This question has to deal with being a "paid" programmer, meaning from a paying company, that cuts you a decent check every week. The reason I mention this is because I am honestly not to sure about the financial status of many open source companies, but that is honestly enough about that.
The question is HOW do you know your good enough to code for an actual company, I've asked myself this same question for years, ever since I found out what a variable was (yes this was a while ago). I'm starting to get close to finishing my AS (major is in computer programming), I have a decent GPA that is regularly going up. But I always ask myself, how exactly DO you know when your ready to start getting paid for it?
What should you know, how well should you code, what should your most efficient language be, what APIs should you be familiar with. I've accepted the fact that there is almost no possible way for me to know everything....but how do you know your good enough?
2006-09-18 09:09:50 · 7 answers · asked by D 4 in Computers & Internet ➔ Programming & Design
ludie, nice visual basic reference
2006-09-18 10:14:20 · update #1
Good question. I ask myself that every time I'm in class.
Most of the stuff I know about computers and programming are self taught.
I am going to school for it, because there is no other way to prove to a company that I can code without the degree, even if I'm already well familiar with some languages. I have developed programs using VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) in my current job. Yet, I'm still not getting promoted. It's those who acquired a degree in CIS or related major that's getting all the easy work, but when faced in front of a computer, they know nothing.
To answer your question. There's really no limit on how good or bad you can get, it's really up to you. Many jobs out there requires a degree, and many that do, requires you to know how to code proficiently.
Once, I graduate (in 2 years) and get my bachelor's. My boss will promote me to System Coordinator, starting salary at $6,500.00 per month. Is that decent? You tell me.
2006-09-18 09:12:21 · answer #1 · answered by HotRod 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The honest answer here I think is you don't. Hubris aside, unless you've done something utterly over the top like hacked out your own 32 bit OS kernel or something to that effect there's always room to question your skills, especially if you don't have experience in the professional arena. My advice: have the career assistance folks on campus help you out with polishing up your resume then start job hunting. If you're good enough, someone will hire you. If you aren't, someone may hire you anyway with the expectation that you'll GET good enough on the job. Classess and tinkering around at home are great ways to learn the basics of coding but they don't exactly do a great job of preparing a would-be professional programmer to transition into a job where there are $N other programmers working on the same project and $BIGNUM lines of code in the app in question. Those things have to be learned OTJ and employers know this. Good luck in any event.
2006-09-18 09:47:43 · answer #2 · answered by knieveltech 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Couple tips to get a "feel" for how much you know.
1) Check out freelance sites like guru and rentacoder. Read some of the listings and ask yourself, can I do any of these projects without much guidance? If yes, you may be ready.
2) Test your skills in the areas you want to work. Expertrating.com is one I've used but I'm sure there are others.
3) Read the forums. Visit some developer forums and see what problems people are having. See if you can answer some of them.
The degree can only help but if you build a solid resume with good examples of your work, you can build off that.
2006-09-18 10:22:14 · answer #3 · answered by SDLifeCycle 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Loads of hands on experience. Apply for internships and get experience in the work place. Then you will get an idea of the entire job. I heard that some companies break up the programmers into groups, one to create the buttons, labels, etc.. and then other programmers to write pieces of the code. Team projects.
If you are good enough to code.
Then you will have no problem.
End If.
Good luck.
2006-09-18 10:08:12 · answer #4 · answered by *zz 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You're good enough when you get a job and someone starts paying you. And doesn't fire you.
You'd be surprised how many hacks there are out here in the real world doing "programming".
2006-09-18 09:12:44 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you have to ask that question, you probably can't cut it. Find a new career.
2006-09-18 09:17:25 · answer #6 · answered by Avatar 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
well, you know you're not good enough when you say "your", and you actually mean "you're."
2006-09-18 09:17:14 · answer #7 · answered by onemillioninchange 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