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Being a good Coder : Never too late

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You might be a lion but you need a jungle to realize your worth. A sanctuary might feel like home but it is not. I graduated from IIT Roorkee in Chemical Engineering. My seniors made me comfortable very early in the campus with the fact that I may eventually land up as a software programmer as first job. Early sinking of this fact made me wanting for more, I wanted to do serious coding but was apprehensive about making the jump towards the same. It might be out of scope for me to catch and be focused entirely on unlearning and relearning.

Today, when I look back I feel that it was an important decision taken right. I feel I am able to shed those apprehensions. I would take this opportunity to pen down the approach that worked for me to get things going the right way.

Getting to my experience

  1. It is not impossible.

    1. Whenever you change your stream and head into a different world, the biggest challenge is to unlearn and re-learn fast. I got this opportunity while working in a dynamic team and now i can say i am going the right path.

    2. Computer Science is a stream of Mathematics. So if you still love those complex mathematical theorems and lemmas, it could be like change of language during your foreign visit.

  2. Be in the herd or be a nerd (Choose your path)

    1. Google tells me that a nerd lacks social skills but is an expert in one field. And I strongly believe that you cannot talk your way out of every problem unless you are an expert.

    2. While looking of CS companies, you will have to choose between 2 types companies – Services or Products. Try to see if you can get one in Products, but as I said it may be difficult to get one, so if you end up in Services Company you may plan a switch later.

      1. Service companies – usual boring stuff daily

      2. Product companies -go getter attitude (i was able to make it to this, but was not aware on this differentiation then)

  3. Where will you find yourself lacking

    1. Algorithms – No exposure to algorithms in the past is going to make it a whole new experience for you. And this is not a one day process because you can only experience and learn. You need to acknowledge being a laggard here and coping up.

    2. Buzz Words and terminologies – no understanding of terminologies in CS. Need to understand these one by one and with full clarity and move ahead.

  1. How can you compensate

    1. Focus exactly on your area of interest – technology

    2. Understand the concepts in complete clarity

    3. Be willing to unlearn – it is a new world

    4. Get good exposure to algorithms

    5. Get good hold of OS and Networks

    6. Believe that small steps will help you, and every small clarity will set the start good

    7. Experimenting with code

  2. How I did.

    1. I had no clue of what is in stock for me as I could not gain much insights over transforming, so I was ready to face anything and everything that came my way.

    2. On my first day at work, i was told to go through a rigorous 1 month training plan – Udaan.

    3. I was lost initially about what to learn but training had set the momentum right – though with time crunched deadlines – I was able to grasp the concepts and detailed assignments followed with due evaluation to make me understand the areas that needed rework from my end.

    4. After 1 month of intense training, I was told about a 7 day-product-creating-marathon which was all about creating a product from scratch. Effort requirement – 24*7. Given a problem and finding/framing its solution excites.

    5. 6 months later, I am still exploring and setting my concepts right as I said that this is a never ending process, but I feel that I was able to get in the right grooves.

I hope from my meager experiences, you may try taking that leap that may seem ambiguous in the little future you may foresee. Don’t let anything hold you back. Go out. Kick ass.