Why 95% of Self-Taught Programmers Fail (Honest Advice)

[@AndySterkowitz]

📄 *** DOWNLOAD MY FREE STUDY MANUAL *** To download my FREE Self-Taught Programmer Study Manual PDF go to: andysterkowitz.com/study-manual/

[@AmberRathour366]

Thanks so much

[@manuelgonzales6483]

I really get great inspiration from you🔥

[@NotHalfBadNomad]

Just did. Thanks so much!

[@TheMentalHealthToolbox]

Yeah buddy! Thanks😁

[@prassanna6521]

I downloaded the manual but unable to open ,getting can't open file..can anyone know why?

[@Zircuitz]

As a self-taught programmer with a professional job for 5 years now: I can tell you that programming is not about remembering syntax (I still Google basic syntax now and then). It's all about your ability to solve a problem.

[@anthonyf9292]

In my compsci class in school our teacher give us paper tests and takes points off if we miss syntax or mess up initializing one variable. I breeze through the class when it comes to projects but for some reason she expects us to know how to write 50 lines without any errors. I try to bring up how in the real world we wouldn't be tested on paper and how most devs use google if they forget something or how the god damn ide is gonna show us we missed a semi-colon but she persistent on her way of teaching.

[@Zircuitz]

@@anthonyf9292 That sounds like a very unhealthy way to learn it. It's like forcing you to use pen and paper instead of a calculator in advanced mathematics, despite the world having universally access to at least a basic calculator these days. It sounds like your teacher has the wrong idea of modern software development. If I taught a class of students programming: I would just give them a problem to solve. I wouldn't care about what programming language you choose, and how you write the code. As long as you provide a reliable solution within a reasonable timeframe. Because at the end of the day: This is what an employer or customer cares about. I'd give bonus points for efficient code, but never take away points for inefficient code. This is how the real world works. Myself and my colleagues use Google multiple times a day, and there is no shame in that. We miss multiple semi-colons and mess up syntax multiple times a day, but the compiler is just one of the tools that helps us iron out these mistakes quickly. So in the end, it's not a big deal.

[@BobDarlington]

@@anthonyf9292 do it her way and you'll get credit and get out. Fight her and repeat the class for a better grade. Seriously, school is a game. Just play to win.

[@geomorillo]

yes dont learn the syntax learn to solve the problem, let google worry about syntax.

[@evolgenius1150]

@@Zircuitz thats sucks, imagine living in a world where manual transmission didnt exist anymore, nor gas cars or something, but the teacher tries to make you learn how to drive a stick and fix an engine. 🤔 ur teacher is teaching u nothing. Youd do better with a program methodology or fundementals course and them move on to building a thing and learning what pieces you need to build it.

[@kebien6020]

My advice as a self-taught is: Tutorials are fine but you HAVE to apply your own twist to it. It'll likely break things and change some of the following steps, but that is what will actually allow you to learn stuff.

[@cowl6867]

Yeah that makes sense. If not you're just copying which might be the problem I'm having

[@jamespower5165]

That's why I still recommend learning Pascal as a first language. Because basic Pascal has limited syntax and the older books that teach it lean into hard problem-solving skills, you get good at actually solving problems and writing clean code. Plenty of time later to learn other programming languages. First learn to solve problems and structure code right. And it's satisfying that at the end of six months, you have reached a definite milestone - you know all the Pascal you'll ever need and you've actually learnt to code. You haven't distracted yourself with clever syntax and such which new programmers get excited by

[@musaratjahan7954]

On point. As someone with a whole 2 days of programming experience on Python, I always try to apply my own twists to the exercises given to practice the code. Weight converter program? Screw that, I'll build a quadratic equation solver. Guessing game? I'll add more functionality to it, such as a hint that tells you what number the answer is a multiple of. Sure, it definitely broke my code and gave me some errors, particularly on the second exercise where I had to actually think about how my code would get executed step by step so I could figure out the best place within the WHILE loop to add that functionality in and it took me about half an hour with all the errors, but I did do it and it worked. Personally, because I am a mathematics student, I think the drive that I built in those classes to "do my own thing" is what helped me here. I always hated sticking to solving problems the "usual" way so I would always try to find my own solutions, and that's what I did here as well, and it was fun.

[@ghostcatcher1279]

This is what landed me my first interview. I don't see anything against following tutorials especially for portfolio projects, but you need to add to it. Ex. Front End blog with a mock database, add a real database, login system, add your own styling etc

[@kigamezero8636]

And no, changing the name of a variable does not count as a twist.

[@antonvoltchok7794]

If this helps anyone, the way I got started being self taught was, personal projects, 6-7 free websites for friends businesses, creating an ionic android app for super super cheap for a company just to get it on my resume, also did some design jobs that turned into coding those designs afterwards, all together this was plenty to easily land a junior developer role, just keep banging out projects, understand that even though you’re doing things for free for people, you’re still getting tons of value for yourself in what you learn and added resume experience, so look at things positively and keep building and building

[@technicalmaster-mind]

Why didn't you join any University.. getting CS/Software Engineering Degree

[@antonvoltchok7794]

@@technicalmaster-mind because I couldn’t afford to do that at the time, nor was it at all necessary, being an senior engineer today not once in all the companies has anyone given a shit that my degree wasn’t in computer science or that I even had a degree, what mattered was if I could do the job, which is something I love about this industry, discipline and hustle gets you to the same place if not further, wether you have thousands of dollars for a formal education or not

[@fi1689]

@@technicalmaster-mind I personally don't have a good relationship with academics in my country. It's all fun and games until I need to go through some bullshit political bureaucratical process, I face awful state college organization, I have to deal with subjects or teachers that have nothing to do with the career, and similar bullshit like that. So I always end up f*ing somthing, grabbing a book/subject I felt like studying, and dig that. I'll eventually (maybe) finish a BS. Maybe. But I don't know if in this country, every time I remember the process is so fucking stupid that feels like I'm wasting my time

[@technicalmaster-mind]

