DEV Community: Ryan Norton

My first job in Tech!!

Ryan Norton — Wed, 20 Mar 2019 00:59:23 +0000

I am very happy to announce my very first job in the technology field. I will be working as an entry level PC technician, which is still in the field that I obtained my bachelor's degree in last summer. I'm very excited to be on my way out of the industrial prison that I felt stuck in for almost 5 years. I felt I needed to share with this great community, since you all have inspired me over the last few years as I've lurked and occasionally posted. Next month starts the new adventure!

Yes, this is not a dev job, but I knew I probably wouldn't get one right away. I specialized in application programming, but feel that I still need to build my skill set on my own for now. I'm going to keep coding in my spare time, and become an avid developer eventually. For now, I'm basking in the high that is a new career in a promising field. Who knows what opportunities will become of this new job!

I need your advice: Interviews.

Ryan Norton — Mon, 04 Feb 2019 10:24:29 +0000

Hello friends, I need your help. I've been pursuing multiple job opening for about 8 months now. One in particular has recently bloomed and the phone interview went well. Peer reviews will be scheduled within 2 weeks.
I could use your advice. Whether it's a link or personal experience.

How did you get the job, or how did you NOT get it? I would be forever grateful.

My Lack of Progress and Learning in 2019

Ryan Norton — Mon, 21 Jan 2019 21:46:11 +0000

As 2019 came to life and 2018 came to an end, it really dawned on me how unproductive the last year was for me. Sure, I had accomplished a lot in completing my bachelor's in IT. I felt really good about it, but the best coding I had done was only during my school curriculum, and I hadn't had a Java class since... February?

I had to figure out what went wrong. In the process of writing papers and building up my documentation skills, I had this vision of being done with assignments, done with my capstone... and just coding.

So why didn't it happen?

Hopefully, you can learn some of the valuable lessons that I did in the past 7 months.

NOTE: this post is directed mostly to those juniors like me, who don't have the developer or tech job.... YET.
This is for you who has to make time at home. Maybe you're single. Maybe you have a family like I do. But you're looking for a job, looking to just level up on your skills, or a little bit of both like me. I hope I can provide some insight through my lack of success. Here are my thoughts.

--What to work with--

I started my programming journey in Ruby. I say that, because it's the first language that I ever encountered. It inspired me to pursue my education and to pursue this concept of software development. I didn't know where to start, so I googled "what programming language should I learn", and you can probably guess the feelings I had. There is SO much you can do in this field, but I chose Java since that was the language that my educational system had chosen. It was tough. Not anything that some dedication didn't reap results from, and I was building some basic applications and learning concepts like input validation and basic GUI building. I was having a lot of fun. Honestly though, I was hoping to push to higher levels like python after I was done with my degree, so that I could learn as much as possible in a relatively shorter amount of time. I'm still hoping that will be the case.

You have to realize just what you want to do with programming. Maybe nothing specific, but I think picking a language or field of study is a good start. Regardless of your choice, and how difficult the language is to grasp, you're probably going to learn many of the same concepts that you can take to another language, job, or project. After all, you're never going to get anything done if you have limited coding time every day jumping around languages and frameworks like I did those first couple of months I decided to start all of this. Should you spend more than one or 2 hours daily though, you may be able to cope better with multiple disciplines at once.

--How you work--

It's 2019, and learning to code has to be one of the fastest growing concepts on the internet. There are a ton of resources you can choose from. What's important to understand is we all learn and work differently. You have to understand your mind and your habits. Over the past 2 years, I've developed the habit of getting up early before work, and coding then. For some of you, being a night owl would be more beneficial, or even coding on your lunch break. I would say getting some practice time in every day is at the least, a good start. It may be an hour. It could be fifteen minutes. Just getting your mind into the programmer's way of thinking will help you become more familiar with the concepts you're learning at the time.

--Who you work with--

This was my downfall. Apart from my studies under my college teachers, I didn't really have much community. Sure, I would comment on someone's post, or follow a dev on twitter... but if you're not making regular connection and really discussing what you learn, your growth will be severely stunted. Gone is the stereotype of the developer being a smelly, lone nerd in their basement. Software programming is about collaboration with other minds to build amazing things. Reach out to a local coding community on GitHub, dev.to, or even IN REAL LIFE. If there's not one around you, try to start one! You may find, like myself, that even in the rural area you may live in are other programmers seeking the connection and collaboration. And I'm yelling at myself on this one, so here's to you and me to being better about connecting with others.

