If everyone learns to code, coding will not be a high-paying career anymore. Also many people can't code, because it is too detail-oriented. If one line of code has a typo, it doesn't work. Some coding also requires advanced math skills. Really not well thought out at all. But what more can we expect from the establishment?
I hate the “learn to code” crap. When they say it it’s about getting more worker bees, or blaming you for not keeping up with the times. And obviously it’s not for everyone.
However, I legit think people should learn to code if they have the means and disposition.
Coding is like having a super power when it comes to computers. And even if your thing is something completely different like music or gardening there is probably some way that coding could help you. Also it teaches you things about how to think methodically and empirically.
I just get pissed that the libs ruined it by turning it in to a bootstraps thing.
I'm learning Java at the moment. It's hard. No one ever mentions it's hard.
I agree; I was originally going to study CS at college, and I ended up switching to LibArts because coding was too hard for me. (Worked out well I must add in terms of the education I got).
Yup. Same here. I even had an adviser that insisted on trying to keep me in the program despite me just not understanding the fundamentals. My brain just doesn't work that way and having a learning disability does not help.
Java is a lot of bullshit and I won't work with it unless absolutely necessary anymore. It's a very unfriendly language, especially as a beginner IMO.
If you're learning 2 code on your own I'd recommend ruby (or python) if you just wanna do a bit of automating or stand up a webserver or something, or scheme if you're interested in the fundamentals . JavaScript is unavoidable for web stuff so also might be a good starting point (especially the reactjs framework or nodejs for server-side)
I'm struggling through a java algorithms class right now, and I think I may avoid it for awhile going forward. I can't tell if I'm just awful at it or if the material I'm given in class is just kind of shitty.
Oof yeah that was pretty similar for me. Trying to do algorithms stuff in java was really painful when I was in school since seemingly half of it is fighting with weird java language constructs so by the time you get to actually trying to implement the algorithms you already feel drained and stupid.
Good luck comrade, I believe in you :heart-sickle:
I’d focus on just understand the algorithms vs actually getting it perfect in Java. It’s a very “opinionated” language and very much a product of the late 90s. OOP has been going out of style now for years in favor for functional programming and even in Languages that you can declare and build objects in like Python it’s so much easier/without all the extra junk in Java.
I assume this is for a CS degree? If you can I’d try to pickup a more functional language like JavaScript, Scala or even something Lisp related and implement the same algorithms.
Object-oriented languages like Java, C# and Python are quite a bit easier to deal with compared to other languages, since you don't have to think about the whole system as much -- your code generally is more contained. Plus they protect you from having to deal with pointers which can be extremely annoying to deal with. Like, compare it to C, and you'll get a glimpse of how much worse things can be. Compare it to LISP and you will see a much clearer picture of how much worse things can be.
At my university we started with C for understanding some of the underlying stuff that other languages kind of hide from you, then moved to C++ and Java for learning about OO programming and how to use it most effectively. Pretty sure our algorithms class used C or C++. We were also repeatedly told that if you know one of those three languages, you know them all (which is more or less true). Can't really tell if it's the material given in class without an example, but I remember that everyone loved our professor for the algorithms class and I don't think many people struggled in the class so quality of the material does matter.
Whether coding requires skill or not is irrelevant to real function of why devils like Rahm say this type of shit. Google and Amazon have started cert programs to fast track hundreds of thousands of people into a CS oriented career within their respective structures. After the H1 visa freeze, companies have really ramped this shit up, mainly because they needed to depress wages, something that H1 employees were crucial for. In the past, they'd just collude to fix wages, but some of the larger ones got caught in 2015.
You can get past those headaches by simply shepherding your domestic workforce into these roles, especially since the labor force has bottomed out in terms of any real bargaining power. Even now, the amount of graduates coming out of college with a CS degree far outstrip market demand. I've already seen a steady decline in what companies have been offering in certain areas over the past 5 years for entry level positions.
Good news folks, Rahm Emmanuel is going to be very influential in the Biden admin!
Engineering degrees awarded have doubled over the last decade, while the number of job openings have not so there is now twice as many Engineering graduates as jobs. Computer Science degrees awarded have reached parity to the number of job openings, and that was before the pandemic.
Tech companies just want to lower their wages by flooding the labor market with coders. It's not like there are just thousands of programing jobs just waiting to be filled
