Need new problem solving activity, help me to understand coding.

[Cubozoan]

Hi everyone.

I'm in a science technician job that has become monotonous. I manage the team which seems to exhaust me, micromanaging people all the time and conforming to human resources' requirements.

I wouldn't mind going part time since I am good at job and can enjoy a relaxing walk into work. It's just that there is nothing new to learn now, I'm not using my strengths.

I would love a job where I can work anywhere and at my own pace. Lots of people suggest coding. What is coding? What can I do with it? I'm also 38 years old - am I too old to learn this new skill? I have a degree in physics but only use it for some private tutoring now and then.

Should I stick to tutoring in my subject, maybe go online or take the coding route?

 

[Black Rose]

Mostly it is a tool for information processing.
Coding is just using a computer to execute memory rules.
I tried to learn it but I'm not that creative and I have ADD.
The biggest use for coding is in video games and scientific modeling.
If you have a problem you want to solve you can create a model in the computer.
The rules are simple but I myself never got into it because of social issues.
I tried to make an A.I. program but I had limited success.
A.I. needs an environment to inhabit and that is hard to make.
Coding is a good way of solving scientific problems.

 

[Cubozoan]

I guess I could design websites for people? Develop my own apps for android?

Could you estimate how long it would take to learn to build a serviceable website?

 

[Black Rose]

I guess I could design websites for people? Develop my own apps for android?

Could you estimate how long it would take to learn to build a serviceable website?

I would say less than 3 weeks.

 

[Cubozoan]

I would say less than 3 weeks.

Really? So quite a nice useful hobby then? Do you need a super pc? A laptop? How much is the software and which languages do you recommend for starters?

 

[Black Rose]

Any PC or laptop at best buy right now, you don't need a high-end gaming PC.

https://www.udacity.com/course/web-development--cs253

 

[Cubozoan]

https://www.udacity.com/course/web-development--cs253[/QUOTE]

Thanks I will look into that. Very grateful for your time.

 

[gilliatt]

Imagination: I buy and sell on the world markets. The world is my study, laboratory. There is new things happening in business everyday. I observe and my charts tell me something, my intuition, my ne tell me something, and I understand reality, metaphysical given. I do not use imagination in place of reasoning, cognition. Ex: Snapchat just came on the market as an IPO. You attempt to understand a given subject, SNAP, what is it? You integrate it, which is the essential part of understanding. Snap? Perception reaches a conceptual level. Collect a small fact here, a small fact there, does the chart confirm the fake news. One idea today & tomorrow a whole collection of ideas. It is a process of thinking, identifying, solving a problem all the time.

 

[bvanevery]

I would love a job where I can work anywhere and at my own pace. Lots of people suggest coding. What is coding? What can I do with it? I'm also 38 years old - am I too old to learn this new skill?

You are not too old to learn coding. However, when you try to code for money, you are going to face a certain degree of age discrimination. Hiring managers usually like young, tractable, "worker bunny" people who haven't developed the political sense to look out for their own interests yet. Easier to exploit and overwork.

You should use your science background to counteract that "age problem". Get into the scientific visualization side of things, big data crunching. Not as many people can do programming AND have a hardcore science background. Most scientists nowadays are expected to "dabble" in programming to get the job done, like say coughing up stuff in Fortran. But if you go the route of being a professional level programmer, and have science skills, that would make you valuable in a way that an average "exploitable junior hire" is not.

I have the programming background, but I hate what industry is doing. I don't have the science background, which is part of why I haven't transitioned in that direction. Not for complete lack of interest, as I thought I was going to be a Physics major when I entered college. But at this point in my life it's a lot of time investment I'm not going to spend. I know so much already within my own field, that I think I should just keep plodding with 3d graphics, programming language design, and game development, until I've "got something".

Asheville NC does have a huge Climate Science technical footprint, so I may make some cursory efforts in that direction in the coming year. However I'm not going to "change course" and make it any kind of primary mission. I've got a language and games to write.

 

[TheManBeyond]

my software developer friend showed me this game the other day, he said that it's a easy way to get into programming for kids, even for grown ups who are lazy about theory

https://codecombat.com/

i tried it for a while and found it very easy and boring since i already know basics of programming but i think i only played 3 or 4 stages, i think cool thing is that it makes you repeat processes all the time till u remember all the words u need to write

 

[Architect]

You can switch from a physics background to Software Engineering - I did and I know two others who did (actually more than that thinking about where my grad school cohorts went ...). The difficulty is building enough career capital - that takes time and lots of energy. Can you find the time? Like 4 hours/day of intense work, for several years? If you can do that then you should be fine.

 

[The Gopher]

It's been a while but I may as well throw in my opinion for anyone else watching. The main thing when it comes to building websites is design. Now days any idiot can throw together a website using a CMS and you might never even need to touch the code. Sure it comes with a build in design template however customizing that is where most people fail. If you are good at design and have three weeks to learn a CMS/basics of coding you can set up a portfolio that looks pretty and get hired within the month. I mean you won't be good but you will be better than a lot of small business websites out there and as far as they know you are god.

If you really want to go into software engineering beyond that or get good at webdesign then yes you'll need to do what Archy says.