(no subject)

[zen_monk]

 Man, i didn't realize that coding means i have to actually write out my own function and not just repeat the rules and commonly used functions. I underestimated the difference between programming and what i only know in stuff like web design. 

Comments

[sarasa_cat]

Eventually once you have more experience, you should look into design patterns for software. There are many common solutions that generalize across similar situations. This saves you from coming up with well designed code out of thin air but, yes, you spend a lot of time (95%) designing and testing the functional behavior of your code.

Fwiw, the subject "algorithms" and "data structures" should be on your horizon soon. It is standard 1st and 2nd year CS education. Lots of stuff available online.

Even just previewing and intro course would give you a better feel for what programming entails.

Although, the webschool/programming boot camps seem to take a different approach-- more about building apps and less about the bigger CS picture. I don't think this is a bad thing. But it will limit the kinds of jobs one can get. But it is a fast path in.


Edited to add: http://designpatternsinruby.com/ <-- something for the future, not for right now. The take away for right now is that common algorithm problems are all solved so you don't need to invent solutions from scratch. On the other hand, you do need to apply logical thinking to create complete solutions to new(ish) problems using known solutions from common problems, where you sort of click them together like lego blocks (sort of, hopefully that analogy makes sense). Any good Ruby bootcamp/codeschool should be teaching people how to think using the language of design patterns to put solutions together.

[zen_monk]

Algorithms and data structures, eh? eheh, the very things I tried avoiding while in college ^^; Still, some of the stuff feels familiar to me since I've taken some phil of Logic courses before, so to me it's trying to find out why some of the coding strings are written in a certain way so that it'll churn out the output that makes sense. I guess it hadn't hit me yet that coding is like learning a new language, and I haven't even understood the vocabulary to try to write out a thing.

AppAcademy is indeed one of those coding boot camps that have a high non-passing rate, but one of my friends had done it before and now he's a coder living in SF. What I wish is that when trying to provide tutorials and practices for would-be coders, they would provide resources that would explain the language in a way that would make the meaning understandable and not just a kind of "do this thing, and this happens."