How To Become a Self-Taught Programmer

Author: Sharon Liu, Created: 03/07/2015-05/08/2015.Purpose: Audience Education (means some of it has been tried and tested).

Delivery, Communicat

ionDebugging, EvaluationCodingIdeas

Backend process design

User interface design

Contribution to programmingDevelop a

commercial product

Contribute your own open source project

Contribute to others’ open source projects

Teach others programming

You should ask not what programming can do for you, but what you can do for programming.

A contribution should be original, functional, easy to use, and aesthetic.

See what commercial products are out there, and build on their ideas, whether it is for a specific outlet e.g. app store, or what market you are targeting e.g. what existing users of software would also want to use.

Learn from both large and small businesses. The large business, for aspirational purposes, and small businesses, for ways to start without much capital.

Use Google for code examplesMany times, you will be asked to code something you have never done before.It is advisable to search Google for an example of the code, to see if somebody has already done it, or partially done it.For example, if you are asked to create a video that fills the entire webpage, you can search for “full window video html5 tutorial”. In this case, the tutorial gives us exactly what we want.However, if no direct example is available, you can: Resort to the manual for the language you are using. See if the code is available in a different language. See if there is a more general example. And other solutions.

Multidisciplinary projectsProgress

• In new territory.

Increasing difficulty

• Shared or unshared between people.

Academic or vocational

A multidisciplinary project is one which brings together knowledge and skills from multiple disciplines.

Within computer science, there are multiple sub-fields, e.g. algorithms, artificial intelligence. So a project can span several sub-fields.

However, there are also other fields within science. A bionic arm may use biology and computing.

A computing business venture combines both the arts and the sciences.

Traditionally, multidisciplinary projects are done with multiple specialists collaborating together, each working on their own part of the project.

But a single person may also draw on multiple disciplines for their own projects.

Communication

PlanDoShow othersReview

It is necessary to tell others about your projects.

It helps keep you motivated. Sometimes, other people can give you

a different perspective, which changes your actions dramatically, as they can find flaws you didn’t see.

It is beneficial for others to experience the quality of your work.

Don’t be afraid that your ideas will be stolen. There is always somebody brighter than you, who knew about it anyway.

Passing testsYou can take online tests which prove your ability.It is possible to take a test without revising, if you have been using the knowledge on and off for a number of years.If you need to pass a test which you have little prior knowledge: Search for free books and tutorials on the subject. Bookmark one page, when you have finished reading it. One page

should not take you very long. Bookmark the home page for the book, and go through all the

links. Depending on the subject, it may take you a few months to learn

it.

Use the right toolsYou will need a reasonably up-to-date computer.Learn to use compilers in the language(s) of your choice.It helps if you know how to touch type.Read and contribute to open source software. This will greatly reduce the budget required in becoming a programmer.Learn at least one language thoroughly, to give yourself an idea of what programming is capable of.It helps if you know about another field that programming can contribute to, e.g. mathematical programming.Watch programming videos.

Broaden abilities using a portfolioA portfolio helps you to get a foot in the door.Every portfolio piece should demonstrate a different, new programming skill. If you are on autopilot whilst creating your portfolio, it is unlikely to excite the hiring manager.It is ideal to use programming to create a piece of work which has never been done before.Keep your portfolio up-to-date with the newest technologies.A portfolio is considered to be stronger than a test result, as your own creativity goes into your portfolio, and it is a more direct example of what you can do.A portfolio on the web is easily accessible to those who are interested.