Confused about career

[Roy]

I want to start a career in coding but I am confused that should I? Actually I have a bit of time that I can use to enhance myself in my current job (which is compulsory if I'm not changing my path) or I can use it for learning programming language. But I'm confused what if it didn't work at the end? What if I'm not cut out for it? I have learned a bit of C++ before, so I have a very basic idea of how coding is, but what if it just won't work for me in the end.? That would be very bad. I am so confused thinking all day about it. Please share your thoughts on it, that would be very helpful.

 

[Johna]

You could still keep your current job, and in your free time you can learn to code. If you become very good at coding, then you can try starting a new career in coding. Idk.

 

[simong1993]

one great thing about coding is you are never stuck for things to do, i started off with front end development, didn't like that much so tried back end, still was not happy so i tried game building still didn't feel at home. Tried python and fell in love and will never move. if you have some free time, try a language and keep trying until you find something you love 😀

 

[BorkedSystem32]

If your convinced that programming may not be the path for you, then stick to your current job and then use any free time you have to learn/practice programming.

The world of computer science is big; you have: software engineers, data-scientists, embedded device engineers, system-administrators - the list goes on. There is no single path in programming, therefore, you need to find what your interests are, as stated by @simong1993. As I said, you're best to stay in your current job until you have a clear idea of what you want to do.

My other tip is when you begin programming, learn well and practice well. As long as you keep doing this, you'll keep an interest in it and you may even gain a career out of it. You'll need to find problems to keep you glued to the skill or else you'll lose interest fast.

Whether you're cut out for it or not doesn't only depend on your programming skill(good programmers write clean, readable, maintainable code, and they can understand what the code does) but also on your problem-solving skills, your communication skills(you will be working with other programmers a lot of the time), and your design skills(a well-written program needs a clear and concise design document that sets out exactly what the program should do and not do). Without these skills, you'll either be a hit or a miss.

 

[Krygore]

I'm with @simong1993 and @HadASpook... The only thing I'm gonna add is this:

Don't let the idea of programming or coding being too hard discourage you. I started out learning front-end web development back in February of this year. I'm still learning JavaScript now, but I also have a Udemy.com course that have been using to hone my front-end skills AND learn back-end development as well. So far, I am enjoying it. I love the creativity of web design and development, but it was hard for me at first because I didn't know why I wanted to be a web developer. I later realised I wanted to focus on small businesses and getting them represented on the web as well as Responsive Web Design (web sites that are legible and easy to understand no matter what device is being used). Now I want to learn more about Python and C++ for game design.
The thing is, you will never stop learning. Programming/coding is an ever changing and upgrading and integrating thing. New versions come out and you need to be aware of them or you will fall behind.
Start out small, make your name known throughout the community here and on other forums, get the skills you want/need, go from there. I'm a house painter by day and coding hobbyist by night (I have not worked on an actual project with anyone yet, but hope to soon)

All that aside, good luck on you future endeavours and may you find the answers you are looking for 🙂