[PLUG] Learning programming

Mke C> mconnors1 at gmail.com
Fri Dec 15 07:57:08 UTC 2017


On 12/14/2017 06:07 PM, plug-request at pdxlinux.org wrote:
> I have determined I must learn programming, and would prefer to do so in
> the 'back end', i.e., server environment.
> I have (some) funding from being laid off when my job was outsourced
> overseas (fir the second time).
> Your suggestions about tools and processes would be appreciated
My suggestions are based on my educational background in Comp. Sci., 
over a decade of work experience as a Network Sys Admin & Network 
Engineer and my recent challenges of being a displaced, older IT Pro 
with a skill set that is rapidly becoming obsolete.

I'd recommend staying away from code bootcamps/acadamies unless you have 
previous education and/or programming experience. If you want to do 
back-end programming, I'd start with either Bash shell scripting on 
Linux or Powershell for Microsoft & Linux enviros.

Although Python is probably the easiest high-level language to learn, if 
you're not familiar with object-oriented programming it might be a bit 
much to digest. Most scripting languages are procedural. Most of the 
prog. languages I learned in college were procedural. When I tried to 
learn Python, I didn't understand object oriented programming and that 
made learning Python more challenging for me.

Although Ruby isn't a back-end language per se, I found it easier to 
learn than Python. It's an object-oriented scripting language that is 
very natural, less like coding and more like writing.

Google's Go is a pretty hot language right now.

I guess my best advice is to check out some free tutorials, books from 
the Library, videos, etc and find something that you like and is easy 
for you to learn. That might even be Perl or PHP depending on what is 
interesting and fun to you. For me, Pascal was that language. Learning 
how to be a good programmer is ultimately going to serve you and anyone 
who hires you better than learning a particular language that you think 
will get you a job.

DevOps is also a really good place to start. Most modern software 
companies are using Cloud Platforms such as AWS and DevOps methodologies 
and tools.

Another great resource is Calagator, http://calagator.org/events . There 
are many daily meetups, workshops, classes, etc for all things IT related.

At the end of the day, the best advice I can give is try as many things 
out as possible and let it choose you so to speak. You might be awesome 
at CSS or SQL or C or QA automation. If you can afford it, I'd spend as 
much time & energy as you can exploring as much as you can of the IT 
landscape.

Cheers,

Mike











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