@@antonvoltchok7794 I'm sorry for making you read all of this but please please have a look through it (to this comment) and provide me a guide-ful reply as it's the matter of the career (mine) dependent upon some seniors' advices/recommendations like I'm seeking for your opinion this thing always hits me.. that even many have became successful in having a job in the IT Industry then why to get a degree specifically for CS/IT/SE/CE etcetera because maybe coding/programming is an art, like painting which does not necessarily require any school process except some months of boot camp a little online courses and those too aren't like a barrier that you have to do them unlike where we observe the careers like Civil Engineering, Doctor-ate which actually require a whole 4 years or more process to fit in for that.. So, I have put forward my views on this industry that how it isn't like other industries for to be applicable we really need a 4-year degree hence; considering you as a senior would like to be advised that what should I actually do.. have a full dedicated CS Degree to have complete expertise to it or should I get into any other field like Medical (MBBS, MD) while having a little grip on coding as a side-hobby having the doubt in the mind that all the great painters in our society do not necessarily look for Bachelors in Fine Arts but it as a side-hobby and then having recognition pf themselves related to it. If programming really is like a real art, then I may choose it as just as a side-hobby rather than waste my time running behind the degree if it's not that worth it (not talking about the worth of getting preference in job interviews bcz that's a different thing if you're very good at your field you might beat a degree-holder and land the job as self-taught so not going into that perspective.. wanna know if it's worth it for knowledge) and if it is actually worth it getting a dedicated education towards it rather than treating it as a side-field then everything's alright otherwise would just consider as an extra talent and go for other stuff and most probably Medical (Doctor-ate) Hoping for a satisfactory reply which may be helpful for my career choice.. so that I do not regret in future for not having a proper guidance by any-one.. would like to have little bit of your time please.. thanks!!!!

[@technicalmaster-mind]

@@fi1689 where are you from (county)

[@bojidarboradjiev7533]

i am a self tought developer, studying for 2 years now and I just landed my first Dev Role!! Really agree with this video: - I study out of habit every day little by little, - Things finally started comming along once i started developing my own projects (a big help was that i recieved assigments from companies as part of the interview process which really pushed me) - Even now when i accepted my offer i dont feel prepared and out of my element, but i understand that thats part of the process. For everyone out there just keep grinding and find your own paste in order to achieve your goal!

[@MAYOWA.007]

good luck!

[@JoeNopos]

I have 20 years now. After some stages - Self taught (5 years). Learned how not to do things (very important) - Employed (3). How devs in a company think it should be done - University (5). How professors think it should be done - Employed (2) - Freelancer (5). How to be a daughter of joy (very important) When I got my first job after 5 years I thought they will fire me immediately. It was really a long hard road but I never regretted my decision. Congratulations for your first role. After 1 year of employment I began to feel to know what I was doing. It really takes a lot of time, so don't stop. 2 years is just the beginning. Don't let somebody tell you that you are stupid, or not good enough. Sometimes it is their fault. But don't be arrogant either. After all that time I would say that the soft skills of people (being a team player) are more and more important to me.

[@Warhamster55]

I started being as a self taught programmer (hobby style 40 years ago). I have been making a living at it for over 30 years now. I still feel like a poser on some days. New technologies are always coming and you have to keep learning. If you are not comfortable learning then this is not the field for you. It is impossible to learn everything you will every need.

[@AmazingStoryDewd]

I'm not the little by little kind of person. I tend to learn things most things I'm interested in pretty fast. I had the fundamentals mastered fairy quickly (a few months).

[@digiornopizza1918]

Has it been worth it?

[@numberiforgot]

You should create programs as you learn. When I first started I wrote python scripts for everything and anything. I even had one that helped me calculate my budget in college. If you apply what you learn, right after you learn it, it will stick with you.

[@BboyKeny]

Very good, automating things useful to you is a good way to learn how to solve a real world problems while having a real interest in the project. Also start as small as possible and don't be scared to refactor code.

[@numberiforgot]

@@BboyKeny It is by far, in my opinion, the best way to absorb the endless information there is when it comes to programming & compsci

[@angeldude101]

@@BboyKeny "start as small as possible" Um... Define "small?" -hides my very old OS kernel project-

[@BboyKeny]

@@angeldude101 Hahaha **Laughs nervously while hiding an old C++ 3d game engine**

[@deang5622]

You need a formal education in data structures. Without that, you're never going to be any good.

[@matthewsjc1]

I completely agree with his assessments (not that this means much to anybody). I learned these lessons the hard way. I poured over book after book after book before I realized that the best way to learn is to DO. Start some projects, figure out as you go what you need to successfully complete them. You'll get into the nitty-gritty way faster and remember it far more doing it this way.

[@aathilaliyar2724]

👍🏻

[@dialup56k]

'start some projects ....' ah yes, definitely a programmer. 😂

[@humann5682]

Also people need to be clear what they want to do... Learn JEC (just enough code) to get a job or do a project, or get a deep learning of CS and CE. If its the former get cracking as Andy and others said. Learn the basics of your fav language then get building some cool stuff. You will learn "just enough code" to get it working reasonably well and many developers need JEC to do a job. In fact many CS grads find fancy things they learnt in university are never really needed in professional dev jobs. So, JEC has its merits. If you want to really understand CS, do as above sure, but read a lot too and study the theory, engerinng and mathematics of computing. That will take more time, especially if you are self taught. You don't need this to be a professional dev, but it can help. You will need this background if you ever wanted to go in more research based areas of CS though and contribute to those projects.

[@sinthorasalb5467]

I got here through KZbin auto play and was ready to skip because I'm not trying to learn software development, but I quickly realized that the concepts you talk about are helpful for learning any complex skill. I'm trying to get into music production and recently felt like I was struggling to advance my skills. I can identify the problems you talk about in my learning methods, and I believe that addressing them can certainly help me improve. And even if for some reason I don't see right now these concepts don't apply to my struggles your video at least got me motivated to sit down and plan out a learning schedule. Thanks!

[@lynic-0091]

As someone who's been a junior developer for almost 2 years now, I've only had assistance from senior devs until like a few months ago because of my new job. This video is 100% accurate. Making projects, learning from your mistakes is KEY to growing when you're self taught.

[@nox5282]

Stop thinking yourself in terms of junior or senior. Starting doing allot of projects, fail allot and learn why. This is how you learn how to solve problems. You want to solve problems so that your code is easy to understand and easy to maintain. Think of every hour as money and evaluate the cost to solve different requirements and how to do it without getting distracted.

[@lucasfernandes9381]

I love your videos, Andy. Every time I end up falling into the tutorial hell cycle you help me get out of it a little bit.

[@AndySterkowitz]

Honored to be a part of the journey Lucas....best of luck to you!

