Why software development?

I can write scripts, SQL and configure Salesforce.com apps but I didn't code. I wanted to learn but found I had created a mental block about it from taking a C class years ago.   You probably know that the C  programming language is a lower level language that gives the programmer great control over the computer hardware.  Things like the Windows  were written in C (and C++).  But if you could give a rat's ass about how the hardware works then learning C is really challenging.

Here was my brain trying to read C code:
  Hey, I get this part but what does this symbol mean?
  What the hell is this code doing?
  Why the hell do I need this line of code?
  Is there any example code I can repurpose?
 
I would understand a few concepts then there would be this one little detail that didn't make sense. Pretty soon, there was a big backlog of stuff that didn't make sense and I was lost.  I was missing too much knowledge to grasp the concepts.  And being one of the few women in the class,  I thought I'd be made fun of if I asked for help. (silly me.. I should tested that theory and asked for help anyway).  I thought I was too dumb to code.

Then I attended a python class taught by a colleague. He was really good at  teaching programming concepts using python.  Python is a higher level language; less like machine code and more just logic statements.  I started to understand things that had baffled me before;  like arrays and objects.  An array didn't seem like some unknowable thing that you stuff variables into to.  I could create an array and read from it.  Arrays were actually useful.

I started to wonder if maybe programming wasn't so hard to learn.  I started to have hope.  But knowing Python was not enough. Users need a GUI to use a program.  How do I build a GUI?  Then there's the software program, where do you build it?  How do users access your code?  There are many parts and pieces that come together to make an app useful.  I didn't have the energy to figure it all out on my own.

Then along came Codeacademy.com. and the Web basics track.  More on this next post.

And so it begins....

Things are changing at Sassy Dumplings.  Not that there was much going on here, really. Well the post frequency is definitely going to increase. I am going to blog about my journey of going from a noob (newbie) to a professional web developer.

It's a big step to leave my job at the big High Tech Company. The significant other is stressed over the future reduction in the income stream. And the near future doesn't make him feel better as I will probably be getting paid as a junior developer rather than a senior program manager once I'm done.

But I want to be happy. I am tired of feeling my technical skills are obsolete. It's time to reboot.  It's time to become Sassy Dumpling 2.0.  I am attending the Web Development Immersive training class at General Assembly in May.

Go check it out.  About 50 hours of pre-work and 12 weeks of study. Then you can intern for another 3 months (at intern wages) and keep learning your craft.   6 months and you've changed careers, sweet.  All this without the student loans,  midterms,  finals and listening to boring lectures about soon to be obsolete technology.

More on why I decided to do this tomorrow....