Self taught programming

I'm studying for an A+ cert right now, and then I'll be doing CCNA after that.

I got sick and tired of all the bullshit classes I have to take, the restrictions on when I can take them, the pointless multiple choice tests. Just a massive waste of time and money all around.

>>58759721
It's actually better than school (French ones at least), I learned a lot more by myself in 6 months than in school in 2 years... Also, there's everything you'd like learning on internet

>>58759721
google contacted me regarding a software engineering position last year
I have no formal programming education and have taught myself programming from python to C on my own, and learned linux and unix on my own
I turned it down, but the point is that if you teach yourself programming and actually get good at it, then make yourself and your projects visible (twitter, personal website, github), you'll be very marketable in a booming industry

only if you apply what you learned to useful public projects

>>58759743
>A+ cert then CCNA
what for? A+ is super simple, it's good for getting your foot in the door, but isn't at all necessary for your CCNA
also, if you haven't already, check out https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/community/certifications
there's more cisco certifications than just CCNA, depending on what you want to do

>>58759921
What were the projects?

>>58759921
>I turned it down
Be honest, you failed the interview didn't you?

>>58759921
self-taught shit kids don't make it in interviews

>>58759959
Being a shill for jewgle like moot

>>58759721
A degree is worth more then nothing if you have no evidence of skills. If you actually have built something it looks a lot better then a degree with no skill in the field.

>>58759955
My plan is to get my CCNA, A+, then an entry level job. Maybe volunteer at computer shops or the like with the A+ for work experience.

After that I want to focus on and study for network security.

I won't have a degree, but I will have certs.

>>58759721
if you want advice go to >>>/adv/

and no. you have no chance in hell.

>>58759959
I've done robotics programming, embedded programming, servers, a couple of desktop applications, some math stuff that I used to cheat calc 1 and 2 (differential/integral equations), a few silly things, and contributed to a couple of other projects, including websites

>>58759963
>>58759968
I never had an interview, I was sent an email then had a phone call
the guy who called asked about things from infrastructure and networking to operating system programming, and said he'd like to offer me a position at google, which I declined and said I may be interested in the near future

>>58760009
I'm not big on networking, but do whatever you can to grow your portfolio
I'm teaching a cybersecurity class at my college, learn about the myriad network protocols, and definitely look into a couple penetration testing books
the best way to learn about security is to set up your own servers and try to break into them through various means, and learn to harden them against the attack vectors you discover

>>58760017
don't be an asshole anon, this is more /g/ than most of the shit in the past 12 months

>>58759721
>Can someone self taught be at the same level as skill as someone who went to school for this?

If you're doing it as a hobby, you could much more skillful than someone who doesn't do programming outside of school assignments. Instructors don't really teach you much beyond theory anyways.

Blog post incoming
I started as a support technician for a smaller local business, and now I'm a developer there. The software is sold in a SaaS model on a lamp/wimp stack.

I was always interested in programming, and I had done a little shell scripting but it's not really the same. On my free time and during slow periods at work I solved 90~ or so PE problems, using js and php -- always reading the comment threads looking for best practices. Like storing primes in a hash and then doing a look up instead of using an isPrime function. I read it all. Learning about memoization or another random programming technique like the use of a bitmask made it time very well spent. I also read through php.net all the time, looking at the available classes and functions. I also read all there was on php.net about OOP. I did this on mdn for javascript as well. I found myself on stackoverflow in the php/javascript sections answering questions. For the questions I couldn't answer, I'd hang out and check out the answer. Free knowledge.

Of course I had to learn html/css but those aren't really programming languages. Also, I had known a little sql from some other jobs I had.

After about a year, I asked the senior dev and my boss to give me a shot and they gave me access to the repos. I started fixing menial bugs but they could see I wasn't bullshit, plus I was pretty well acquainted with them after a year of working there, so I got the promotion.

So all in all, yeah. Right place right time and you can land a cozy self taught position. Don't expect it to fall into your lap. I still had to work my ass off, although I was lucky to learn on the job.

>>58760071
What is your job then?

>>58760470
>What is your job then?
I'm an adjunct professor of computer science and freelance developer and webmaster

do you only work on webapps in PHP and JS? or are there other projects you work on in other languages also?

>>58759721
You need to have publicly available and successful Personal projects (enfasis on PERSONAL) if you want to get hired based on your personal skills.

>>58759721
>did all the exercises in SICP
>aced technical interview
>make $56k straight out of high school

It's something.

>>58760552
Yeah, we've got a service that uses Django so I learned a little Python, but it's basically exclusively php and javascript. I should probably learn more. It's embarrassing to admit I can't read any flavor of C or Java.

You remind me of the guy who runs this blog https://www.nayuki.io -- good stuff on there

>>58760597
>actually learned instead of sitting through
>wow, i got job
You realise that most students learn very little, right?

>>58759721
I work with a guy that has a medical degree. He's got amazing self taught knowledge on C++ and computer architecture.

No college degree, front end engineer, and have worked on many large, well known company websites.

>>58759721
You can't get ada job without degree. Embedded C also usually require CS/CE toilet paper.

>>58759721
I'm pretty sure all companies don't give a fuck about degrees. I've had one for 8 months and am still unemployed.

>>58761693
How?