

Ask HN: How long before you called yourself a programmer? - MisterWebz

The reason why i'm asking is because i want to get into the startup scene, but i'm not so confident when it comes to my programming skills and i'm doubting if i could actually call myself a programmer yet.<p>So how many months/years of learning did it take you until you could finally call yourself a programmer and apply for a job?
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dustyreagan
It's not really a matter of months/years. If you've built an application (or
piece of an application) that other people use or have used, I'd say you can
call yourself a programmer. (Though your skill level may still be in
question.)

If you haven't built something yet, do that. If you're new to the field,
having something to show off and talk about in an interview is a big win.

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billswift
I am in a similar position and would like to restate the question.

If someone applied for a job, saying he was a new programmer, what would you
look for to see if he was worth considering for a position?

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nrj
I would recommend you hit up Craigslist and start responding to ads under
Computer->Gigs. You can often find small and simple coding projects. That's
how I got started building up my resume after I graduated.

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aarongough
I agree. I actually did the same thing.

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amk
I have been programming ever since I was a school kid, and I have worked on
many small "hobby projects". But I started calling myself a programmer only
after I actually started working and earning money as a programmer. I guess I
am using the title as a profession more than anything else.

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aarongough
Personally I think it's one of those things that "you'll just know". If you're
writing working code and are using those skills on an actual project, then
you're a programmer...

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MisterWebz
So when did you realize you were a capable programmer?

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aarongough
That's definitely hard to answer.

I thought I was awesome when I was in high school (I was about 16) but a few
more years of experience made me realize how wrong I was.

I'm 25 now and I think I have a good grip on the generalities of programming,
but I still have a long way to go in _really_ understanding the underlying
fundamentals of various languages and some of the over-arching principles that
govern language design and function. (It's worth noting that I've been a
professional developer in various languages for about 4 years, and I've been
programming for fun for 11 years.)

Personally I think programming is like most other things. It's relatively easy
to be minimally capable, but extremely hard to be really, really capable.

Sorry for the long-winded answer :-p

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stratospark
PRINT "HELLO WORLD"