[@markuspfeifer8473]

In my experience, the frequency of mistakes doesn’t really go down much, they just become more mysterious as you do more and more exotic and deep stuff. Rookie mistakes can often easily be googled, but if you go deep enough, you’re gonna encounter problems that will make you lose sleep because you keep wondering how the IT industry manages to keep balance while dancing one’s razor blade next to a volcano

[@lienmeat]

I'm not self taught, but my schooling taught theory way more than practical programming for work-like scenarios, and I learned more about actual programming for real projects the year after college than I did the years I spent in college. I'm a Sr. Software Engineer now, and for me at least, working on a project from scratch is the best way to learn. The most important thing you can do is think of something to try to build, do whatever you can from scratch, and when you get stuck (meaning, you tried and failed a few times to make it work the ways you could think of), look at how other projects solved the same issue. This is the best way to learn programming for actual work scenarios. Yes, it's very hard, and it doesn't represent exactly what you will do at work, because you'll probably be leveraging a framework or libraries that have lots of things figured out for you, but you cannot understand the pitfalls of different approaches to problems, or how to solve hard problems without this foundation. You should also build the thing again later with a different technology, or this time using whatever frameworks and libs you can and see how it comes together that way. This will give you experience with different tech, but it will also help you get better at vetting the tools you use to accomplish your goals, which is another critical skill. When trying to learn programming as a skill, rely on stackoverflow or google only when completely stumped, or for your 2nd iteration to try to solve some of the things you know would keep the project from being considered truly complete. As a professional developer, you can expect to be wrong, make a mistake, or need help from someone else at least once a day. Even great, experienced developers expect to mess up and have to re-do something occasionally, and ask others for input to come up with the right solutions. Get used to being wrong, and admitting it. It's a skill.

[@RonnyJakobsson]

I started to learn to program on the Sinclair ZX48K at the age of 7. I am now 49 year's old and have been working as software developer for 24 years for the same company. I learn new things every week and still love getting paid doing my hobby.

[@hipxel]

Wow. A veteran!

[@darrennew8211]

I have worked with lots of self-taught programmer who were missing entirely basic concepts, because nobody pointed them to it. Like, someone trying to implement the client for a complex network protocol who had never heard of a state machine. People reinventing NTP or ASN.1 without realizing that synchronizing clocks and transferring data between disparate systems was already a solved problem. Knowing what you don't know and has already been solved is important.

[@Darkxellmc]

This resonates so much to me. I have been a dev for years now, but going back to uni for a year at the moment. Anything I learn there, I could've learned better, there's better tutorials online. But the reason I'm really doing this is to set myself in a context where I have to learn. Uni gives me deadlines, projects to work on, instead of me failing to set them up myself. As you said, the key is having a plan and sticking to it, not the tutorials or the code themselves.

[@raptoress6131]

Getting a good instructional book and taking notes on paper is a good strategy. A book has all the information arranged in a big context, and writing by hand helps with memorization. It's also important to use note marks so you can easily find any topics if you can't remember smth. Book + tutorials + taking notes + creating personal projects = win

[@ZenoTasedro]

I'm a self taught, professional developer. I often think a large factor in my success was developing on and for Linux. I had tried to self and formally learn various languages on Windows or OSX but it just never clicked for me.

[@aliyanpops6424]

Thanks Andy, I made great improvements over my learning process now including your video guide this just boosted my confidence. The mistakes part was hard to swallow first, also improved there and again thanks for the video, it just gave me relief. Been watching your videos, and I appreciate your support for all of us.

[@Cermix14]

My Story. I worked as technician repairing medical devices. In the meantime I started to learn programming. It started with MS Excel formulas, then I switched to VBA language (in Excel) and finally C#. This whole process took 1 year (dont count excel formulas). Then I was able to write some small winform applications (also, I made a 2D raytracing game prototype in Excel). After more practicing my code skills our company decided to stop businees and I lost my job. This I think was really crucial, because I had to decide whan I was going to do next so I went for applying to some SW development job.. In the end I was succesful and now I work as internal system developer and to be honest, this practical experience has tought me really much. Conclusion: Artifical problems can teach you how to think, but practical problems teaches you how to overcome different obstacles.

[@nnaemekaodedo8992]

"I would never hire somebody because they've read a hundred books on programming or done a hundred tutorials." My computer science teacher takes this personal.

[@SamiUllah-qq9yp]

I am a self taught software developer. I started off my journey on 25 March 2019 during start of the quarantine and today I am doing my second job. I just feel left out sometimes as in people might give a person with a degree more value than they would give me and i get it! Drives me to do even better! If you are stuck keep pushing you only think you are stuck solve the bug and move on!

[@itsAJ819]

I've been studying for 6 hours a day for 5 months and I didn't grasp much. I started chipping away. 1-2 hours a day and I find it to be extremely helpful. Things are starting to stick more using this method. Also, when I learn something new, I apply it to a few test projects until I fully understand what its doing.

[@kaderoazmach321]

Hey are you employed yet? And im starting out by learning 5 hours a day, would you recommend that?

[@itsAJ819]

@@kaderoazmach321 I work outside of development. I studied 5 hours a day when possible. The days that I can’t I try for 15 minutes. I try something new everyday.

[@itsAJ819]

@@kaderoazmach321 don’t get stuck in a tutorial trap. I did for a long time. It’s when I stopped that things started to click

[@kaderoazmach321]

@@itsAJ819 thanks so much! Sorry to bother you but just to add how would I prevent myself from getting stuck in tutorial hell?

[@itsAJ819]

@@kaderoazmach321 no bother. I watched swiftul thinking on KZbin and watched those tutorials, he has a beginners course there. I applied each topic to an app and just kept doing it. Repetition is key. Are you ok with building the interface? Are you having issues with data?

[@devMashcom]

Interesting video. I’m self taught and have had a very successful 30+ year run as a app developer without ever feeling like an imposter. Frankly in my early career I was pretty full of myself, and later when I would mentor younger hires with degrees I would often wonder if they taught anything useful at all in school. I’ve done several commercial apps, and the biggest thing is you never stop seeing new ways to skin a problem. Code is constantly evolving and when you look back on something you wrote last year you often think ‘what was I smoking when I wrote that!’ - but like Jobs said, real artists ship. Sometimes it’s not pretty, but architecture and code smells and scrums and all that jazz will only get you so far. Pick a project you are passionate about and write it. Who cares if it’s spaghetti - you’ll get better with time and practice.

