Software Development: The Learning Curve
So you are thinking on getting into coding, if you are like me and played with computers since you were young and wanted to create programs or you are ready to start your higher education and think that coding is thew new cool thing or even if you are a working professional and want to switch careers. Here are some options of what it takes to learn coding, more precisely become a developer or engineer.
You made the decision to learn software development, where do you start? The most obvious step is to go to college and get a computer science degree. However, that is not the only option to learn and start a great career as a developer. There are plenty of options you can choose from, you have the more traditional 4-year degree, skilled trade schools, bootcamp and self-taught with a big library of online courses.
Traditional 4-year degree
The traditional university degree will get you a Computer Science Bachelor of Science degree, the courses involved include the study of data structures, algorithms, design and analysis, computer architecture, compilers and interpreters, graphical user interfaces, to mention a few. Although these courses gives you a solid understanding for computer programming and will prepare you for the marketplace, it lacks some of the real world scenarios such as business aspects of software development. There are other 4-year degrees (Business Administration, CIS) that will prepare you for both software development (although not as in depth as Computer Science degree) and the business administration used in the real world.
Trade Schools
Another way to learn software development is to enroll in a trade school. The benefit of these schools is that they are usually shorter than traditional colleges (2 years) and they are focused on the particular skill set needed to become a developer. These schools generally cost less, $13k -$14k [1] compared to $44k [2] for 4 year universities (in-state tuition only, as of 2019). You might not get the broad education that you could get from a 4-year university but this should be enough for you to get started as a developer.
Coding Bootcamp
These programs are designed to teach the student the fundamentals of coding, the program usually ranges from 12-16 weeks and it costs $5,000 - $20,000+ [3] in average. The advantage of these programs is that they teach the skills that are in demand in the work place. They focus on programming languages that are desired by employers. Although these programs sound great to learn new marketable skills and they are less expensive than 4-year degrees and trade schools, they don't necessarily teach everything that is to know about software development. They are great for people looking for switching careers or well established developers that want to learn a new language.
Self-Taught
There are hundreds of websites that offer online courses for software development, self-taught might be a good option for you if you are discipline and are willing to spend time figuring things out on your own. This might be the most effective way to learn since you are forced to get hands-on experience. This method is not for everyone but if you are up for the challenge there are free and paid websites (Codecademy, Coursera, edx, Udemy, Khan Academy, Pluralsight, treehouse, freeCodeCamp) for you to choose. There are also a lot of communities online as well (Stackoverflow, reddit, Github).
Whether is getting a 4-year degree, trade school, bootcamp or self-taught; learning how to code is easier than ever before. Software development has become a very important part of our lives (The Importance of Software Development), either in business and lifestyle. You can be sure that coding will be a useful skill in your career. Lets get out there, learn, create, and build a better life for everyone.
[1] https://trends.collegeboard.org/college-pricing/figures-tables/2018-19-state-tuition-and-fees-public-four-year-institutions-state-and-five-year-percentage
[2] https://www.moneycrashers.com/technical-trade-school-college/
[3] https://www.coursereport.com/blog/coding-bootcamp-cost-comparison-full-stack-immersives