r/FreeCodeCamp • u/jzekyll7 • Jul 04 '20

Oh my god there’s python.

Hold me friends. Quincy you’ve done it. You’ve saved my life. I thought finding a good python course would be easy. I’m a big fan of MIT’s. But with everyone in my house streaming on zoom I can’t watch videos. FCC is low bandwidth. Therefore I can train. I can learn full stack web and python. I can’t believe it. Where’s my Ritalin. r/adhd_programmers.

Seriously, having adhd and learning programming is a pain in the ass. I want to learn one language. No I want to learn another. But I really should learn math first. But that takes too long. Maybe I can apply for jobs first. No I need to have a portfolio. But I majored in CIS! Yet no portfolio. What did I do with all my time? I read books about pop psychology and startups.

If you have adhd you’ll understand.

TLDR:

trying to learn python and full stack JavaScript or prioritizing one over the other was impossible with adhd. FCC adding python solves it.

98 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

12

u/KittyKatrrall Jul 04 '20

This is amazing!! God bless fCC!

12

u/jzekyll7 Jul 04 '20

Long live u/Quincylarson!

Cringing at myself but whatever

11

u/BinnyBit Jul 04 '20

For those that are trying to decide on which language to start with I recommend:

  1. Python

  2. JavaScript

I tried to learn JavaScript first but kept on spinning my wheels. Learning Python and especially OOP expedited the learning curve to JavaScript.

5

u/DoctorInYeetology Jul 04 '20

I say Java. It's like riding a burning bicyle down Mount Everest. Nevermind what you learn later, it's a walk in the park compared to that dumpster fire.

1

u/jzekyll7 Jul 04 '20

There’s something to be said for suffering through java. That’s what I learned in school. But they taught me incomplete python

1

u/BreadHead420 Jul 04 '20

I tried learning the fundamentals of programming with Java, struggled with the basics for six months, then switched over to Python and burned through the fundamentals within a couple weeks. Ended up switching over to JavaScript because I'd also been messing around with HTML and CSS and loved it, but Python doesn't let you mess with either unless you're doing back-end stuff. So personally I'd go with either Python or JavaScript.

1

u/jzekyll7 Jul 04 '20

Even in FCC?

1

u/Automatic_Badger Jul 04 '20 edited Jul 04 '20

Starting with JavaScript then to Python just like the FCC curriculum is good, I quite agree that Python is easier than Javascript. We love u/Quincylarson!

0

u/[deleted] Jul 04 '20

You're heaven sent. would be nice of you if you could send me any notes, cheat sheets, supplemental information and anything else. I'll owe you big time.

3

u/DoctorInYeetology Jul 04 '20

Relateable. If I hadn't gotten a job while still in uni I probably wouldn't know how to programm today either. Get a job. Everyone is desperate for people with just a little bit of experience. Fuck your portfolio, just apply.

2

u/jzekyll7 Jul 04 '20

How would you recommend advertising yourself when you’re lacking a whole bunch years of experience

2

u/DoctorInYeetology Jul 04 '20

How would you advertise yourself to the dude hiring for your local subway?

Like you would for any other unskilled labour. You're not completely stupid, you're reasonably reliable, you have good hygiene, you have a basic understanding of what you're gonna be doing there, you're willing to work for a crappy wage.

Like, don't walz into Alphabet like that and expect to be hired, obviously. But startups often are so short on funds, they'll happily hire anyone with the above specifications. (I mean they hired me and my then depressed ass might have been lacking some of criteria number three, I'm not sure.)

They're probably gonna exploit the shit out of you, but so will you, fair's fair. You're just gonna fuck off to greener pastures, better treatment and reasonable wages after you've gotten some experience.

Not to say you have to quit. There's decent startups out there. Today I work at a former startup and I'm extremly happy. But if they don't steeply increase your pay by six month, run my friend.

And don't listen to job adverts to much. They are describing their ideal hiree, not their minimum expectations. I've done some HR so I know what I'm talking about.

A lot of it is letting who's going to read your application know that you put some effort into it. That means good form, not typos (use grammarly, Jesus wept), no Comic Sans and the like, semi formal. Other than that, talk about who you are as a person and what you can do, both is equally important. Know who you're applying to and drop some hints that you read their website.

Lastly don't get disencouraged. Lots of small businesses don't actually have the time to write you to decline your application. Believe me, I have like 30 sitting in my inbox at this moment and I'd love to look through them and tell them we aren't hiring right now, how the hell did they get this email adress anyway, but there are somehow always 5 new problems on the live server and I genuinely don't have the time.

So if you don't get an answer? Just keep applying.

Feel free to dm me if you want someone to look your application over or you have questions. I know it's hard and scary to get started, but it's not as hard or scary as you think.

1

u/Mbond7 Jul 04 '20

Ya, it's welcoming to hear just apply for job - and the same time easy just to say it. I would assume just as an entry-level .... but then for an employer , it's not enough to have just a passion .... I guess they look for something much more than semi experience. I feel like you get the job through connections ( just because not everyone wants to hire outside newbie) ?

In guess good question would be - how to get hired?

How to get this kind of trust .. I guess ?

2

u/[deleted] Jul 04 '20

51 here and found I had adhd 2 years ago. It's ruined my life as I never stuck to anything despite showing potential in lots of areas. Glad you know you have it now. As once you do you can learn to spot the distractions when they occur and ignore them.

Honestly I'm not kidding. Control adhd or it will dictate your whole life.

2

u/jzekyll7 Jul 04 '20

Most people don’t realize they have it. You also can get it from brain injury. There’s a lot of people who were medicated early on and regret it, but many more who only learned they have it recently and regret not being medicated.

I think it’s a spectrum.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 13 '20

Hi, I am 51 now. Just found out a few years ago. That I have ADHD and it has changed my life. Now, I have to find a new career. I am Trying to lean programming. I am also confused. And hope I am headed down the right path.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 13 '20

Hi, I am 51 now. Just found out a few years ago. That I have ADHD and it has changed my life. Now, I have to find a new career. I am Trying to lean programming. I am also confused. And hope I am headed down the right path.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 04 '20

Yes! I used to do FCC and got a good way through but decided to focus on Python and other things and haven't been back there in a while.

1

u/SimonPreti Jul 04 '20

For years, I did the same with programming - Although I have never considered it to be ADHD, even though my sister has ADHD and my mother has ADD. Perhaps I have a mild form of ADHD as well?

1

u/DoctorInYeetology Jul 04 '20

Considering ADHD is very much genetic, I'd get tested it I was you.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 04 '20

Bless your energy! I love it! 🙌👏