After a long break JTSD is back in full swing with a number of announcements. This quick reintroduction catches you up on all the JTSD news that's happened since last we talked!
Author: Dorian
My College Experience
Maybe, like me, you liked the idea of teaching yourself to code. The freedom to learn whenever and whatever you want. However, college or university can offer you some things that teaching yourself doesn't. A teacher for one. A network of students working toward a common goal, a learning curriculum and, some form of official certification at the end of your schooling. *WARNING Shameless plug incomming* (Check out the previous articles for more in-depth explanations of each of the 3 main learning paths).I tried to get the best of both worlds and enrolled in a online college course. I thought it would, for the most part, offer me the best of both worlds and minimizing the downsides of each. But is that true? Was I right in doing that? This article takes a look at my experience going through an course offered online through one of my local colleges. I'll run through what I expected from college, the things I was expected to learn, the value of the courses and give you an idea of when you might come across, and prepare you for those things should you take the same path and be under similar circumstances.
Software Development – Learn, Code, Create
You've seen "and remember, keep learning keep coding and keep creating" plastered all over JTSD. For good reason! In this article I discuss what I mean in the JTSD motto. How to continually learn and become a better developer, how coding and creating applications you enjoy building will help you immensely in getting a better understanding of the things you're learning. Learn, Code, Create are three simple words that, if adhered to will up your coding game more than you thought possible and, it's easier than you think!
Which Did I Pick?
A little add-on to the "Ways to Learn Software Development" series. I thought I would take a look at my personal reasons for choosing the learning path and the things I had to take into consideration when making that decision. My hope is to allow you to better understand what you might have to think about when choosing your own learning path when learning to become a software developer by giving you an in-depth look at my decision making process.
Ways to Lean Software Development: Coding Bootcamps
In the finial installment of the "Ways to Learn Software Development" series, we look at one of the most controversial ways to learn how to code. Coding bootcamps are the most high intensity, high risk way of learning to code. Enrolling in coding bootcamps is rolling the dice with thousands of dollars and months of your time. Are the rewards worth trying to roll the dice and hope you don't see snake eyes? This article will set you on your way to answering your coding bootcamp questions.
Ways to Learn Software Development: Self-Starting
We've covered the pros and cons of going through traditional schooling such as college or university to gain the skills we need to become a software developer. Instead of paying someone thousands of dollars to teach us, why not teach ourselves? It takes a certain kind of person to be focused, determined, and driven enough to teach themselves to code but, if you can, the benefits of teaching yourself are boundless. In part 2/3 of the Ways to Learn Software Development series, we'll talk a look at those benefits, topics of debate, and some of the downsides and challenges associated with teaching yourself to become a professional software developer.
Ways to Learn Software Development: COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY
You know software development is a hugely broad topic. You know that you need to choose an end goal for your software development career. But how do you go about learning in the best way for you? In part 1 of this series of articles "Ways to Learn Software Development", we'll take a look at the pros and cons of what attending college and university to learn the skills you need as well as, the differences between the two. Going to college or university for anything is a huge decision and a large undertaking. This I think, is especially true for such a broad field as software development. At the end of this article you'll have a good idea as to what both college and university can offer you when deciding how it is you're going to go about becoming the next greatest coder.
HOW TO GET STARTED
Becoming a software developer isn't an easy task if you're not already knowledgeable on the subject. There are countless career paths you can take, and a number of ways to learn the skills you need to achieve your software goals. In this post we'll take a high up look at how to get started learning to become a software developer, ways you can go about doing that, and the pros/cons of each way. After reading this article you should have all the basic facts you need to set you on the right track when learning to become a software developer.
What is Software Development?
When deciding on a career you have to be sure it's something you'll be happy doing for a very long time. For software development that's especially true because there are so many drastically different areas of the craft. In this article I take a high-level look at some of the most common types of software development and some aspects of the craft that hold true throughout every field of specialization.
Why Software Development?
Welcome back! In this post I discuss a little bit about the thought process I went through when deciding what career I was going to pursue next. Why did I decided to change careers and some of the decisions someone in a similar situation to myself might have to make. I talk about how I decided that software development was for me and touch on some of what I think are the most important points about what a career in software development brings. My hope is that I might being you, the reader a little more understanding as to what you might expect in a software development career. I explain what I would consider the pros of software development but in the end it's up to you to decide for yourself if software development fits your career needs and goals!
Journey To Software Development With Dorian Gosse 