Mid life crisis
-
Help !! I am fast approaching 30 and looking for a career change. For some unexplicable reason I feel drawn to a career in computing. In particular I have been drawn towards C++ (I hear that it is fairly easy to learn and that the money is good). I have bought a book "the complete idiots guide to c++" which I am currently reading and enjoying. However I can't help thinking that I am kidding myself. Is there any (recognised) courses that I can do (in the UK/world) which will allow me to go out and earn a living ? Am I really getting into something which is just for kids ? Any help (I mean any) would truly be appreciated, I want to succeed !!! Thanks in advance, Mike (Fenz) ;) Please help, I will help others in the future.
-
Help !! I am fast approaching 30 and looking for a career change. For some unexplicable reason I feel drawn to a career in computing. In particular I have been drawn towards C++ (I hear that it is fairly easy to learn and that the money is good). I have bought a book "the complete idiots guide to c++" which I am currently reading and enjoying. However I can't help thinking that I am kidding myself. Is there any (recognised) courses that I can do (in the UK/world) which will allow me to go out and earn a living ? Am I really getting into something which is just for kids ? Any help (I mean any) would truly be appreciated, I want to succeed !!! Thanks in advance, Mike (Fenz) ;) Please help, I will help others in the future.
A couple of observations. 1/ C++ is NOT easy, in the sense that VB is easy. 2/ Starting with a dummies book is fine ( absolutely ) but you'll need to work past that to be employable. Having said that, I had my midlife crisis at 30, after 10 years as a sales rep. I am now 32, two years into my C++ programming career ( admittedly I've been programming since 1984 ), and loving every minute of it. As a person who has suffered the same, you owe it to yourself to give this a go - I can't tell you how much of an impact it has made on my life in every way, being not just content in my job, but looking forward to it every day has made me a much happier person over all. Roll on 40, I'm ready.... fenz wrote: Any help (I mean any) would truly be appreciated, I want to succeed !!! If you have the hunger to succeed, then there's no reason why you shouldn't. Just work hard to teach yourself, ask lots of questions in places like this, and get your face in front of some potential employers. Christian After all, there's nothing wrong with an elite as long as I'm allowed to be part of it!! - Mike Burston Oct 23, 2001
Sonork ID 100.10002:MeanManOz
I live in Bob's HungOut now
-
Help !! I am fast approaching 30 and looking for a career change. For some unexplicable reason I feel drawn to a career in computing. In particular I have been drawn towards C++ (I hear that it is fairly easy to learn and that the money is good). I have bought a book "the complete idiots guide to c++" which I am currently reading and enjoying. However I can't help thinking that I am kidding myself. Is there any (recognised) courses that I can do (in the UK/world) which will allow me to go out and earn a living ? Am I really getting into something which is just for kids ? Any help (I mean any) would truly be appreciated, I want to succeed !!! Thanks in advance, Mike (Fenz) ;) Please help, I will help others in the future.
C++ may be easy to "pick up" but it's not easy to master. Some say it takes 5 years to truely master. There are courses out there but they aren't recognised by everyone. I find that degrees and certifications are often more important in larger companies than. small ones.
Todd Smith
-
Help !! I am fast approaching 30 and looking for a career change. For some unexplicable reason I feel drawn to a career in computing. In particular I have been drawn towards C++ (I hear that it is fairly easy to learn and that the money is good). I have bought a book "the complete idiots guide to c++" which I am currently reading and enjoying. However I can't help thinking that I am kidding myself. Is there any (recognised) courses that I can do (in the UK/world) which will allow me to go out and earn a living ? Am I really getting into something which is just for kids ? Any help (I mean any) would truly be appreciated, I want to succeed !!! Thanks in advance, Mike (Fenz) ;) Please help, I will help others in the future.
Bookmark this page. It contains a list of useful reference books for programming. While there is no substitute for actually writing code, these books are great aids in the learning process. Best of luck, Jon Sagara "Ninety percent of baseball is mental, the other half is physical." -- Yogi Bera
-
Help !! I am fast approaching 30 and looking for a career change. For some unexplicable reason I feel drawn to a career in computing. In particular I have been drawn towards C++ (I hear that it is fairly easy to learn and that the money is good). I have bought a book "the complete idiots guide to c++" which I am currently reading and enjoying. However I can't help thinking that I am kidding myself. Is there any (recognised) courses that I can do (in the UK/world) which will allow me to go out and earn a living ? Am I really getting into something which is just for kids ? Any help (I mean any) would truly be appreciated, I want to succeed !!! Thanks in advance, Mike (Fenz) ;) Please help, I will help others in the future.
My personal opinion is that C++ *may* be easy to pick up if you`ve had a good thorough grounding in another language (perhaps Delphi-Pascal or VB *maybe*). These are high level languages (i.e. the code syntax is as near to English as it can get at present), and you can learn good coding techniques, and develop "the programming brain", which is a different methodology of thinking. C++ is a low-level language (i.e. its much closer to machine code, and its operation is essentially built on communicating with the windows API and its messages - there are not as many built in functions to make it easier for you, this in turn makes it a hell of lot more powerful to use. For instance, as far as I`m aware you can`t create an app on the system tray using delphi). I think, C++ would be a very difficult language to pick up from scratch. You could try doing an Open University degree course to get a qualification in Computer Science, or even do an Masters degree Conversion Course at a recognised campus university, that would be a good start (these schemes often take into account work experience if you lack the necessary A-Levels, and will teach good techniques - though you`ll have to learn how to implement them yourself). Hope this helped. P.S. Guys anyone know what happened to the "this helped" button, and if its time has expired, who won? "When I left you I was but the learner, now I am the Master" - Darth Vader:mad:
-
Help !! I am fast approaching 30 and looking for a career change. For some unexplicable reason I feel drawn to a career in computing. In particular I have been drawn towards C++ (I hear that it is fairly easy to learn and that the money is good). I have bought a book "the complete idiots guide to c++" which I am currently reading and enjoying. However I can't help thinking that I am kidding myself. Is there any (recognised) courses that I can do (in the UK/world) which will allow me to go out and earn a living ? Am I really getting into something which is just for kids ? Any help (I mean any) would truly be appreciated, I want to succeed !!! Thanks in advance, Mike (Fenz) ;) Please help, I will help others in the future.
