Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Learning on the Job.

  • 10-11-2015 7:58pm
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 789 ✭✭✭


    Hey guys,

    I'm currently doing a HDip in Software Development and I'm concerned at how bad I am at programming.

    I'm finishing the course in December and starting an internship in January and I'm fairly nervous about my ability to work in this area.

    I'm just wondering if you learn quicker on the job, since you're focusing on more specific elements of programming or am I just not cut out for this?

    Thanks.


Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,478 ✭✭✭eeguy


    Like every other developer ever, just fake it till you make it.


  • Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 19,240 Mod ✭✭✭✭L.Jenkins


    What languages are you focusing on in your course? Would you participate in a few open source projects on github for example, to boost your confidence?


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,148 ✭✭✭punk_one82


    Fakman87 wrote: »
    Hey guys,

    I'm currently doing a HDip in Software Development and I'm concerned at how bad I am at programming.

    I'm finishing the course in December and starting an internship in January and I'm fairly nervous about my ability to work in this area.

    I'm just wondering if you learn quicker on the job, since you're focusing on more specific elements of programming or am I just not cut out for this?

    Thanks.

    I think you're in the same boat as most people who are finishing up a course and are going to work as developers for the first time. You learn a lot more in the working environment than you do studying. If you have the basics down you'll pick the rest up as you go and become more confident in what you're doing. Writing software is something you start in college but you only get skilled at it through putting in the hours either at work or on personal projects etc, the only difference is in work you have more senior developers/architects helping you in terms of design and best practice.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 9,639 Mod ✭✭✭✭Manach


    As above.

    Also look for useful resources. For instance there is a very helpful community of users here on boards.Resources like O'Reilly books have good beginners books and a good place to start. Finally, when one starts work there is usually an associated learning curve but usually there are processes to onboard with opportunies to take part in code reviews: being a great way to learn.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,833 ✭✭✭Useful.Idiot


    I think many going into an internship would feel the same way. The team you're going to be working with in your internship will most likely give you some learning material and/or a crash course through the code and systems you'll be working with. There'll always be someone around to help you, so never be afraid to ask questions if you're running into road blocks.


  • Advertisement
  • Closed Accounts Posts: 789 ✭✭✭Fakman87


    Thanks a lot for the advice lads :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,275 ✭✭✭bpmurray


    One other thing you could try is to take the codecademy courses. They're pretty simple but at least you'll know how well you've done. In any case, employers assume you're not particularly skilled when you're fresh out of college.


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,857 ✭✭✭The_B_Man


    How are you in comparison to your classmates?
    Are your grades good?

    Nobody coming out of college is ever an expert. After 1 year, the difference will be chalk and cheese, so don't worry about it. The people hiring grads dont expect you to be the best dev ever, just that you can show you're interested in dev.


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,500 ✭✭✭BrokenArrows


    I was the same in my first development role. My first project was explained to me and I hadn't a notion where to start. Google!!

    I approached it as "if I can think of it then its probably possible to code" . Then read books, websites, stack overflow whatever to figure it out.

    Anything you're trying to do as been done before and a lot is online.

    I'm still learning new stuff every week as I come across new challenges and have to figure out how to do it.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 789 ✭✭✭Fakman87


    bpmurray wrote: »
    One other thing you could try is to take the codecademy courses. They're pretty simple but at least you'll know how well you've done. In any case, employers assume you're not particularly skilled when you're fresh out of college.

    I actually do enjoy codeacademy. My only problem is that while I can do the exercises, bringing what I've learned into making a whole project is very difficult for me.
    The_B_Man wrote: »
    How are you in comparison to your classmates?
    Are your grades good?

    Nobody coming out of college is ever an expert. After 1 year, the difference will be chalk and cheese, so don't worry about it. The people hiring grads dont expect you to be the best dev ever, just that you can show you're interested in dev.

    My grades aren't great. I'll be lucky to get a 2.1 overall. It's a one year conversion hdip so I've been totally overwhelmed by it from day one.
    I was the same in my first development role. My first project was explained to me and I hadn't a notion where to start. Google!!

    I approached it as "if I can think of it then its probably possible to code" . Then read books, websites, stack overflow whatever to figure it out.

    Anything you're trying to do as been done before and a lot is online.

    I'm still learning new stuff every week as I come across new challenges and have to figure out how to do it.

    That's reassuring to hear :)


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 14,325 ✭✭✭✭jimmycrackcorm


    eeguy wrote:
    Like every other developer ever, just fake it till you make it.

    Or like most people look it up on stackoverflow


  • Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 19,240 Mod ✭✭✭✭L.Jenkins


    Google is your friend.


  • Registered Users Posts: 36,161 ✭✭✭✭ED E


    The stronger your google fu, the better you'll do ;)


  • Registered Users Posts: 768 ✭✭✭14ned


    Fakman87 wrote: »
    I'm currently doing a HDip in Software Development and I'm concerned at how bad I am at programming.

    I'd strongly recommend you apply for a Google Summer of Code summer internship. If you get in (it's competitive) you'll usually be mentored by some of the best engineers in the world and learn potentially more in three months than you would in a normal internship in a year.

    (Disclaimer: I'm the Google Summer of Code admin for the Boost C++ Libraries where the students we accept must already be competent C++ programmers proven by a programming test. By the end of the summer we aim for them to be capable of holding their own against a C++ standards committee member, and we generally succeed).

    Niall


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,250 ✭✭✭Buford T Justice


    14ned wrote: »
    I'd strongly recommend you apply for a Google Summer of Code summer internship. If you get in (it's competitive) you'll usually be mentored by some of the best engineers in the world and learn potentially more in three months than you would in a normal internship in a year.

    (Disclaimer: I'm the Google Summer of Code admin for the Boost C++ Libraries where the students we accept must already be competent C++ programmers proven by a programming test. By the end of the summer we aim for them to be capable of holding their own against a C++ standards committee member, and we generally succeed).

    Niall

    What languages do they offer it for?


  • Registered Users Posts: 768 ✭✭✭14ned


    What languages do they offer it for?

    It's about well known open source software projects, so any of the languages they use.

    The 2015 list of accepted orgs can be viewed at https://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/org/list/public/google/gsoc2015. As you'll see, more than plenty very famous open source web projects such as Apache, Drupal, Django, jQuery, phpAdmin, Moodle, Pidgin, and of course the languages themselves Python and Ruby. You can search the list by language of course too.

    Only students can apply, though be aware the benchmark for getting accepted is high. Some of the students we see at the Boost C++ Libraries are as good as a seasoned Boost programmer, it's a bit scary for us old timers.

    Niall


Advertisement