

How to quickly but effectively become technically conversant - avni000

For a non-technical entrepreneur wanting to up her technical capabilities what would you recommend?<p>Not looking to be a programmer, but ideally learn enough to better lead and work with engineers and&#x2F;or build a crappy prototype.
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Teichopsia
I'm still learning so take my advice with a grain of salt. That being said,
first we ought to applaud you for taking the interest in understanding what
goes on behind the scenes and better communicate with the engineers.

If I may, there are three courses you could look into. I've only taken the
last one, which is fantastic for people that don't have a CS background.
You'll learn about data structures.

The other two I just came across them today.

Now, the intent of this is only to give you a general idea of the amount of
information these people deal with. If you happen to be a P.M. and deal with
clients, this will help you avoid making promises for x feature to be ready x
day due to lacking an understanding of what must be done to get it working.
And so forth... Once again, I'm just starting, so take my advice with a grain
of salt.

[https://class.stanford.edu/courses/Engineering/CS101/Summer2...](https://class.stanford.edu/courses/Engineering/CS101/Summer2014/about)
[https://www.coursera.org/learn/insidetheinternet](https://www.coursera.org/learn/insidetheinternet)
[https://www.coursera.org/course/pythonlearn](https://www.coursera.org/course/pythonlearn)

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ranty
Oh god, really. It's not that hard. If you're into it and enjoy learning about
it, then your head just fills up. It's like moving to a new town and getting
used to the place.

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avni000
I agree with that - I've blown through a number of codeacademy and code school
courses just because I've found it so interesting. But now I feel like I have
this floating knowledge of some coding without a foundation of context to set
it on. So would love to get recommendations of where to start with the real
basics (like data structure etc).

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lacus
Can you be a little more specific about what you're ultimately hoping to
build, or learn? I'd generally agree with the commenter who suggested you pick
a simple problem and then try to solve it. That's the only way to understand
where these bits and pieces you've learned fit into the broader picture. I'm
getting the sense that that's what you're after here, at least initially -- a
general understanding/overview of how this stuff all comes together in the
real world? Is that right, or no?

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avni000
Ultimately, I would love if I could build a very basic prototype (of a web
app) so that I can scrappily build a product to test. I recognize that that is
not an easy task and would take a significant investment to get to
proficiency, let alone mastery. But as someone that is analytical but not
"technical", it can be exceedingly frustrating to have an idea that you want
to implement and create but you don't have the know-how to do so. So I'm
trying to find a way to teach myself to fish without becoming a master
fisherman. And in the process I also hope that I can become a more effective
entrepreneur because I will be able to communicate not only intent and design
to the engineers, but appreciate the feasibility and development path.

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lacus
It's hard to offer more specific direction without having at least a vague
idea of what type of web app you're trying to build. If you're looking for a
"read X book" or "do Y tutorial" type of answer, there simply isn't one, not
for what you're trying to achieve. The answer is, learn as much as you need to
in order to start building stuff, even if you don't know what the hell you're
doing at first. When you get stuck, search around on StackOverflow and
elsewhere; if that doesn't work, seek out help from your local
Python/Ruby/whatever Meetup and try to find other people willing to teach (you
seem genuinely curious and respectful so that should make things a little
easier). Just remember that you're a smart person, so when (not if) you're
made to feel like an idiot for not knowing some silly basic thing, don't back
down. Keep searching, keep building, keep asking questions until you get
there.

I'm far from an expert but I've been through this. I was in a very similar
position to you less than a year ago and have since then gone from absolute
zero technical knowledge to becoming a shitty-but-enthusiastic self-taught
hacker. I'm happy to chat more specifically if you want to message me directly
(first name: Linda; last name: last 4 letters in my HN username; email:
firstlast@gmail).

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avni000
Thank you for the thoughtful response - that's in fact the type of direction I
was looking for - even just learning of StackOverflow has been helpful... and
I may take you up on the offer to connect further.

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ranty
There is only one way to learn: have a problem then solve it. It has to be a
real one, too.

So go and find (small) problem, work out how to solve it and implement it.
Then if you really want to learn: promote and sell the damn thing.

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avni000
Thanks for this practical advice - I guess what you're saying is it doesn't
matter if it's JS or Ruby or whatever, just play around until you figure it
out. Will give that a shot.

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bjourne
Sorry there are no shortcuts. Study as hard as you can and spend as many hours
you can practicing programming. Then in a few years you'll be able to
productively work with other developers.

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avni000
Thanks for sharing your perspective - helpful.

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zeeshanm
I would say just learn basic data structures, and understand client/server
model. Learning about these two will help you have conversation about how your
product strategy goals go along with engineering design. You probably
shouldn't need to talk with your engineers in deeper details but at design
level.

Hope this helps.

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avni000
This does help - thank you. Part of the challenge is understanding exactly
what it is you're seeking to learn. This helps me narrow down what I should be
trying to understand as I build my expertise.

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cmstoken
Spend a lot of time reading technical material, and be active on Twitter and
other places were engineers hang out. Watching videos also helps. There's a
lot of JS/Rails/Python stuff on YouTube etc...

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avni000
Oh I hadn't thought about going to YouTube for videos - I'll certainly check
that out. Thanks for your tips - definitely helpful!