[@stevenhenning9833]

agree 100%

[@crystalkewe]

I love this advice!

[@albertbyiringiro6799]

I really needed to hear this after failing on many attempts of becoming a software developer. I think this time I know better so I should make a change. Thanks Andy.

[@mandolinic]

I've been programming for over 50 years. I've worked as a professional developer, and then as a programming lecturer. And you're 100% correct about making mistakes when programming. A good developer never stops making mistakes, and a good developer isn't afraid of making mistakes.

[@orincywhytedesigns]

Thank you for the encouragement. I’m at the stick figure drawing phase and it’s been overwhelming.

[@chrishayes5755]

you could create simple bots in python to promote your youtube channel. that's the key for beginners, creating very simple but functional and powerful tools you actually want to use. break the program down into sections then tackle it systematically. don't try to learn all the basics of programming, just learn the bare minimum to create functional scripts.

[@orincywhytedesigns]

@@chrishayes5755 Wow, thanks for the feedback. I’m actually currently learning Javascript and improving my css skills. This would be absolutely awesome to learn after

[@angeldude101]

The drawing analogy is particularly fitting since programming, at its core, is an art itself. The difference is that people have much more strict requirements when they pay you to do it.

[@wizzl8513]

For me, the biggest factor in learning how to code is having your own project that you are passionate about. I haven't done much studying(like sitting down for x hours and read about theory) but I always had a goal to finish my project and learned what was necessary to achieve this goal.

[@nico7674]

well, when you learn programming at school, u don't do very much theory, it's a lot of projects (at least in my country but i guess it's the same all around the world)

[@RexZShadow]

Number 2 is so true for everything not just programming. I done some writing for fun in the past and it's insane how many people just plan but never write.

[@BeeStone-op1nc]

You've just explained the key to life in an amazingly clear and concise way

[@BrianKeeganMusic]

Awesome video. I'm 3 years into my software dev career, just started my 2nd job now. I found myself anxious over the mistakes I've been making at my new job but I realize that I'm learning an all new schema and it doesn't mean I am not good at my craft. I'm learning more every day and I'm consistently more knowledgeable than the previous 24 hours. I already know coding fundamentals, SQL/C# syntax, git, etc. Imposter syndrome hit me hard at first, but I know now I just have to slow down and take it day by day. It's certainly not like I'm learning to code from scratch. Thank you for making this, really calmed me down.

[@preciousezeoke7115]

Landing on your KZbin channel is a blessing honestly. I see a lot of things differently now. Thank you so much for this video. You keep building my confidence as a software developer 🤭

[@MephiticMiasma]

"no matter how careful you are, you are going to make mistakes" And there's the corollary... any time I'm testing changes, and everything works perfectly the first time, I'm always left wondering what I missed.... it _had_ to be harder than that!

[@JasonSmith-ir8zz]

U got a new subscriber sir. Love ur content! Keep it coming! I’m 41 but I won’t let that stop me from becoming a web dev.

[@aaronrs2002]

You might be able to do the work. Unfortunately, the interview is going to be tough to get through because they will ask you questions that will never come up during a workday. Obscure things these employees learned in college, but never used in the office becomes the main focus of questions. It is like a "pissing contest." Their goal is to find a reason to say you are not qualified while at the same time boosting their own ego. They forget they are only hurting themselves and become focused on proving how much obscure crap they know. This is why positions stay open for so long. This industry is full of blow hards. My advice to anyone going down this path is to consider starting your own LLC and saving your dignity from this "game."

[@imstevemcqueen]

I start with what I want my user interface to look like, given a specific task, then design the backend to make the desired frontend function.

[@jbarx5435]

Thank you for all your videos! Just real, straight foward advice. No exaggerations, no grandiose crap of making 100,000 in 3 months, just great honest advice. Very much appreciated! Still chipping away on my own journey about 10 months in. Awesome journey!

[@The1zo]

How is it going now?

[@lofioto]

Amazing. Clean, fun to watch and SO educational. Great job! Thanks you so much!!!!

[@ritchiepetithomme7546]

Thank you man for this amazing video, I just realize I am on the right path. Keep the work going Andy Sterkowitz

[@DakotaAbroad]

I've been teaching myself to code for about a month and a half now. I've slowly been working a few projects when I come across the information I needed to do what I wanted. The last few weeks I've been starting to spend my time looking specifically for the things I need to build what I want instead for general basic skills. It's slow going, about 2.5 hours a day. But we're getting there.

[@r-type4945]

I listened to Andrew Hubermans podcast and this video goes so well with what he said about learning. Mistakes should be embraced as part of the learning process, though they might feel uncomfortable they do trigger the brains adaptation ie learning. This is the second video I've seen of yours and already like the way you present things a lot. Subbed 👍

[@bcs123sherwood]

nothing more true than "not feeling like a real developer". It's exactly how I feel right now.

[@Seadg]

Agree and this holds true to much more than just programming. The most valuable learning tool is "real and useful" practical projects and applications. Which is also the hardest thing to come up with.

[@srinureddy9521]

I have been trying to become a Developer from the past year.i have inspired,after watching this video.Thanks Andy for your support

[@michaelcopple1736]

When I was in the Air Force, I was thrown into AETC after basic training and handed a manual of the F-16 Fighting Falcon as I went in to become a crew chief on fighter jets. They gave us a couple of days to review the manual. Did that make me a crew chief? No. It was our hands on experience working with the hardware on a daily basis that gave me the knowledge.

[@jordantempleman5985]

Thank you so Much this was super helpful, I just landed my first job and I start in January and I’ve been struggling lately with feeling like I’m Not ready and It’s super helpful knowing that most people also feel that way as well!

