My biggest regret - playing Minecraft instead of learning to dev as a kid
I am frustrated...
Very complicated to be dependent on someone when you are very involved and fast in the execution of my projects.
I have the impression that dev is getting easier and easier with all the open source code that is available on the web.
So I would like to learn the basics of a language that would allow me to touch more or less everything and learn on the job while developing my projects.
I'm thinking about Python (full logic, back end, rather simple language).
It's going to take me some time but in the long run I'm sure it's a very good investment.
Do you have any advice?
Trending on Indie Hackers
As someone that has been programming since I've been 12, wished i played more minecraft
Same!
I was about to say the same thing
And I the opposite xD You don't realize how lucky you are. After all, maybe if I had known at a younger age I wouldn't have this marketing side...
I'd recommend JavaScript. You can use it on backend and frontend, so the learning curve will be smaller and it has a great set of tools. After learning your first programming language, it'll be easier to learn a new one if you don't like something.
Totally agree. I'm going to start with JS, it's the best language for my needs.
This comment was deleted 3 months ago.
It's always helpful to keep in mind what product you want to build while you learn the language. And Python is a good start. I started with Python and I went to C and C++ for the embedded system and now I'm on JS for web app development.
I liked this free youtube tutorial a while back
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY6m6_IIN94&list=PLi01XoE8jYohWFPpC17Z-wWhPOSuh8Er-&ab_channel=Socratica
Pick up a well-rated udemy course on fullstack development. I heard good things about an instructor named Colt Steele. Also, Pieter Levels wrote a great deal about his experience of learning dev by having a particular goal of building a startup. Check out his book, Make Book. The road will be long and windy, but if you enjoy it and having fun you'll get there. Give it a try and you'll see if coding is for you :)
It all depends on one's perspective, as someone who studied computer science and before that spent a lot of time practicing and learning programming on my own and nowadays I feel frustrated and feel that I am not good at it, so I will tell you that I would have preferred to spend more time playing hahahaha.
Currently the only result I got is to be useless for any game and I think also for programming.
All good, no time like the present.
To get started or if you're looking to chat with other devs. Use this room, it's free
https://vibehut.io/rooms/6303cec659d18f0016a69f3c
Thanks for sharing.
Never too late to learn :)
I played minecraft very very lightly when it first released but I was also programming alongside. Basically, I was programming since I was a kid and still doing other stuff as well.
I actually really got into and learned Minecraft in detail only 2 years ago with my SO. We played religiously for 1000 hours in game time and built, learned, and "beat" the game. Now we're bored unfortuntely but we try to re-lit that Minecraft flame sometimes but it is hard to get back into...
Get learning, it's a great investment for yourself and career.
Edit:
Actually she still plays at times so it's mainly me who is having a hard time getting back into it haha.
Yes I really think that learning dev will save me hours and hours of work. I just have to go all the way and find the motivation!
But it's so important that I have to do it. I already have the marketing side, I just need the dev side and nothing will stop me.
Thanks for your message!
I always was miffed by this "which language is best to learn" conversation. Back when I started learning programming everyone was saying Python is the way to go and probably are still saying so.
But "what can I actually build with this" is the more important question. Because you will more motivated and learn a lot faster if you're building things you're interested in versus just learning some syntax.
Yes Python perhaps is the easiest syntax (not by much, really) but I found that I couldn't really do things I was interested in by using Python and instead learned JavaScript first. For other people that may be C++, C#, Java, or swift, etc. Find out what you're interested in building and then learn the language needed to build that as your first language.
Source: started learning programming in late 2019, working as a full-time web dev now
Thank you for your message. Indeed, I agree with you, that's why I'm going to go for JS. I'm going to learn the basics and start to develop an app myself, it's a good way to practice and it's always by practicing that I learn.
I'm 28 and i'm still playing minecraft
I do not regret playing Minecraft as a kid at all. It is literally what got me interested in programming in the first place, as I wanted to write my own 3D game like it. I don't think I would have had the willpower to keep learning this in my free time if it wasn't for this playful motivation.
Yes, the two go together. But I spent more time running servers or playing PVP faction but not devs...
It's never too late to learn new things! And the fact that you were playing Minecraft as a kid tells me that it's really not too late for you. Python is a great language to start with. You can branch out from there depending on what interests you.
Thank you very much for your message. I'm motivated, I'm going to get started and share this here.
