Computer Programming / Web Development

Hello @Phallosopher

I have a Master Degree in computer science and work as an system engineer.

I'm going to be honest,

I did not learn anything at university ahah (or maybe that you don't learn at university ?)

If you're looking to code for IoT (Internet Of Things) or 3D (video games, CAO app), like Tesla, Catia, smartphone or the connected fridge (why not) then you have to be good (excellent) at maths/physics and look for C / C++ language and you should join an engineering program in a engineering school or think about a PhD (very long term) after a Master degree in computer science, mathematics/physics oriented. Having one (or both) of these diploma in computer science will open doors for you in the scientific field.

If you're looking to code application such as ERP system, application (steam.exe, discord.exe), if you want to be more technical than scientific, then you should look for algorithm learning which requiere some logic but it is different from math even if it may be connected. You can have 0 in maths and be good at logic and algorithm (it is my case, cause I did not cared about school). You should look at C# or JAVA that will allow to build application with GUI (or not).

A variant of application developper is scripter, scripts are not really app, they are more like a bridge btw app, used to be "add-on". I do use Powershell (and regex) to parse a file or schedule a task (example : clean log). Powershell (windows + avoid batch), Bash (linux), Pearl and Python are good scripting language. NodeJs can also be worth watching but in this case it is recommended to have a good javascript skill.

If you're looking to do back end (what user does not see) web application, PHP, NodeJS, don't forget database with SQL, this is basic.

Front-end (what user see) is the graphic part, HTML (zone)/ CSS (configuration : colors, height, width etc..) are the basic, but there is more that you will discover if you take this path. Javascript is used to be client-sided (instead of php that is server-sided) that can be used to make animation.

If you want to learn

Stackoverflow : Every one that code use this site at least once in his career to check or ask an answer. This is like a wikipedia for dev and if you learn prog it will become a bible to you.

Khan Academy : This. This site is awesome. You can learn almost everything, maths, physics, code.

Code Academy : I did not used that site very much it is good to start somewhere

Project Euler : Euler was a swiss mathematician. This site will give you challenge that you can (need) to solve with algorithm and you can use your favorite language to do so. I love this site cause people started to respect me once I proved that I was able to solve some challenge. If you're not looking to become an engineer or a PhD, then solving couple of 5% difficulty problem will give you enough fundamental knowledge to be a programmer.

Coding Game : Learn coding by playing.

For the tools, you can use wamp / xamp for the web server to host and display web page localy. Notepad++ or Visual Studio Code (use this) are good .exe to code. The last thing to say is the computer scientist moto : Google is your friend.

Anyone, I said anyone, can learn to code. Engineering and Research is reserved for those that proved their skill but it is also can be reach with some dedication and hard (long) work (at university). It is never too late to learn and earn a Degree.

Have fun !

 

^^Good advice, the only thing I'd add is nodejs and golang looks to be where it is heading at the moment (as it supports concurrency or lightweight threading). So I'd invest in learning those.

 

hmm yes you are right

 

The coding game´s fun, also doing a career detour (well unless I ended up getting work at Databases for History), realized this year that I wanna code, just to open horizons, I hate intermediaries in investing and platforms that censor content for no reason whatsoever. Thinking about making a Youtube Channel later on too, seeing if I can help fix some problems young people go through today.