[@MidnightSt]

Impostor syndrome: You will NEVER feel ready. As a self-taught programmer who's been working in the field for the past 16 years, my list of the skills most important for programmers are: 1. Being able to recognize what you can ignore - whether you ignore that it exists, or that you have no idea how it works or what it does, 99% of the time, you need to ignore 99% of the environment, language, or codebase you're working in, otherwise your brain will explode. And you need to know which are the 99% that you need, and safely can, ignore. 2. Being able to go through the scientific process loop - make an assumption (i think this thing should do this/work like this) -> conduct an experiment (so I will write this code based on how i think this should work, and run it) -> modify your assumptions (theories) based on the results (oh... this actually behaves in this way, which means these of my assumptions were wrong, and it's actually like this). Repeat. 3. Being able to work in a state of mind where you're constantly almost completely lost and constantly feel like you have no idea what's going on. 4. Proactive/creative thinking and decisionmaking - some people, when sat in front of a blank document and one-sentence brief, they just freeze, unable to do anything, come up with any ideas, either because there's nobody to tell them "okay, this idea is good, go with that", or just because their mind just doesn't produce any. YOU have to be the one who tells to you that "okay, this idea seems good, let's go with that, at least for now". Most people, most of the time, function in "instruction executing mode" - they have relatively clear instructions of what to do, and they do it. Programming is the complete opposite - you need to be the instruction-creator. And that tends to throw people for a loop. Knowing programming languages is... almost a secondary skill to a programmer. You can learn syntax of almost any language in about a week, maybe month. Learning the 4 points I wrote out... requires years, since it's its own mode of thinking. And some people are unable to do it. Maybe because they're so unwilling, or it's just that their brain works differently, I don't know what the reason is, I just know there's people who just won't be able to do it.

[@bashirshah6690]

Andy you do not know how much this helped me. Thank you for your constant effort

[@AndySterkowitz]

Happy to help!

[@Peterplayingguitar]

Thank you for helping my journey, Andy!!

[@farima4_legacy]

I started playing with qbasic when I was 12. It was pretty anoying when I got errors, but after some time I was able to start writing almost any program I tought of with only mistakes small mistakes like not spelling the variable correctly. I also watched like a 12 ep long tutorial on youtube before writing anything. After that I relised how to learn it effectivly, I just need to test everything after learning about it. Now 2 years later I managed to make a full space shooter game after learning python for like 2-3 weeks (using pygame). Since I have 4 years till even having to consider having a job Interview, im fine

[@generovinsky]

Honestly, if you're self taught, in my eyes, you need to hobby with whatever language you are learning. You should set a goal of an actual program you want to complete. I wouldnt "study" i would actually MAKE something. You don't have to expect to be able to sit down and write an entire program, inch by inch you will complete your program, but if you are not writing code you are not learning if you are self taught. A lot of people who are self taught need to iterate, change your code and re-run your program, repeat, over and over. You should be able to EASILY find a project to attempt. Things like "make a GUI with a button that starts the system screensaver" or ANYTHING, LITERALLY ANY ACTION YOU CAN THINK OF. VERY VERY easy to come up with random projects it doesnt have to be something special just something that DOES A THING. Then you can accomplish or see how difficult a task is, and keep trying new things. Lots of decent advice in this vid. But just make sure if you are doing this kind of work that money isnt your motivation or you will hate your job. You have to love this type of stuff or it will be a serious grind.. the money is a nice side effect.

[@x.huiz.1409]

hi Andy. about 2 years ago I started learning javascript through the book 'headfirst javascript' recommended by one of your videos that made it feel approachable enough for me to start. Almost 3 months ago now I started work as a software engineer; it's easily my favorite job so far (not to mention the w/ best compensation ; ])

[@dhruvbhatia5737]

How.much money you make

[@kseniyakaryakina]

Yeah how much do u earn

[@ceeeceee8753]

How’s your work life balance

[@x.huiz.1409]

@@ceeeceee8753 I hid in my room for 2 years during covid doing basically nothing but coding 70-90 hours ea. week. There's room to 'coast' now, but during the time when I was learning I had 0 life [except for some manga after a day's grind once I settled into a blistering pace]. It's kind of a field that requires both depth and breadth of knowledge and that takes immersion to grok; for me, that meant making it the only focus for a while until things became second-nature. I've noticed that those who progress the most smoothly do so in a similar way. I'll probably carve out room in my life to do that again when I mean to level-up and look for other opportunities, but for now I'm just doing my tasks and living my life.

[@abas5471]

So as I see I’m doing everything all right, I started with learning C++ with youtube tutorials and when video creator (or tutor? i’m not sure) told that “we will make a program that do…” I was pausing video, and solving problem myself and then just checking the tutor code. I think it works cause today I’ve just finished my first C# desktop app and I did it all by myself with help of google, because it was also my first program in C# haha

[@mrme5694]

I knew it when he said the manual is free, that actually had to mean "if you give me your email address, then i will give it to you". You can keep the manual, but i still liked this video. It was informative, motivational, honest and factual.

[@sxc-150]

Just use temp. email or basically fake email. You don't need to activate anything, just write something is email field and done.

[@inthecode618]

I Absolutely Agreed! "CLARITY IS POWER" Nice One Sir.

[@anton8964]

hey Andy, this video really help me to have motivation. I was planning to quit my hated job for years. I learn coding so I can get job that I love. since I never make progress, I never quit the job. In this video, I seen what I have done wrong all this times. now I have new courage to believe my self again. I will relearn again from the start with good motivation I will quit this job that I don't like, wish me luck.

[@ProfQED]

thanks, dear andy, you are the first one who thought me how to code really love you man

[@badmuthahubbard]

I've been an ESL teacher for a decade or so, and people make some of the same mistakes there. Theory over application. The Starbucks example is great. I've always compared it to learning to play tennis. If you want to be a tennis player, you will definitely have to watch others, study physics, jog, lift, pause videos, etc. But if you don't pick up a racket and go out and play against people, you'll never be a good player.

[@CygnusX-11]

One of the most helpful things when it comes to learning programming is being passionate about it... Personally i can sit down and study for 5 hours straight without getting bored despite the frustrations that comes with being a Self-Taught Programmer

[@StayFocused88]

Thanks, for sharing the free pdf!

[@francisjacquart9618]

ONE MORE OF OUR VIDEOS RIGHT TO THE POINT AND I ONLY WISHED I HAD ENOUGH MONEY TO TAKE YOU AS MY COACH TO LEARN WITH YOU, BUT, UNFORTUNATELY AT THE MOMENT I HAVE TO LIVE ON MY OWN SAVINGS AND I HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THEM, SO I CAN NOT INVEST IN ANY COURSE, OTHERWISE, BELIEVE ME, I WOULD! I FEEL, THAT YOU REALLY KNWOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT! THANKS A LOT. AT LEAST I WILL DOWNLOAD YOUR PDF AND I AM VERY GRATEFUL TO YOU FOR THAT INVALUABLE GIFT!

