Learning to Code

I'm a computer technician.

I have no formal education for that career outside of the usual entry level computer courses that everyone has to take to get a college degree (and I took those courses when monochrome monitors were the norm). So all of the skills that I have learned have been: on the job, self taught, trial and error. To get my Microsoft certification I bought a book, studied, and took the test. To get my A+ certification I did the same thing. I used to enjoy learning new things and actually working towards a goal. There was no monetary reward for me, I never got any bonuses, or raises because of what I had learned. I just used what I learned to make my life easier.

Same thing with the small amount of HTML I've learned. I just had to know it to do a website for some friends that were in a band, but I enjoyed learning it. It allowed me to be creative. It wasn't ever going to be my primary job, but at least I wasn't lost when people talked about web design, cascading style sheets, and tables (remember them).

That was ten years and two kids ago. During that time, I started a small part time business, and bought a house. So I've had to learn some different skills. I've enjoyed that too.

!@#$!$%$! nested if statements.

I came to the realization, late last year, that I was in a rut, and I didn't like it. I couldn't put my finger on it at first , but I finally traced it back to not challenging myself enough. That's when I decided that I needed to learn something different, that would challenge me, and be useful to me in my everyday life. So I decided that I should learn how to Code. Programming has always been something that I know exists, but had no real understanding of how it works. I would never hesitate to rip open a computer to see how it works, why have I allowed programming languages to be so out of reach?

It wasn't really a New Year's resolution, I just decided that I should learn to code this year...OK maybe it was sort of like a New Year's resolution. Apparently, alot of people have thought the same thing. Although I was the first!

I haven't attempted to do any sort of programming since High School, so I'm starting from scratch. Luckily there are some great resources out there.

Right now I'm bouncing between Code Academy, and Learning Python. The two languages are different enough that I have to really change gears when I switch between the two. They both have an embedded interpreter for their respective language that you can use to write the required code, and then have it tested to see if it meets all of the requirements for the "Lesson".

Code Academy uses the idea of  "Gamification" to try and encourage you to learn. If you reach certain mile stones you get badges. You can share these via Twitter or Facebook if you like. It sounds like such a simple thing, but honestly I get a kick out of it. Once I figured out the Nested If statement I needed to complete the "FizzBuzz" challenge, damn straight I wanted that badge! That was a real challenge for my incredibly illogical mind.

I'm not going to create a million dollar app. I may never even use these skills in my day to day life, but at least I'm learning something new!