This post struck a cord as I'm 36 and just started coding about 6 months ago. It's been, shall we say, difficult.
My lesson 1, you gotta find others who are learning or are already doing and are willing to chat and share war stories. In a vacuum you will quickly lose motivation from all the minor failures that (attempting) coding results in.
My lesson 2, forget the idea that if I read this and that book I'm good to go with this or that language. Coding requires heaps of hands on practice, and once again, failure.
My lesson 3, coding requires a shift in brain patterns, literally. It takes a super eye for detail and a focus I simply have a hard time maintaining. And the question becomes, the question I find most pertinent, do you want that shift? It's not good or bad, but I'm convinced that if I were ever to be proficient in this field I would have to really alter my way of approaching problems and even perceiving the World around me.
My lesson 1, you gotta find others who are learning or are already doing and are willing to chat and share war stories. In a vacuum you will quickly lose motivation from all the minor failures that (attempting) coding results in.
My lesson 2, forget the idea that if I read this and that book I'm good to go with this or that language. Coding requires heaps of hands on practice, and once again, failure.
My lesson 3, coding requires a shift in brain patterns, literally. It takes a super eye for detail and a focus I simply have a hard time maintaining. And the question becomes, the question I find most pertinent, do you want that shift? It's not good or bad, but I'm convinced that if I were ever to be proficient in this field I would have to really alter my way of approaching problems and even perceiving the World around me.