[@John5ive]

This guy had obviously been there. He basically described my world right now!

[@jakubkahoun8383]

I landed a decent job after 4 month self-learning ( i was doing open CV hobby project, where i learned alot of stuff , for example i made filter that put lightsaber in your hands). They first gave me test quite unrelated to coding, jsut basic network stuff and practical thinking, then at second round, i had to share the screen and code simple program before them....I was super nervous. At new job, i hate to learn completely new language (behave) and learn alot of stuff in the work. For the most of the stuff there is not manual anywhere, so I thini my boss was just looking for someone intelligent to quickly learn new stuff. For me the worst mistake when self learning python was not reading Pep8 guideline how to code "right". Since in Python you can do alot of stuff differently with almost same performance in compiling, but 85% of the coding comunity do the stuff in "python way" for example 4 space instead of 1xtab, make_variables_like_this, etc etc...I learned some bad habits ,that takes some effort to learn right. About chiping away time vs 8-10 hours coding freenzy i think both have their positives, just make sure you possitive reinforcement yourself (reward yourself to do something) also for me, best way to learn was to think what I WANT TO DO with my skills, then split it into very small steps, learn each step one of the time, and reward myself when i done it.

[@YuriLifeLove]

I'm not a self-taught programmer, I learn programming from school, although I go to that school to learn animation, lol... But I have to learn programming along the way and it's actually fun, lol... Now I just do programming for hobby and just having fun making my own project...

[@pfg222]

Hey your videos really saved my life. I have been really depressed and anxious with school and learning code. Your videos really helped me to just relax and take my time to study everything and just keep practicing. Just want to say thank you for your videos because I was ready to drop out of school, I just need to keep pushing.

[@n2datasolutions443]

One of the most realistic solid advice for software developers, subscribe button got hit

[@Erliortmejurur]

Great video. Heads up andy, from a guy that works a lot with images- if you add a noise overlay on your video with some gaussian blur, that banding won't happen in dark colors. But beyond that, this is really helping my self learning mindset. Thank you.

[@zenayr]

The imposter syndrome part really hit me. Been a self-taught professional full stack developer for 2.5 years now and I often feel that.

[@humann5682]

I have worked in tech for 15+ years and have a Bachelors and Masters in Computing and i've met people with Phds in CS with 5 years experience as data scientists who have imposter syndrome. Tech is a complicated sector with unparalleled levels of rapid change. *Everyone* feels like an imposter sometimes, even CS Phds with 10 years experience. Just keep going and enjoy it.

[@masoudghahremani7913]

I feel the same way sometimes.

[@Bholland31471]

@@humann5682 u r exactly right. I’ve been doing it for 20 yrs and I know, I don’t know everything about sw development, which can cause imposter syndrome.

[@tldw8354]

like it or not, but feeling this imposter syndrome is normal. because sometimes you really do not know how to solve the problem, but 5 hours later you solved it. just stop thinking about those emotions and simply try to do the work. use any possible creativity to reframe the problem and allways try to fully understand the topic. this way (it is very hard, time consuming and frustrating) you will solve nearly anything and will allways have jobs or projects. And your skillset will grow and doning the job will get much faster over time. I am now almost 10 years as freelancer after studying for 2 years and working for 1 year in a company. ... in the beginning years it is not a syndrome. ;) .. everyone have a nice day!

[@chriscruz429]

Very clear and straightforward. Thanks Andy.

[@kruksog]

I've come to realize a lot of what you say. I also have a BS in mathematics and computer science, but my CS degree is really, if I'm honest with myself, a degree in discrete and combinatorial mathematics. I really stuck to the theoretical underpinnings of CS and not actually learning to code. Don't get me wrong, I can code, just not at the level I need it to be at. One thing that really does kill me though is when something isn't working and I truly cannot figure out where the problem issues from (despite logging, stack traces, debuggers, etc). I had a memory leak I introduced at an internship and at the end of the summer, I still hadn't figured out why the issue was happening, despite doing a bunch of other things perfectly well. That just... hurt me deeply and I'm so afraid of it happening again.

[@stevenhenning9833]

A lot of courses or degrees dont teach one to code they are more theory than application, I have had students ask me to write their assignments which I refuse to do. Only was to learn is to throw oneself into code, look at other solutions understand what the solution is and apply what you see. Watching tutorials are fine, but follow the steps they show and then apply where u need. Reading books - try the examples ie type them in and learn, comment out parts and see what happens. Learn the OS, understand how the programs work internally. I believe SD is a passion and like any other job you have to apply yourself.

[@KarlOlofsson]

I'm not an engineer, so I can struggle with mathematical and highly technical things like proper data structures and efficient algorithms. I AM educated with a bachelor's in information systems, meaning I've been taught how to analyze a business and design systems (flowcharts of stuff happening and what information is needed when, communication diagrams to figure out the order stuff has to happen, and identifying possible dependencies etc) accordingly. BOTH these perspectives are needed to successfully create a useful system. I think self-taught programmers probably learn to implement smaller scale solutions well, but might lack the larger perspective. That could include but might not, things like performance and security. Those things was not part of my education either, and seemingly require multiple years of industry experience OR simply being interested in the stuff.

[@jimturpin]

Hmm.. I'm completely self-taught in many fields, as far as programming, I started back in 1987 and had a buddy with whom he and I would compete with each other to write programs to do a specific task, then we would see who could write the smallest and quickest code that required the least amount of clock cycles. Sometimes we would use different programming languages from assembly, or basic, or C, or whatever language was interesting at the time. Sometimes he had the better program, sometimes I did. I heard the only way to get good at chess was to play someone who was better than you and I think that same concept made learning to program both fun and created an environment that gave us a wider view of programming concepts in general. Today he is the main coder for a major manufacturer and I design, build communications test systems and write the software that runs those test systems. Never in a million years did I ever think I would end up as a programmer through, just fell into the job because I had those skills and most people don't.

[@EdCross]

Thanks man, followed your advice on a previous video about project building and have learned SO much just by making mistakes and figuring out what's going on and fixing it 👍

[@pkavenger9990]

Actually as a self taught programmer myself, I realized that the most important thing to learn is DSA (Data structures and Algorithm). The reason people get stuck into tutorial loop is because tutorial dont teach you how to approach a problem, they just teach you how to code in a specific language. When i started learning Binary search, linear search etc i realized that I was just using brute force technique to solve any problem which is not the optimal way to solve every problem or basically just copy pasting others code, now copying a pasting is not a bad thing but not knowing what to do without watching other people's code is a bad practice and that is why interviews are based on DSA's questions and problem. They want to see your approach to the problem, it is not even necessary if you solve it in given time or not.

