opinions on reading a text before listening to it

[ablindwatchmaker]

Really? I was always under the impression that the market was completely saturated and that the barriers to entry were quite high. If i had an interest in learning these kinds of things, where would I start?

[Johnny20270]

Imron makes a good point. Its easier now through the use of web and mobile technology especially if you want to do your own business. I do empathize about the money comment. We have to face reality but no amount of technically ability can outweight business acumen. Businness acumen that is vital. Seen this my whole life.

[ablindwatchmaker]

Well, that is good to hear lol.

 

Btw, if you are a beginner and not totally committed to one approach, I highly recommend the Defrancis series. It has more audio than any Chinese textbook in print, and the design overall is just brilliant. you really can't go wrong with it. I know the mainland uses simplified, but the series is just that valuable. I learn to write exclusively in simplified, but I have no trouble using the defrancis series. Use that book and get a grammar workbook, and perhaps a book wiht sentence patterns, and you will be golden.

[hedwards]

@imron, if even half of what I've heard about the people applying for programming jobs are true, it astonishes me that the hiring managers haven't all quit to take up residence in remote monasteries. Because dealing with that kind of incompetence on a daily basis must be maddening.

 

@Johnny, I completely agree with you. One of the reasons why I do a bit of study every day is so that I can do other things as well. Ultimately, it will take me a bit longer to learn, but the total amount I wind up learning tends to make up for it. But, looking back at the wasted time does nothing except make one feel bad about oneself and the ability to learn in the future.

[imron]

Really? I was always under the impression that the market was completely saturated and that the barriers to entry were quite high

There are plenty of poor and average programmers, as well as plenty of lazy programmers who don't feel the need to improve upon their skills by working on personal projects.  If you have decent ability and can point to interesting things that you have done (even if only personal projects) then you'll be able to find work without much real trouble.  Especially in things like web and mobile, having a decent portfolio carries far more importance than what school you went to and how long you've been in the industry (and in fact, most mobile jobs will say things like 'must have Apps in the App Store/Google Play Store' as a requirement).

 

As for where to get started, for web stuff w3chools.com is probably as good a place as any to pick up the basics (html, css, javascript), as is something like codecademy.  For mobile, or at least iOS, you'll need to be running OSX and then download the developer tools from Apple.  They contain a decent simulator for writing test Apps.  If you wish to actually run apps on a device you'll need to join Apple's developer program (costs US$100/year) to get a digital certificate that lets you sign the Apps.   For tutorials, check out Ray Wenderlich's site.

 

For Android, there's a developer site here with more information and tutorials here.

[ablindwatchmaker]

I'll strongly consider this after I've reached a few milestones in my Chinese learning. Perhaps once I'm in China and teaching English I'll make some time for it. It sounds really interesting, and I've always wanted those skills. I can't count how many times I've had some idea about how to organzie information and then wasn't able to do anything about it because I didn't know how to program.

 

 

There are plenty of poor and average programmers

 

This is true of most industries, but the difference here is that it's easy, with a portfolio, to distinguish yourself from the mediocre, unlike many other industries where the goal is to write a good enough resume and hope to make it through an HR department by essentially bullshitting effectively.

[Johnny20270]

Try the banking sector. When applying for jobs in the banking industry its the illusion you create that is the ultimate weapon. Its a sweeping generalization yes, but I have been around this industry a long time and incompetence is ripe especially at senior levels. 

 

My point is this. Intelligence, lack of skill does not mean obtaining a decent job is impossible. i have worked with many guys who earn near 7 figure salaries and are almost retarded but their life and whole personality has been attuned to the industry. This is how you get promoted obtain bonuses etc.

[ablindwatchmaker]

I completely agree. At the last company I worked for most of the executives were really good at creating these kinds of illusions. Pointless meetings, emails, systems, quotes, etc. to create the illusion of productivity. All they needed was a degree and a little bit of experience to make their resumes look incredible. Inevitably, they would screw up and leave before they could get fired, but only after earning a considerable amount of money and another notch on the resume. I see their linkedin profiles and am amazed out how far they have climbed. In fact, I went back to school to obtain this silly badge and chose a subject in which I had a special interest--Chinese. Now that I've had the pleasure of living in China, albeit briefly, I've decided I have no interest in climbing the proverbial ladder. If I can make a decent living in China, I'll be content.

[simc]

"There are plenty of poor and average programmers, as well as plenty of lazy programmers who don't feel the need to improve upon their skills by working on personal projects."

You could say lazy or you could say people have other priorities in life. The ideal would be to spend 20 hours a week learning (on top of the 40 you are at work), but that is clearly going to be at the expense of spending time with family or hobbies outside of work. Pretty hard to do all that and learn Chinese for example.

[imron]

Yes, that is definitely true - it was in the context of people already in IT and looking for work but not being able to find anything.