Start Over Coder

Start Over Coder

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Start Over Coder episodes

  • 042: Should I Quit My Job?

    Quitting a well-paying, decent job to become a programmer is a big decision. This episode is all about the pros & cons...I'm really at a crossroads!

    Although the initial impetus to pursue a coding career was very reactive to a bad situation, I truly threw myself into--and got excited about--pursuing a career as a developer. But as the sting of a bad work situation wore off, all of the great things about the job I'd be leaving came more into the forefront. Not to mention the stories out there about non-diverse, workaholic workplaces in tech. Am I really making a good decision?

    No answers guaranteed in this episode, but here's a glimpse into the thought process involved with leaving one career for another.

    Links from this episode:

    Learn more about Effective Altruism

    Learn more about 80,000 Hours - lots of great research on choosing a career for the greater good of the Earth.

     

    Thoughts on this episode? Leave a comment at startovercoder.com/042 or tweet me @startovercoder or email me at startovercoder [at] gmail-[dot]-com.

     

     

    13 min
  • 041: Discoveries! Coding Solo Podcast & Millennial Money Diaries Blog

    This week I share two more great (and free!) resources for learning to code. The Coding Solo podcast is an entertaining UK perspective on working as a freelance software developer. And check out the Millennial Money Diaries blog for another perspective on starting a programming career with a view on personal finance!

    Show Links:

    The Coding Solo Podcast

    Millennial Money Diaries Blog

    MMD - awesome coding bootcamp post

    MMD - Jing's investing journey post

    MMD - Prerequisites to Being Good With Money

    MMD - This Story Will Make You Plan For Retirement

     

    Thoughts on this episode? Have another discovery to share? Leave a comment at startovercoder.com/041 or tweet me @startovercoder.

    9 min
  • 040: Programmer 101 - What is an IDE?

    The Programmer 101 series answers the questions all new coders might ask themselves. Today: demystifying a common programming acronym.

    Thoughts on this episode? Leave a comment at startovercoder.com/040 or tweet me @startovercoder.

    7 min
  • 035: New Node/Express Project - First Steps

    I've started a new project, building a web app using Node & Express. These are the first things to think about when beginning a new project.

     

    Thoughts on this episode? Leave a comment at startovercoder.com/035 or tweet me @startovercoder.

     

     

    9 min
  • 034: How To Get Unstuck When You're Learning To Code

    Getting stuck when you're learning to code on your own can be FRUSTRATING!! Here are some tips on how to get help.

    TIP #1 - Google

    This one goes without saying, but it's worth starting here first. Start searching with specific terms, then get more broad if you can't find what you're looking for.

    TIP #2 - Rubber Duck It

    Walk through your code out loud to an inanimate object (like a rubber duck!) and pose your question. As you're asking the question, the answer might come to you.

    TIP #3 - Slack Communities

    Slack is a chat & collaboration platform used by a lot of people in tech. Some public groups include CodeNewbie, Code Buddies, and Career Change Coders. You can also search around for language-specific or local Slack communities. Once you're in, join the channels that are focused on the languages or tech stack you're learning.

    TIP #4 - FreeCodeCamp Message Boards

    FreeCodeCamp has a great, supportive community. If you're working on FCC projects there are scores of people out there who can help when you get stuck. If you're not working on FCC projects, chances are you'll still get some help.

    TIP #5 - StackOverflow, Reddit, etc.

    Join StackOverflow or Reddit to participate on their boards. Be sure to check their guidelines for advice on forming a good post to increase the odds you'll get a good answer. And of course, search first to make sure an answer to your question is not already out there!

    TIP #6 - Revisit What You've Already Learned

    Review whatever book, tutorial, docs, etc. that you learned your skills from. Doing so might jog your memory of other things to try, or you might find that you missed something important the first time around. If that doesn't work, try learning the same topic through another medium--if you originally learned by watching a video tutorial, try a book! Different sources and different media may help you find a solution to your problem.

    TIP #7 - Take a break!

    Work on a different project, go to sleep, go for a walk...do anything to clear your mind of the topic at hand. Come back refreshed and you may find discover the answer you've been looking for.

    TIP #8 - Join A Group

    This takes a bit of fore-planning, but join a group and build a crew of people you know you can go to with questions when you have them. Check out Start Over Coder episode 9 to hear more about this.

    TIP #9 - Pay For Help

    As an absolute last resort, you can pay for on-demand assistance at sites like Hack Hands and CodeMentor. Costs start at about $1/minute. But I'd use caution here--you may get things working but you may learn less!

     

    Getting stuck when you're learning programming and be very discouraging--honestly it's a reason many people give up! But sticking to it when things get difficult will help you learn a lot, and it's much easier to do if you get some help.

     

    Thoughts on this episode? Any other methods you have for getting unstuck? Leave a comment at startovercoder.com/034 or tweet me @startovercoder.

     

     

    15 min
  • 032: How To Host A Website (Part 2)

    Picking up from last week, this episode shares some of the options you can try for hosting a full blown web app, so you can show off your work when you're learning to code.

    If you missed last week's episode which was all about how to host a static website, go back and listen to episode 31. Today we're talking about hosting applications with dynamic content, i.e. you need a database and have written the backend code.

    To review the basics, you will need a domain name (most of the time!) and web hosting to have a website--go back and listen to episode 31 to hear more about these. To host an app you will also need a database server, and the good news is that you can usually get the hosting bundled in with this. But you will almost always need to buy the domain separately.

    Here's the overview of services I talk about in this episode (this is not a comprehensive list, just my experience!!):

    Heroku

    • Heroku link
    • My #1 recommendation for small scale apps & proofs of concept
    • It's free! You can host up to 5 free apps on Heroku.
    • You interact with Heroku from the Heroku command line, but don't be scared off by this...they've got great tutorials and documentation.
    • You can also link Heroku to your GitHub master branch for automatic, continuous deployment.
    • You get a nice domain name, or can create your own: your-app-name.herokuapp.com
    • You can get a database server for free, and lots of other services as well (both paid and free). Look in the 'add-ons' section.
    • Be aware if you want to scale up: you can get quality service for lower prices with other service providers once you need to leave the Heroku free tier.

    Amazon Web Services

    • AWS link
    • Works for static sites, works for more complicated sites too
    • To host an app you'll use EC2 (web server), S3 (file storage), and RDS (relational database server) or DynamoDB (NoSQL database server).
    • All of these services can be used for FREE for 12 months or more, and after that they're still massively inexpensive for simple, low-traffic demo apps.
    • There's a steep learning curve for using Amazon Web Services, and also for getting all the services to work with each other correctly. Personally, I think it pays off in the long run.
    • You do need your own domain name when using AWS. You can get one through Route 53 on AWS, or any domain registrar.
    • Unfortunately, you do need a credit card to sign up for AWS. If you're not in the US, be wary of any fees your card company may charge--AWS services are billed in US dollars.

    Other Services

    • Azure
    • Digital Ocean
    • Google
    • Read this blog post for further comparison on these!

    Thoughts on this episode? You can find the show notes and leave a comment at startovercoder.com or tweet me @startovercoder.

    17 min

About Start Over Coder

From the publisher's feed

What is the Start Over Coder? Well, that's me! And I'm taking you along on my quest: taking up a new career as a professional developer, and pursuing financial independence. On the podcast I share all…