[@KpFriendly]

Data structures and algorithms are one of the last things you should learn, because they have no direct relevance to the majority of programs you make, and it's not interesting enough to keep people motivated to continue programming. Programming is about leveraging existing technologies to solve your problems and programs, as well allowing flexibility to be as easy to modify as possible. Computer science i think is which is really what you referring is about creating new and better approaches to old problems, testing how computable something is, and or figuring out if something is solvable.

[@pkavenger9990]

@@KpFriendly i respect your opinion but as for my experience when i started learning DSA, my way of thinking changed but that is also because the course i am taking is giving me interesting example and teaching me how can you implement it in your real life project. In fact all human beings apply those algorithms in daily life without knowing them.

[@KpFriendly]

@@pkavenger9990 Data structure I could agree on, it definitely helped me understand things a little bit more when I started, even though I wasn't able to make any, but algorithms was definitely a struggle and a challenge for a beginner to learn. Algorithms in general is very scary for a beginner.

[@AntonioCorneal]

I really appreciated this video! I'm a self-taught programmer, and honestly since it really wasn't my career focus, I never rigorously learned super complex things, however in my current job, it's half programming, so I've been trying to use the opportunity to develop my skills more by taking on small projects that are just outside of my current ability, and it helps A LOT. I'm not coding every day, only a few times every few weeks, but at home I try to give myself some projects that will challenge me, and I have seen improvement even though it's slow. Years ago I learned the basics of thinking like a programmer, and breaking everything down as simply as possible within that mindset, and that's honestly been my rock, because it makes all the complex problems more bearable, especially when I'm trying to figure out how to do something new😂 Now I've written a humble 4 full projects, while not SUPER complex, they all achieved what my superiors wanted out of them and a little more, so I definitely think there's hope for other self-taught people like myself😊

[@AntonioCorneal]

@Anurag Chakraborty I can only speak for myself here, but I typically came up with the simple projects on my own at first, by sitting at my computer and asking myself, what's something I do a lot that will make my life easier if I wrote an application? Then I'd come up with ideas like a Temperature converter, or weight converter, an app for basic math calculations (which can then turn into a full basic calculator), an app that will find and open all the files from a name i typed, an app to read a text file and display it on-screen. Then you might get more complex and want to write applications that take user input and save it to a file, then maybe read it back into the application to use the information. Maybe an age verification app, or an app that tells you what city you're in depending on the zip code you enter. Honestly there's no one place on the internet I've gone to find some, but those first few I just tried to think up on my own. Not sure if this was helpful!

[@IMCYT]

Wow! Can't believe I did everything correctly for once! Thanks for the final warning and the Impostor syndrome. It really makes me rethink a bit on how should I see myself and the future!

[@MarkJosephAtwil]

GOOD day Mr.Andy Sterkowits , I just wanna thank you for reminding me a lesson in this tutorial.... there's a lot of lesson I learned while I watch your videos... SALAMAT PO ^-^ ^-^

[@codeonion]

This is all truth. Listen to this ladies and gentlemen, listen to this everyday.

[@BlueJeebs]

I'm self-taught, learned only what I needed, with a game project I built myself. I did all this after eating my way through a 980 page C# book (Understood about third of it at the time). I got a job I've been working for 5 years. I'm still not ready...

[@lilliankunu3658]

I started my self-taught journey late last year, hoping I would be proficient in my chosen languages by now, but far from it, due to my regular job and other activities. But since two months now I've been dedicated to it but it seems like I'm not getting anywhere and so I was discouraged again. But watching this video, I realized that it's part of the process to make mistakes especially when I want to play around the project I'm working on, and it often takes time to figure it out. And also, to be afraid of never being able to create projects on my own and getting discouraged and telling myself that I'm probably wasting my time. Thank you so much for these wonderful tips. Now I'm encouraged. 🙏🏽

[@Scragg-]

When I was learning, I worked 12 hour days in a Teflon plant working industrial ovens, then I would go home and study for 5-6 hours. You just need to want it bad enough to sacrifice everything else for a while

[@lilliankunu3658]

Thank you so much Scragg 🙏🏽 I'm now more dedicated to it and your comment will further encourage me to stay in line whenever I want to farther.

[@chelsearoberts7688]

@@Scragg- how long did it take you?

[@Scragg-]

@@chelsearoberts7688 I think about 6 months total from deciding to first Job Edit: but I might be an exception from the norm as I grew up building computers and doing networking and it at other jobs on the side

[@Luiz-rt8eo]

The only one that actually helped me. Thanks, mate

[@jamesbell8148]

Thanks a lot for the nudge in the right direction lost my way at the moment really helped get back on track

[@TheMentalHealthToolbox]

Hey👋 I am a mental health therapist, but have always had this strong desire to learn to code. I love to lean, but need clear direction on where to start.... Might sound very left field of my current profession but don't want to ignore this inner whisper.

[@itaylorm]

Making mistakes are the best way to cement concepts and ideas in your head. It isn't the mistake that does it but fixing it that does. I agree you will never feel ready. When I started programmer, I figured that I would have a job for 5 years and then need to do something else when people figured out how easy it was. Well one thing I learned with time. It is never "easy". Another thing that was 40 years ago. It has not changed. There is still a demand for developers that exceeds the supply.

[@dinnerengineered7550]

This is awesome!! This advice can be used outside of programming as well!! It's a great check in for anyone that is self taught in anything

[@quantaVastitude2021]

Im self- taught currently working as solidity developer , react.js, three.js etc , studying towards cloud computing and ethical hacking but not much interested in Pen Penetration more in audit smart contracts and others more interesting things constantly learning and developing on my own which takes longer but you know the way nobody had done it for you.

[@fact5832]

You are to the point.... Exactly what I'm going through after a year of preparation....

