Current Events > Welp... I'm officially starting my coding journey

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm really getting into this. I was watching some random Youtube videos last night on autoplay and I came across a video of a guy showing some code he uses to automate moving files he downloads to appropriate folders. I paused it when he showed the code and I could actually decipher most of it to see what the code was doing without him explaining it. This is pretty cool.

My husband signed up for coding classes at the local community college. He found it very helpful. Might be worth looking into for yourself. It helped propel his career from system engineer to SRE

Good luck TC, I'm starting classes in two weeks. There is a new coding discord maybe you can join it there are some experienced people there.

CableZL posted...

At work, they were encouraging us to just copy and paste code from the internet to accomplish tasks, but I like to actually understand what I'm doing if I'm gonna do something in a professional environment.

CableZL posted...

Yeah, I get that. I just don't want to have a bunch of borrowed code that I don't actually understand. If I have to troubleshoot or modify something when we upgrade to a new firmware, I'd rather understand what's broken and be able to fix it.

In the real world you are going to be going to google and stack overflow for your coding problems all day.

And you are going to be looking at other peoples code and be confused by it all the time. Hell... a lot of times you are going to be looking at your own code and be confused as hell by it. Theres not amount of learning "base" Python that will ever change that.

I think what you are looking for is understanding some of the universal fundamentals of coding. So you should be focusing on stuff like conditional execution, control flow, logic, loops, functional programming, and Data Structures & Algorithms.

Data Structures & Algorithms are typically taught as its own course in university and all the other stuff is just a basic intro to programming course. The language doesn't matter but most schools use either Java or Python.

Shadow_Don posted...

In the real world you are going to be going to google and stack overflow for your coding problems all day.

And you are going to be looking at other peoples code and be confused by it all the time. Hell... a lot of times you are going to be looking at your own code and be confused as hell by it. Theres not amount of learning "base" Python that will ever change that.

I think what you are looking for is understanding some of the universal fundamentals of coding. So you should be focusing on stuff like conditional execution, control flow, logic, loops, functional programming, and Data Structures & Algorithms.

Data Structures & Algorithms are typically taught as its own course in university and all the other stuff is just a basic intro to programming course. The language doesn't matter but most schools use either Java or Python.

I'm already seeing the desired benefits from what I've been learning so far. On Thursday of last week, if I were to look at python code, I would mostly gloss over it and not understand the vast majority of it beyond simple things like basic print statements. I was looking at a Youtube video last night of some code a guy had and was able to understand most of it just by looking at it.

The conditional execution, control flow, logic, loops, functional programming, data structures, and algorithms are all on the list of things I'm planning to learn, but I'm definitely benefitting from learning the base Python language first.

I'm not gonna learn it all at once. It's a process.

I want to climb the mountain so badly. It really kills me. I look at something else I have made progress in, and my main motivation is seeing if I can match that level of progress and also what thay translates to in terms of application.

Learning a second thing isn't easier the second time though. Maybe it is is with transferable skills...

CableZL posted...

The conditional execution, control flow, logic, loops, functional programming, data structures, and algorithms are all on the list of things I'm planning to learn, but I'm definitely benefitting from learning the base Python language first.

Yea no disagreements there, Python is probably the best language to start with.

I guess what I meant is all of that stuff is learning basic programming, not necessarily that you are learning python.

The good news is that once you get over your first language it becomes way easier. Its like learning how to drive a new car vs learning how to drive all together. Right now you are learning how to drive with a very beginner friendly car.

Shadow_Don posted...

Yea no disagreements there, Python is probably the best language to start with.

I guess what I meant is all of that stuff is learning basic programming, not necessarily that you are learning python.

The good news is that once you get over your first language it becomes way easier. Its like learning how to drive a new car vs learning how to drive all together. Right now you are learning how to drive with a very beginner friendly car.

Ah, I see. Good info. If I get really good at this stuff and really like it, there is the possibility of changing from a network engineering role to a software engineering role. I could even be a network-focused software engineer and stay at the same company. We have a guy like that who got hired recently.

