I'm learning to code!

Fun fact, I was getting a computer science degree right as the dot-com bubble burst around 2000. I had thought it could get me a job, and while coding was fascinating I never really paid attention enough to get into it. I switched to psychology, and have been bouncing back and forth between the two ever since.

Now it’s high time I get back into coding. Programming is the modern magic, few understand it, and those that do are in a separate world from the rest of us. You push buttons and new things happen. You enter the liminal space between electricity and reality, mediated by a dazzling variety of machines and circuits.

It’s also clunky, messy, constantly shifting, and often used to make a simple process more complex, or at the whim of someone who has more money than design sense. Or so I hear.

So in the interest of transparency, here’s my journey in learning to code in my 40’s.

I’ve been really enjoying this book, the C# Player’s Guide. It’s a playful journey to learn the C# language, in the style of an adventure in a fictional realm. It even has a map and has you track your XP as you do coding exercises! I’m a quarter of the way through but it’s been very satisfying.

I’ve looked at local bootcamps, notably Alchemy Code Lab but the price was too high.

Now I’m considering The Odin Project. It’s an open-source project to help you become a web developer (there’s so many flavors of what type of programmer you can be) but lets you pick between Ruby on Rails and Javascript. Back in 2000 I was learning Javascript so I think I’ll pick that path, once I brush up on HTML, CSS, and more foundational learning. Plus it’s free!

Update: I’m well into The Odin Project and it’s lovely!