Checkout the SpigotMC community. Lots of really great multiplayer backend development programming resources
I can't be more thankful to Minecraft and other online multiplayer, they got me into coding (writing modes and scripts for Minecraft in java and mods of MTA San Andreas in Lua) and DevOps (hosting those game servers).
I remember starting my first venture (MTA San Andreas hosting company) when I was 15-16 ish.
And since I got into working a lot with Linux and defending Minecraft servers from kiddish DDoS attacks, by 18 I eventually got into cyber security, and ever since that, I found my passion.
Very interesting journey, congratulations. I'm also passionate about the cyber security, maybe my father who passed this on to me (he is a cyber security engineer).
Thank you!
actually minecraft is something that can HELP you learn to code or at least understand how stuff works! in our company we have a dev who literally came to developing his first game while having played minecraft. check out his interview: https://youtu.be/OVpPq47rGUo?t=314 the part you might find interesting starts at 5:14
This is your point of view, but I'm not sure I agree.
As a kid, you did things that kids do, and that's great.
You could have surely learnt 2 extra languages and that would have improved your life further, but each thing has its right time and place.
You can do anything with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript trio. Learn to build Progressive Web Applications (PWA) that can be deployed to the internet and run on a computer, tablet, or phone.
very informative.
Python is the non-programmer’s programming language, which is part of why it’s so popular. The language itself is outdated, slow and full of cruft from the 90s, BUT armies of scientists, business analysts and outsiders have cobbled together every tool imaginable in it.
If you’re serious about programming, you’ll move on to more powerful and better designed languages over time, but Python will have learning resources for almost any high-level projects you could ask for.
Thanks for sharing. Indeed, I'm thinking of going directly to JS. To practice I would ask my developers to give me small parts of the app more or less accessible to dev (it's a good exercise).
JS is possibly even worse designed and has even more 90s cruft, but it’s faster and is native to the browser, at least. It’s hard to avoid in web dev, too. Don’t try to learn all of it. Just learn a subset and start building. You can gradually pick up other parts over time.
Good luck!
When I was starting out, I tried a bunch of different languages - Ruby, PHP, Python, Javascript. Ended up choosing JS because I wanted to work on both front end and back end, and I've very happy with my choice.
As far as languages go, Ruby was my favorite, but the utility to use JS anywhere is truly great.
For a time, I tried out Django and Flask in Python, and was frustrated by context-switching between Python on the backend and JS on the front end.
No need for regret - just do you best to keep moving forward and you'll get there!
Good luck!
I also think I'm going to look into JS, it's the language that most closely matches my expectations.
Thanks a lot!
You should pick the language that matches what you want to build.
So for example, if you're interested in AI/ML, then I'd go with Python.
Backend only? Probably JS or Python.
iOS apps? Swift obviously.
For me, I wanted to build websites and web apps, so HTML/CSS/JS.
Indeed, I'm going to start learning JS to become the front and back of SaaS. It's the language that suits me best.
We all would do things different now.
For me it was the same, I started to learn to code pretty early (11) but I lost focus and interest and started to play video games or went to parties (a bit later).
If I would have used the time I would be now in a different place, but we have still enough time. So do it now and never give up.
Like @NicolasTr said, Python is a good choice. Go for it.
In the backend, Python is a good choice. It's very accessible.
In the frontend, you could learn React and Next.
Have a look at Coursera, it has many good full-stack development courses.
Thank you! I'll take a look at it. It seems to me that Python is a more or less "universal" language so if I master it pretty well I could branch out to other languages pretty easily?
More universal would be Rust. You can use it to write pretty much ANYTHING, from web frontends to servers to games to a high performance Python interpreter, to operating systems.
Most other languages have types, so you would need to learn how to use them properly before switching to them. They also tend to be "closer to the metal", so you would need to learn more about memory management.
When learning Python, make sure you use type hints whenever possible. That will make your life easier later. And learn how to write tests ;)
Python is universal in the sense that it is used in most fields and industries. It's not universal in the sense that it can't be used to create web or mobile apps. If you want something that can be used to create backends, web apps and mobile apps, you would need to learn Javascript/Typescript. However, it's less accessible than Python (in my opinion).
Have a loo kat this website, it provides high-quality learning roadmaps: https://roadmap.sh/
Thanks for sharing. I have a lot of resources to start with. I will share my journey here!