Sadly, I think you're in for a rough ride. C++ is only easy to pick up if you know C pretty well (and even then it takes some serious work). You're going to have to learn the basics of programming as well as C++, not to mention whatever OS you choose to develop on. It's a lot of work. And, to top it off, there is a serious age discrimination problem in the software world. Companies would rather hire a kid directly out of college than an older developer. That's because younger people are probably more willing to work overtime, and have fewer responsibilities (kids, wife, etc..) to compete for their time. Not to mention that as a person gets older, their salary requirements go up (again, because of a wife, kids, house, cars, etc..). It's going to be difficult to enter this market at 30 (or 32 or however long it takes you to become employable) with zero experience. -- Where are we going? And why am I in this handbasket?
-
Sadly, I think you're in for a rough ride. C++ is only easy to pick up if you know C pretty well (and even then it takes some serious work). You're going to have to learn the basics of programming as well as C++, not to mention whatever OS you choose to develop on. It's a lot of work. And, to top it off, there is a serious age discrimination problem in the software world. Companies would rather hire a kid directly out of college than an older developer. That's because younger people are probably more willing to work overtime, and have fewer responsibilities (kids, wife, etc..) to compete for their time. Not to mention that as a person gets older, their salary requirements go up (again, because of a wife, kids, house, cars, etc..). It's going to be difficult to enter this market at 30 (or 32 or however long it takes you to become employable) with zero experience. -- Where are we going? And why am I in this handbasket?
I think learning just c or even C++ does not bring you much because you will not be having tools to write real life looking, smelling and tasting apps. You have also to learn an OS, e.g. Windows and MFC might be the most obvious/wide spread choice for you. Until you are done (I mean, you have some experience in the mentioned fields to produce more profit for a company than robbing other people's time with basic questions) it might take some time. I know that because I have done just the same what you are up to, at the same age. My advantage was that I have had an educational backround in a similar field (El. Eng.) with lots of related subjects at university (Pascal, assembly ...). Even so it took me about 1 year of becoming employable. Yes, ONE long year of sitting home and learning, trying, and asking (BTW, I would grab the opportunity and thank to CodeProject and their writers, readers for this). It must also be realized that there is no such thing as end of learning. New programming technics (ATL, COM, .NET)are coming and going, and it might sound a commonplace but you can really never stop. If you are determined, and made out of steel, then give it a try. In any other cases, just choose another case. Wish you luck. PP
-
My personal opinion is that C++ *may* be easy to pick up if you`ve had a good thorough grounding in another language (perhaps Delphi-Pascal or VB *maybe*). These are high level languages (i.e. the code syntax is as near to English as it can get at present), and you can learn good coding techniques, and develop "the programming brain", which is a different methodology of thinking. C++ is a low-level language (i.e. its much closer to machine code, and its operation is essentially built on communicating with the windows API and its messages - there are not as many built in functions to make it easier for you, this in turn makes it a hell of lot more powerful to use. For instance, as far as I`m aware you can`t create an app on the system tray using delphi). I think, C++ would be a very difficult language to pick up from scratch. You could try doing an Open University degree course to get a qualification in Computer Science, or even do an Masters degree Conversion Course at a recognised campus university, that would be a good start (these schemes often take into account work experience if you lack the necessary A-Levels, and will teach good techniques - though you`ll have to learn how to implement them yourself). Hope this helped. P.S. Guys anyone know what happened to the "this helped" button, and if its time has expired, who won? "When I left you I was but the learner, now I am the Master" - Darth Vader:mad:
Chambers wrote: P.S. Guys anyone know what happened to the "this helped" button, and if its time has expired, who won? I won, only because Michael Martin voted for me incessantly ( to annoy John, I think ). John and I both got a lot of votes for no good reason, and the whole thing was shot to hell. I forget who started voting for themself in this manner and started the deterioration of the whole thing, but it was obviously a waste of time, because of the way people misused it. So Chris got rid of it, and I *still* don't have a Code Project t-shirt. Christian After all, there's nothing wrong with an elite as long as I'm allowed to be part of it!! - Mike Burston Oct 23, 2001
Sonork ID 100.10002:MeanManOz
I live in Bob's HungOut now
-
Chambers wrote: P.S. Guys anyone know what happened to the "this helped" button, and if its time has expired, who won? I won, only because Michael Martin voted for me incessantly ( to annoy John, I think ). John and I both got a lot of votes for no good reason, and the whole thing was shot to hell. I forget who started voting for themself in this manner and started the deterioration of the whole thing, but it was obviously a waste of time, because of the way people misused it. So Chris got rid of it, and I *still* don't have a Code Project t-shirt. Christian After all, there's nothing wrong with an elite as long as I'm allowed to be part of it!! - Mike Burston Oct 23, 2001
Sonork ID 100.10002:MeanManOz
I live in Bob's HungOut now