He says he's not a great front-end developer, so who knows... I could possibly end up designing front-end tools to 1) make our jobs easier and 2) provide to the team to handle tier 1 and tier 2 level things more efficiently. We'll see how it goes.

3 hours 14 minutes into the 6 hour intermediate video. This is a lot of content, but I'm glad I'm doing this. It's giving me great practice with the language.

Shadow_Don posted...

In the real world you are going to be going to google and stack overflow for your coding problems all day.

And you are going to be looking at other peoples code and be confused by it all the time. Hell... a lot of times you are going to be looking at your own code and be confused as hell by it. Theres not amount of learning "base" Python that will ever change that.

i would say this is true, but also learning how to understand other peoples code is a critical skill imo that is unfortunately uncommon

I just made my first config change with Python on my home firewall. Hell yeah. This is awesome.

I'm about 4 out of 6 hours through the intermediate video. Hopefully I can finish it tomorrow and then start diving into some network automation stuff.

CableZL posted...

I'm about 4 out of 6 hours through the intermediate video. Hopefully I can finish it tomorrow and then start diving into some network automation stuff.

In one day? Don't burn yourself out.

SomeLikeItHoth posted...

In one day? Don't burn yourself out.

Nah, I've been doing about an hour per day this week. I'm planning to do more during the weekend, but I don't have to rush. I passed the CCIE written exam in July, so all my certs are renewed for another 3 years.

CableZL posted...

Nah, I've been doing about an hour per day this week. I'm planning to do more during the weekend, but I don't have to rush. I passed the CCIE written exam in July, so all my certs are renewed for another 3 years.

Congrats. I remember you made a few topics about that.

Are you planning on learning about databases as well? I can recommend a free course if you are.

38 minutes left in the intermediate video... stopping for today and then I'll finish it tomorrow... then it's time to go into actual network automation stuff.

Whew, finally made it through the intermediate course. Some of that was a bit over my head, but I can refer back to the notes I took from here on out.

Gonna take a break for the rest of the night. Tomorrow, I start on actual network automation content. Maybe with CBT Nuggets.

Best thing you can do now is come up with your own project and start working on it. Lots of people get stuck after tutorial courses.

Shadow_Don posted...

Best thing you can do now is come up with your own project and start working on it. Lots of people get stuck after tutorial courses.

I made a config change script for my firewall at home. I'm gonna build on that so I can use it at work, but I did the tutorial stuff so I can understand how to read and error check my own stuff.

A week and a half ago, if I got an error when trying to run a script, it would take me a long time to understand the error itself and how to fix it. Now, when I get an error, I can look at it and fix it within like 10 seconds because I can now read Python and I understand the formatting.

From here on out, it's gonna be about studying for the CCNA Devnet cert.

Alright, starting on the CBT Nuggets content

Oh, interesting, it looks like the CBT Nuggets course for the Devnet Associate exam has multiple instructors. I'm used to just having one the whole way. We'll see how this goes.

How's this bundle? Has anyone here read any of these books?

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/full-stack-web-development-springerapress-books?partner=indiekings&charity=1543025

SomeLikeItHoth posted...

How's this bundle? Has anyone here read any of these books?

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/full-stack-web-development-springerapress-books?partner=indiekings&charity=1543025

I haven't read them, but the subject matter on some of them is a bit dated or generally unpopular. Angular hasn't been used much in the last 5 or so years, and php is an abomination that nobody should use.

warlock7735 posted...

I haven't read them, but the subject matter on some of them is a bit dated or generally unpopular. Angular hasn't been used much in the last 5 or so years, and php is an abomination that nobody should use.

I most likely wouldn't touch either of those books, but the React ones seem promising. I'm trying to find a good source for learning React and I stumbled across that bundle.

warlock7735 posted...