--What doesn't work--

I had a lot of failed attempts that I wasn't willing to learn from last year, which I think largely caused me to burn out, get deep into the impostor syndrome, and not code for long periods of time simply because I felt like a failure. A large trend I found was trying the 100DaysOfCode on Twitter, and if you scroll down my feed, you see evidence of it. The rules are you go every single day coding for 100 days, with many details that I won't go into. Aside from the occasional free day, I had it in my head that if I missed a day, I absolutely HAD to start over, or else someone would find me out and accuse me of cheating the challenge. I would fail, be embarrassed to tweet yet another #day1 of progress, and got so into my head that I wouldn't code at all. This repeated at least 8 times in 2018 at some point. I had to come to the point where I am now, where I understand how much potential I wasted by giving up and feeling bad about being inconsistent, when the challenge's goal was to GET YOU TO CODE.

It's not the fault of the challenge. It's my fault for not learning from my mistakes... and as many times as you, the reader may hear that phrase, you have to apply what you learn from these mistakes. Know that for every failure you make, there's another opportunity to get back up and try it all again. Programming is hard. Many devs who are much more experienced than me could probably emphasize that better. That doesn't mean you should quit. Not for any reason! And if it means to take a break from the challenge, or to even modify the rules to help you succeed... do it! Understand what doesn't work, and do something different. As simple a concept as that seems, I had to learn that through my stubbornness.

I know what I want this year. To make progress as a developer. To read more code, and write more code. Join me and make your 2019 a year of progress, whatever your goals may be.

How do you deal with burnout and low motivation?

Ryan Norton — Sat, 07 Apr 2018 14:42:55 +0000

The past few months have been a no-code zone for me. I've literally gotten nothing done with Java. Most of that attributes to my being so busy writing papers for school, and my degree will be complete after my current course. It focused mainly on the documentation rather than actual code. I've been a bit overwhelmed and when I did have time to code, I just didn't. I was burned out. My candle was down to the nub.

I had a much needed break and am motivated again, but is there any advice for preventing this burnout from happening again? I don't want to waste another 3 months ever again.

Getting Out of the Open Source Toy Box

Ryan Norton — Sat, 27 Jan 2018 05:44:03 +0000

I discovered Linux and open source software in the spring of 2016. I had discovered Ubuntu, and the ease and freedom that comes with an operating system that was free to download and installed alongside my windows OS. Windows was all I had known. Expensive activation keys and a GUI layout had plagued my life into believing that I was doomed to have expenses following my upcoming technical career.

But alas, I saw the light and began rolling through different flavors of Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian and Solaris. I began playing with the terminal and learning some basic bash commands and really began to feel comfortable with the set up. I also really enjoyed the extended freedom of adding or removing programs via the terminal, updating when I so chose, and not worrying too much about viruses or hackers. The set up was elegant, and my computer ran fairly smooth, even if it isn’t even the second-latest model.

Linux ran better than windows on my machine, so at one point in that summer, I chose to say goodbye to Windows for good, and had only Linux software installed on my laptop.

For me, this was a mistake. I began a phase in my life where I spent more time experimenting
with technical fads, tricks, and the latest OS being hyped up on Fossbytes.com and Twitter, that my programming time had dwindled. And here I was, sitting on the floor with tricks and toys that might be fun, but don’t further my not-yet-existing tech career. I’m essentially wasting my time filling up on junk food, when the meat and vegetables are hot on the table, and it’s dinner time!

I got so caught up in the toy box, that sight to the end goal became blurred. My goal is to become an avid software developer. I have secondary goals of becoming familiar with linux, but the truth of the matter is, most job opportunities in my scope run on Microsoft products. Furthermore, Microsoft has the Command Prompt, and the .NET framework that is widely used today, and these are tools that shouldn’t be neglected from a skill set.

When you start up as a developer, you have to consider the hand that you’re dealt, and the rural south isn’t exactly one known for startups or a wide opportunity for software developers. I’m building my skills in Java, and look forward to embracing essential skills in the future with other languages like Python and C#.

