny thing. Bit by bit, day by day, you'll be proving that you can ship something. When someone asks what you can do, show them the site. (edit: A shining example is Jennifer Dewalt's 180 Websites in 180 days: http://jenniferdewalt.com/)
I don't know people who can help me. Hack: Find your local web development meetup and go. Don't sit in the corner. Meet people. Get their contact into. Tell them what you're trying to accomplish. Ask them for advice. (People love to give advice.) Email them later and let them know you enjoyed meeting them. Thank them for their advice. Build relationships.
1) I found my first job out of grad school via a startup's Show HN post. It began a successful chain of SWE positions for me and unlocked many doors.
2) I was inspired to relearn JS and web development when Jen Dewalt's fabulous journey of 100 (now 180) websites in 100 (180) days was posted daily: https://jenniferdewalt.com/. I credit it with giving me the baseline to pass those interviews. I later had the luck to work with Jen and the joy of letting her know how she shaped my career.
3) Introduced me to Clojure which I loved having learned Scheme in the past. This baseline again allowed me to nail that first job interview.
4) In general, keeps me up to date on emerging technologies, services, and trends. Knowing about sendgird and postmates and their general features and pricing off the top of my head in my most recent job interview seemed to earn me some bonus points from the CTO.