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app103:
I work for an e-learning company that charges a monthly fee for unlimited online access to all of their web development & design related ebooks and video courses. A major part of what I do there is read emails all day from people that have signed up, paid the membership fee, and then need some help getting started with accomplishing their goals. I write personalized learning paths for them, based on their goals and current skills.

Often, someone just like you will contact me, looking for a learning path that will take them from an empty wallet to a 6 figure income. That's their goal...to make a ton of money, and they think that learning programming is the easy fast ticket to do that.

Sadly, I can not provide them a learning path for that. I can only provide them with one if their actual goal is something much more realistic and based on books and courses that we actually have. We don't have any on how to get rich quick with very little work.

But since I have to provide them with something, I usually give them a very basic path through a list of books & courses, beginning with the basics of HTML and CSS, through Javascript and jQuery, then HTML5 & CSS3, and ending with PHP & MySQL. Then I tell them that when they get through that list, contact me again and I'll give them another one.

When I follow up with them 2 weeks later, to see how they are doing with their studies, they usually tell me that they haven't even started on the first book or course yet. They make a bunch of excuses, like being too busy to study. Remember, they are paying by the month for their membership.

They have wasted half of their first month, not even started with their studies, and when the end of the month comes along, they usually quit.

Contrast that with the people that really want to learn programming...

They come to me with some rather well defined goals that actually have something to do with programming. They have an idea of what languages they want or need to learn, what kinds of projects they want to work on. They may even be currently working on a personal project and looking for the skills they will need to complete it. They are passionate about it and already have some skills that they acquired on their own.

They never mention making money.

And when I follow up with them 2 weeks later, they have not only started on the first book or course, in many cases they are already on the 3rd book or course in the list that I gave them. They often have questions, are wondering if they should alter their goals to include more books and courses on other topics. And when the end of the month comes along, they renew their membership for another month, then another, and another. Sometimes they contact me again and ask how to switch to a yearly plan, because they are that committed to learning what they need to know.

So, until you can answer the question "where do you want to start learning?" with something tangible that people can offer you some good advice for, you are not going to get anywhere.

If you can't answer that question, it is the same as saying "I want to be a musician because some of them make a lot of money and I want to make a lot of money, too" and having no idea what instrument you want to play or even what genre of music.

We can't offer advice on finding the fast track to GBP80k per year.

Programming is not the fast track to getting there.

Programming is a long tough track of lifelong learning suitable for people that have a passion for it, that would do it even if they never have a hope of making a dime from it. To ask them to not code would be like asking them to not breathe. Does this describe you?

TaoPhoenix:

Somewhere in the middle of App's post and mine, that's why I suggested a "bicycle training" mentality. I am on here about twice a year looking for cute little slightly-above-snacks type apps. But if you cannot even handle one of my "easy" ones (and yes they have pitfalls!), then your basic goal to earn tons of money as a hotshot is kaput.

So I say to you:
A. Do a Snack in AHK.
B. Do a Lunch in your choice of languages. (And submit it to NANY under Mouser's newly easing rules!)

If you cannot do that, you are sunk.

x16wda:
Programming is not the fast track to getting there.
-app103 (April 08, 2014, 07:25 PM)
--- End quote ---

A programming language is an awesome puzzle kit that you can put together in countless ways, and in the end when you have made it do what you wanted to do, you get your payback from seeing it work. Then you look again and say "y'know I could have done it better this other way in that part right there..."

Aim to have fun figuring stuff out. There are so many languages, all so different in style and approach and how picky they are, that one of them will work well with how your brain works. The basic concepts will be the same - break a problem down into parts and build something to do each part. These days I am lazy (I write mostly in Rexx) but I've also used assemblers for 6502, 68000 and IBM mainframes, with a few other things thrown in. The details are wildly different, but the process is the same. Play around and get comfortable with one language, and others will come easier.

If it ends up being something that you can enjoy, then you win the game. If you can do it for a living, then that's the double bonus. But just remember, all that FOSS that's around is done for love, not for money! Programming can make your life much richer than your wallet.  :P

Ath:
Programming is a long tough track of lifelong learning suitable for people that have a passion for it,
-app103 (April 08, 2014, 07:25 PM)
--- End quote ---
Thank you April, for writing down (all) these words so concise; it exactly describes how I feel about the subject. :Thmbsup:

----

Another, related, personal observation: If you have to ask how to get started, you will never get started!

kalos:
you misunderstood me
I am not after money only (well I am as we all are I suppose)
I wanted to discuss career prospects and advices among professionals who can give an insight from inside the industry
that's all
I know that money comes with hard work and willing to do so

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