[@danyel80be40]

For me learning programming is just like learning maths: repeat, repeat, do exercises, again and again... and again. you may stop, go to walk, then do them again e again. My projects are very easy. I divide them into two classes: practical and imaginative. I started building my own menu bar in Python, my online radio in both Bash and Python, my own Editor using Tkinter. From my imagination, my ww2 airport control, my very fine woo astrological thing, a dictionary-thesaurus of ancient words and expressions ( to improve myself ) and other silly things. A cool exercise for Python: transform all classes you meet into definitions, make a cool script to look like a simple one. Then do the opposite with simple scripts :). Also, I try to find very complicated and well done scripts and reduce them to fewer lines, its not easy at all or building another script from the scratch taking the function of the good one as my target.

[@PR_Punk1]

Honestly I don’t know how people study code and don’t write as they study, that feels wierd to me. When I study i write and play with it a little bit to see what it does and if it breaks and why it broke, then I move on.

[@shin-jo2801]

if you compare yourself with how BIG the programming world is, some of you may feel discouraged and wanna give up but the thing is... you don't compare yourself to the world, if all, you compare yourself to your past, and look ! you're getting better little by little everysingle day !

[@DevSecOpsAI]

You are 100% right with everything I personally read books in spare time for fun but actually I learned doing hands on tutorials where you get the logic but you have to write the code in your own way. And man that helps you to understand what tf you are writing why what it does and how you could improve it. I can't stres this enough guys he is 1000% right get your hands dirty and try to actually understand what you are writing

[@herbertarcher4785]

I always download your videos to get myself motivated in the journey

[@donald4nola]

Andy, I just found your channel and the couple of videos I watched were spot on! You're doing great, keep it up. I've been programming for more than 40 years, and I want to let everyone in on something: After that first year, we are all self taught programmers. To be a good programmer is to dedicate yourself to a lifetime of learning and growing. Otherwise you become the old Cobol programmer maintaining legacy code on the ancient AS400 in the basement.

[@jeanlalaine4047]

I can feel my heart thumping just thinking about me having to redo the tutorials on my own.. 😫 trying to make excuses that learning theory is more important. Gotta face my fears. DO THE DRILLS AND MAKE A LOT OF MISTAKES! 💪

[@annemshivaji5551]

true man

[@hasagine3479]

took me about 3 years to learn while working at a deadend job before i got a dev job. resigning after a year due to burnout. gonna try my hand at personal projects

[@bossfly8387]

I have no problem with people learning through tutorials online. The problem is when you rely too much. You can probably get away with beginner or to some extent intermediate level information at times but the real value lies in learning through books. Now you may say that takes time. How do you think your tutor teaching you the course got his knowledge?

[@TheSoulCrisis]

Great video bloke.......down and dirty tips to break into the industry!

[@emberreed]

I got about 5 minutes in before realizing this video was not for me. I never studied. I just started building, and learned as I went. Necessity is the mother of invention (and motivation apparently). Guess I'm in that rare 5% category

[@Xarzith]

Thank you Andy for yet another great set of points of interest. I've been climbing up the rabbit hole for a couple of years and you gave me one of the last pushes to reach the top with this video. I already have the courage and I have set my "dead-drop-date" a month ago - Hearing the same thoughts from you have strengthen the path I've chosen. The one big thing I got from your video is that while the employees do wish to get seniors, it's never impossible to ask them for junior jobs for they are the ones looking for - where we only look for if we can step up. It never hurts to ask, I know a few people who have been lucky by simply asking the right people at the right time - It's time for me to find those people and my time to make that question to them. Ask, ask, ask...You'll get nothing if you don't find it from yourself to ask. Heads up for the future topics, I'm sure to keep following...Far beyond the day I do get a job

[@Marigo1ds]

How’s it going?

[@Xarzith]

@@Marigo1ds If your not mistakenly commenting and simply asking from me alone...It's going great! I hit my goals with my dead-drop-date. Now, as I could suspect you being a bot for your out of subject comment, I did add you to my ignore list...The real answer previously was to Andy and the real people following the comments for this video. On the other hand...If you truly replied to my response that does not tell you anything beyond my resolve into the software development, I can tell you only one thing here in public: I won't let you down, if and only if, you are hiring 😼 In short, I got a job...I grew out of it in two weeks...They love me there, but...I don't know...

[@Marigo1ds]

@@Xarzith I was simply asking how it was going with your programming career since you commented that four months ago. Especially as you set the "drop-dead-date". I'm glad it's working out for you. As a beginner programmer, it's motivational to hear that.

[@Xarzith]

@@Marigo1ds My apologies for the tone of my reply. I wasn't sure about your reason and I have faced the bots and those who I have misinterpreted before...I apologize my tone and try to provide my honest reply below as my atonement. Yeah, it's working great for me. I was overly shy for way too long, these videos were one of the many things that pushed me to push forward. I didn't value my knowledge much...I also didn't value my goals until I saw this video from Andy and few other personal motivators....And all I can say is that you can never fail if you try! Just set your own goals and make up your mind - set that deadline for yourself once you feel that you're ready for the real thing - the "drop-dead-date"...Can't describe it better myself ...And just go for it! My friend got an administrator job for applying for a minor job for being there at the right time. I personally scored an option for head developer for asking the right people at the right time...While applying for a junior job. As Andy tried to bring up with this publish: "You should always push forwards" and the only thing I would add to his words, would be to "Remember where you came from". The things you've done do shape what you are, but also the things you did right as well as your mistakes in the past will guide you to become what you wish to be. For me, it were the mistakes that let me to the job, actually... I had nothing to really show them, but my ideas and my mistakes - And how I knew of my mistakes, how I'd do things differently.... Long post cut short before I go miles off topic: The employers are not looking for miracle makers, they are more than often after real persons who share their values, their vision for the future and their enthusiasm.

[@Marigo1ds]

@@Xarzith Awesome! Thank you for that. Are you self-taught?

[@chrishayes5755]

I learned to code for myself cuz it's too powerful not to know and there's so many benefits to being able to create custom scripts. I really don't understand how people do this for work though.. it's soul-sucking writing code for other peoples goals and annoying dealing with bugs and incompatibilities. I'd never recommend anyone do it for work, unless you're really passionate about it.

[@vermusl6316]

Because the pay for programers is high and it's a future proof career? As Andy said senior devs are lacking right now so if you can get to senior level you'll have no trouble with your life finacially. Every jobs is just helping your boss to achive his goals, it's just in different form unless you are the boss yourself lol

[@angeldude101]

@@vermusl6316 Everyone always brings up the pay... I have plenty of money to satisfy me for the foreseeable future. I just want something to help direct my attention and let me feel like I'm contributing something back to the world.