I’m positive Linux will show back up on my machine as a second partition, but leaving the tech giant of Microsoft is a decision that should be decided carefully, especially with junior or beginner developer levels.

What’s the lesson here? In the field that we pursue, there are a lot of toys, projects, and cool tricks we could work on for hours and hours. Stopping to play once in a while is good and fun, but if you want to strengthen your skills to help you chase after that career, you’ve got to maintain focus on the end goal. Furthermore, never stop learning, and let your passion fuel the constant pursuit of self improvement.

Originally posted at my blog on January 27, 2018

GitHub on the go?

Ryan Norton — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 12:03:04 +0000

Do you use a mobile app for Github? I'm trying to implement some code-reading time, and having access from my phone sounds like a good plan.
Thoughts?
-Ryan

Junior Developer title?

Ryan Norton — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 07:40:51 +0000

Those of you who hire, considering a candidate who is the absolute greenest, and in hiring on an entry-level job, would you consider the title of someone's cv as "Junior Developer" a good idea? What would that say about the person to you? Is that a phrase that you tend to avoid or is it appropriate? I've read mixed reviews on this.

It's definitely what I would consider myself.

-Ryan Norton

What are motivational supplements you use?

Ryan Norton — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 08:11:55 +0000

I personally listen to a few podcasts like Codenewbie, Developer Tea and Shop Talk Show.
And of course, my daily dose of Dev.toðŸ˜Š
What helps motivate you?

Resume tips

Ryan Norton — Wed, 26 Jul 2017 12:59:20 +0000

Regarding job hunting, what are some tips regarding a good resume that you have learned over the years?

-Ryan

Cutting away Distractions

Ryan Norton — Fri, 21 Jul 2017 02:14:11 +0000

At the time of this post, I wouldn't call myself a developer. My experience in coding involves one Python, SQL, and two Java courses so far. At best, I'm at the very beginning of my journey.

But I'm not letting that stop me.

There's something about myself that I've learned during my journey taking online courses over the past year and a half. This lesson had to be learned over and over by yours truly, and I'm fairly certain it has happened to you as well.

I get distracted very easily... and I find that the main distraction is, of course, from my smart phone.

Just think of the irony of it all! A hand-held computer which has evolved into a computing machine that is often more reliable than a full sized PC! In our hands we hold more access to all the knowledge in the world faster than the countless generations before us, yet I find this wonderfully useful device hinders me when it comes to my work.

I work in manufacturing all day. It's hot, and there's no service or Wifi to allow me to get distracted other than breaks. That portion of my life is not what I'm worried about. Between work and family life with a loving wife and an unstoppable toddler on my hands, it's the precious few hours in the week that I am supposed to be filling with productivity in completing assignments, reading materials, and hopefully some off-subject programming on my own as I flail to grasp my first language fully. Yes, this is where I get distracted.

My phone has caused me to get horribly behind in more than one session of classes over the past few months, causing my stress and anxiety to skyrocket, affecting my life in every aspect to where I'm left as an over-caffeinated, overworked mess.

I knew I had to make a decision, and if you're facing this problem as well, you can solve it with me.

Tonight, as I finish this post, is the first time I've turned my phone down, and left it charging in the other room. To truly make the most of the time you have to learn at the starting line of your development career, you absolutely MUST eliminate all distraction. For me, it wasn't enough to turn off my notifications. My phone still sat next to my mouse, taunting me with the full possibility of laughs or cringes or interesting facts that Reddit, imgur or Twitter could throw at me.

I would give in. Every. Single. Time.

If you're struggling with keeping focus where it matters, whether you're building your first website, learning the basic data structures of Java, or just trying to figure out what you want to do with your life... take the distraction away. Don't try to resist it. Run from it!

It will do you so much good. It already has for me.

-Ryan

Hi, I'm Ryan N.

Ryan Norton — Sat, 15 Jul 2017 17:35:46 +0000

I have been coding on and off for a few months.

You can find me on GitHub and Twitter as rjpsyco009

I'm a final year at CTU Online finishing my bachelor's degree in IT.

I mostly program in these languages: Java, SQL, and Python.

I am currently learning more about Data Structures and Software Design .

Nice to meet you!