I haven't read them, but the subject matter on some of them is a bit dated or generally unpopular. Angular hasn't been used much in the last 5 or so years, and php is an abomination that nobody should use.

i like php, but only because i've been eating, breathing, and sleeping it for like 18 years.

it's not an inherently bad language syntactically or semantically, but it's not well supported for development beyond the scope of backend webdev, subpar for asynchronous / multithreated development, and compilation to standalone executables is not well supported.

tag

SomeLikeItHoth posted...

I most likely wouldn't touch either of those books, but the React ones seem promising. I'm trying to find a good source for learning React and I stumbled across that bundle.

In all seriousness, you don't need a book to learn react. The react doc's and quick Start are more than enough

kirbymuncher posted...

you can get a surprising amount of value by just copy and pasting code from the internet and this is a normal thing people do

it's just that whe you get to the parts where you can't do this, you reallly have to know what you're doing or things come tumbling down real fast

My ex (a vet surgeon) used to talk about the difference between vets and nurses, and I imagine that it can be a bit similar for doctors and nurses, and it reminded me of the difference between people who understand code and people who know how to find useful code and paste it in.

The vet nurses knew so many things, but usually only if it followed the script of things they'd handled before. So they knew better than the vets stuff like how many mls of X drug is required in Y scenario, that kind of thing. But when it came to uncharted territory, they didn't have the training or skills to handle a lot of things because it required a deeper understanding of the biochemistry involved.

That to me is a bit like what it's like working in a software company as someone who is not an engineer. I can google things and I can read code a little and I can copy/paste bits and pieces and follow things I know. But I can't create.

pinky0926 posted...

My ex (a vet surgeon) used to talk about the difference between vets and nurses, and I imagine that it can be a bit similar for doctors and nurses, and it reminded me of the difference between people who understand code and people who know how to find useful code and paste it in.

The vet nurses knew so many things, but usually only if it followed the script of things they'd handled before. So they knew better than the vets stuff like how many mls of X drug is required in Y scenario, that kind of thing. But when it came to uncharted territory, they didn't have the training or skills to handle a lot of things because it required a deeper understanding of the biochemistry involved.

That to me is a bit like what it's like working in a software company as someone who is not an engineer. I can google things and I can read code a little and I can copy/paste bits and pieces and follow things I know. But I can't create.

Youd be surprised by how many people can get by in software development without knowing how to create

Awesome & free Python .pdf

https://www.codeandtips.com/download/python-for-beginners-review-copy-20220906.pdf

warlock7735 posted...

In all seriousness, you don't need a book to learn react. The react doc's and quick Start are more than enough

Thanks fam. I'll check there.

TheGoldenEel posted...

Youd be surprised by how many people can get by in software development without knowing how to create

Oh I know, we have a company full of them. But I do note that when there's a fairly unique problem (or at least, unique to our code), we need someone who can create. There's not always something you can google.

Gonna get a pair of programmer socks?

TheGoldenEel posted...

Youd be surprised by how many people can get by in software development without knowing how to create

In the end, building something out of asstons of libraries isn't a hell of a lot different than building something out of native language functions, it's just bloatier and more rickety that way, especially when someone hate-fucks a common dependency: https://www.davidhaney.io/npm-left-pad-have-we-forgotten-how-to-program/

Using "magic box" packages is just "the way" now. It's entirely different to know how to make those magic boxes, and you have to have an inherently anti-bloat mindset - which unfortunately runs counter to modern ideals of factories and abstraction and the "just npm it" paradigm.

I just got my first script working for the environment at work! Hell yeah!

1. Gather local Windows laptop wifi IP
2. Ask user to specify Aruba switch IP
3. Log into Aruba switch
4. Configure remote packet capture and send data back to local machine

I can actually see the data come back to my laptop in Wireshark.

Now I've just gotta do some fine tuning. Future goals with this script:

• Do error checking with the user input. Require proper IP address format and port number format
• Add a mechanism to remove the port mirror after a certain amount of time

This is great