Self teaching programming
Discussion
Hi, long time lurker here.
Have posted this thread in business and tech forums as wasn't quite sure which to pick!
I run an Accountancy practice and hate it.
I have a few ideas for developing commercial accounts/financial/business software.
It's a well covered market but I believe I have a USP of sorts. Also I'm not trying to get rich, just live OK and escape this soul destroying career!
Has anyone here taught themselves to code and distributed their software/apps with a degree of success?
Which language is best? I've just started learning VB.Net as my prior experience in coding was when I made a hangman game in BASIC at school.
Is this kind of thing even remotely achievable these days? Hard work is obviously a given.
Would appreciate any comments/anecdotes/warnings!
Thanks in advance
Have posted this thread in business and tech forums as wasn't quite sure which to pick!
I run an Accountancy practice and hate it.
I have a few ideas for developing commercial accounts/financial/business software.
It's a well covered market but I believe I have a USP of sorts. Also I'm not trying to get rich, just live OK and escape this soul destroying career!
Has anyone here taught themselves to code and distributed their software/apps with a degree of success?
Which language is best? I've just started learning VB.Net as my prior experience in coding was when I made a hangman game in BASIC at school.
Is this kind of thing even remotely achievable these days? Hard work is obviously a given.
Would appreciate any comments/anecdotes/warnings!
Thanks in advance
I can't answer which is the 'best' language to learn (although I guess it's also a very subjective question) but I'd recommend having a look at www.udacity.com - I'm working through the web development course (the free version) and it's really excellent quality. 
Hi Richard
I think to a degree this is down to your own abilities to learn as much as what's out there but it's definitely doable as a self learner myself.
If you're project is accountancy related I think you also need to consider the security aspects of your project especially if it's going to be in 'the cloud'. Also the reliability and redundancy of the backend platform again if it's going to be cloud based which seems to be the way most software solutions are headed..
I think to a degree this is down to your own abilities to learn as much as what's out there but it's definitely doable as a self learner myself.
If you're project is accountancy related I think you also need to consider the security aspects of your project especially if it's going to be in 'the cloud'. Also the reliability and redundancy of the backend platform again if it's going to be cloud based which seems to be the way most software solutions are headed..
A friend of mine is a skilled (20yrs+) programmer in retail software. He has a similar vision to break out on his own, and too has what he believes is a USP, specialising in smaller retailers.
He has ended up hiring two skilled programmers, an Indian and a Russian, neither of whom he has ever met, but regularly engages with over webcam. It's a relationship that works well, and most importantly they are relatively cheap, and (no disrespect to you) they can churn out code far quicker/better quality than you might hope to coming to this as a complete newbie.
The software he has produced through this is excellent, but still he is making very little money out of it, the main problem being that the major players in this sector have the market pretty well sewn up, it is exceptionally hard to get people to take a punt on his product. Those that take it on free trial generally like it, but converting this into good strong revenue streams is much harder than imagined.
I don't want to piss on your chips, but please do plenty research before chucking a lot of money at this, to make sure that the market really exists, and you are able to exploit it properly.
He has ended up hiring two skilled programmers, an Indian and a Russian, neither of whom he has ever met, but regularly engages with over webcam. It's a relationship that works well, and most importantly they are relatively cheap, and (no disrespect to you) they can churn out code far quicker/better quality than you might hope to coming to this as a complete newbie.
The software he has produced through this is excellent, but still he is making very little money out of it, the main problem being that the major players in this sector have the market pretty well sewn up, it is exceptionally hard to get people to take a punt on his product. Those that take it on free trial generally like it, but converting this into good strong revenue streams is much harder than imagined.
I don't want to piss on your chips, but please do plenty research before chucking a lot of money at this, to make sure that the market really exists, and you are able to exploit it properly.
As mft says above ahave a look at udactity or http://www.codecademy.com/ . Similar sort of things, you can find out if you actively enjoy programming and your are any good at it. At the stage you are at there isn't a hugely wrong or right choice of language, learn something from the above and use it simply to measure your enjoyment and skill. Once you are happy then come back and we can advise on different languages/frameworks.
If you don't enjoy it or find it too hard then partner with someone to create your software.
If you don't enjoy it or find it too hard then partner with someone to create your software.
I am a self taught programmer. Started on a ZX81 at an early age and have programmed in VB, Fortran Pascal and various BASIC languages.
I write some limited stuff at work in VB - which helps the business streamline some tasks.
BUT, as an amateur programmer I am frequently debugging code when the 'operator' does something I did not expect or just simple errors I had missed. It is a PITA and due to me not being trained or thorough enough. I would hate to release some complex software onto the market that I would then need to support - I would get someone experienced into to do the work.
Mike
I write some limited stuff at work in VB - which helps the business streamline some tasks.
BUT, as an amateur programmer I am frequently debugging code when the 'operator' does something I did not expect or just simple errors I had missed. It is a PITA and due to me not being trained or thorough enough. I would hate to release some complex software onto the market that I would then need to support - I would get someone experienced into to do the work.
Mike
Starting your own software company is not easy, there are a lot of costs and risks involved.
How about starting by learning to write an app? Android is free. Download the SDK and have a tinker. If you think your idea is worth a shot you can invest by hiring programmers to write the app and put it on the market. See where you go from there.
How about starting by learning to write an app? Android is free. Download the SDK and have a tinker. If you think your idea is worth a shot you can invest by hiring programmers to write the app and put it on the market. See where you go from there.
Teaching yourself software development can take ages. Sure, you'll get the basics, but you may miss out on good programming practices which will save you a lot of time in the future e.g. which IDE to use, best versioning control, most efficient way to query databases, etc.
What about evening classes? You learn with others which is always nice I think. Or doing a fulltime MSc for a year? You can kinda learn by doing web searches on questions you have, but often it will take a few searches until you get the right answer and can be painful.
If your users will access your application via a web browser, then PHP is an excellent language with MySQL or Postgres as the databases. All open source so free.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
What about evening classes? You learn with others which is always nice I think. Or doing a fulltime MSc for a year? You can kinda learn by doing web searches on questions you have, but often it will take a few searches until you get the right answer and can be painful.
If your users will access your application via a web browser, then PHP is an excellent language with MySQL or Postgres as the databases. All open source so free.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
I'd recommend Udacity or Codecademy too. Also try Khan Academy which has topics on numerous subjects. Teaching yourself will take roughly 9-24 months of pretty much fill time coding to get to a 'production' level, depending on your intelligence and how quickly you learn.
Personally I'd recommend PHP, HTML and JavaScript. Easy to pick up, massive communities for each, no need to worry about licensing, vast array of different frameworks available too which will certainly give you a leg up.
After you learn the basics of control structures, objects, variables, etc, learn how to debug! Being able to quickly track down bugs and problems will get you moving up the learning curve much quicker.
As for starting out with a new product or venture, read this book: http://theleanstartup.com/ It'll prove invaluable!
Personally I'd recommend PHP, HTML and JavaScript. Easy to pick up, massive communities for each, no need to worry about licensing, vast array of different frameworks available too which will certainly give you a leg up.
After you learn the basics of control structures, objects, variables, etc, learn how to debug! Being able to quickly track down bugs and problems will get you moving up the learning curve much quicker.
As for starting out with a new product or venture, read this book: http://theleanstartup.com/ It'll prove invaluable!
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