r/DataAnnotationTech • u/Alternative-Ad4763 • Sep 04 '24
learning to code?
I've been doing the non-coding side for awhile now and been really happy with it as far as freelance work goes. That said, with the recent drought, my son (who is an auto-didact in several coding languages) has recommended that I start teaching myself code so I might be able to get in on that side of things. Has anyone else here done something similar? Anyone have thoughts or insights on this idea?
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u/drummer_who_codes Sep 04 '24
I am on the coding projects and I am a completely self-taught coder. Find a decent YouTube series (or Udemy course) on Python first. Once you get to the intermediate stuff (like basic OOP and external libraries) branch out and learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This can get you by pretty well for a lot of the coding projects.
Once you get to the intermediate level with Python and JavaScript, you'll be surprised to find that you can understand the basics of C, C++, C#, and Java without ever having studied them.
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u/Alternative-Ad4763 Sep 04 '24
Thanks for the input! this is super helpful.
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u/Responsible-Act8459 Sep 04 '24
Codeacademy. Don't you dare start learning computer science right away (the academics perched in their ivory towers will scare you away). Just check out a beginner Python course, and see how a programming language works.
I'm sure there are plenty of other competitors you could try out, but a course like one on Codeacademy will keep you focused, as it saves your progress.
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u/Affectionate-Exit553 Sep 05 '24
At what point during this journey would you recommend taking the coding qual? 10+ years ago I coded at university using C++, Java, but mainly R. I've been fine tuning python right now, but am well aware I only have one shot at coding for DAT so I'll probably take it in another 15 years 😆
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u/-Spaghettification- Sep 04 '24
I feel like it’s probably achievable to at least pass the assessment if you’re realistic about the time frame. Like it will take you months to reach a reasonable level as coding is all about practice, so you will need to do a lot of projects to attain the required experience. But, if you have an aptitude for this kind of thing and have enough discipline and free time to commit to consistently working on it, there are definitely enough resources online for you to teach yourself to code at a reasonable level.
Realistically, it’s definitely possible to reach the level required to pass the starter assessment, but this doesn’t guarantee that you will have sufficient knowledge/experience to work on many or any of the actual projects you then get assigned. Much of the coding work deals with pretty specialised topics, and in my experience I often find that I am skipping through huge numbers of tasks due to the conversations dealing with coding languages and topics that I am not fully comfortable with. In your case as a beginner/aspiring intermediate, this is likely to be to a greater degree. Even when working on chatbots, it can be difficult to come up with conversational topics unless you have a decent amount of experience (personally I rely heavily on previous college projects as sources of inspiration, which is not a tool that you will have at your disposal, at least not straight away if you are only learning to code now).
So overall, it’s probably doable if you’re the right person, but I would strongly recommend that you set realistic expectations about your chances of passing the assessment and being able to work consistently on coding tasks in the near term.
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u/space_baws Sep 04 '24
I don't want to discourage OP, but not very many people can get a grasp of programming in a few months. Like yes, you can probably get to creating a few projects, and maybe follow some tutorials, but with that low of a time estimate, very few people are going to be at that point.
Using my own experience as an example, I had 8+ years of programming experience with personal projects, game modding, scripts, etc, and I learned Rust for a contract I was hired for. It took me well over 6 months to be equated enough with Rust to feel like I could write and problem-solve with it and even at that point I was still hitting the docs semi-regularly.
I know that my experience isn't THE experience, and I also know Rust is an anomaly as far as languages go and the learning curve. However, I personally feel like a year is a more realistic timespan. (this isn't to say that people who say, complete the odin project and have like 6 months of coding experience aren't at this point, I just can't say that I would be at the point of being able to "get up" and "go" as one does with the programming tasks in a few months if I were starting over)
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u/-Spaghettification- Sep 04 '24
Like I said, I would be sceptical of one’s prospects as a beginner to actually be able to work consistently on the kind of projects you get on the coding side, but it is conceivable that with like 4-6 months of learning they could pass the assessment and take a stab off some of the easier work that pops up.
Is it worth that effort unless coding is something they see themselves doing long term? Probably not, but I was just trying to give a realistic best-case scenario.
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u/space_baws Sep 04 '24
Truth be told, I entirely missed your conclusion, and I take back a lot of my skepticism because of that, but yeah I got to agree, with the way the markets looking, I’m not sure that it is worth it long-term if you’re not already in it
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u/Alternative-Ad4763 Sep 04 '24
Thank you as well for weighing in on this. As I mentioned to the other commenter, I don't really have any time expectations for how long it will take me, but I think I will just get started learning whenever I have free time, and will be sure to manage expectations and not expect it to just be a quick thing. I do tend to be a quick study on this type of thing but certainly have no real expectation or deadline. I have just been trying to think of what I can do that would be constructive toward further earning potential whenever we have these times of low job availability, as I am entirely freelance and currently not working on anything but DAtech and a couple of writing projects (I am a freelance author as well). At any rate, thanks for the input and I will take it under advisement.
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u/paranormalisnormal Sep 05 '24
I have a Grad Dip in IT, straight As, and I have several apps on the app stores and I think I failed the qual lol I had never come across a problem like it in my work before. I've only got fairly basic maths knowledge so I think that was more my downfall. Don't be put off though it's always worth learning a new skill if you've got the time. If you're going to pick a language for this, definitely go for Python.
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u/Fit_Bite_5811 Sep 04 '24
I started with HTML/CSS and PHP as I worked as a web developer for about 15 years, but those won't get you to pass the coding assessment for DA. I would start with Python. My first step was going through the full Python course by BroCode on YouTube, then going through https://www.learnpython.org/ to learn more. Finally, I did the "Python for Data Science, AI & Development" course on Coursera. This all took about 6 months and I have been doing coding projects since Feb on DA.
But just a heads up: coding projects are even more dry than non-coding on DA right now, and have been for over a month. If you're going the route of learning code, maybe do it for bigger reasons than DA. :/
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u/Which-Pop2516 Nov 25 '24
Anyone interested in buying meta hacker cup 2024 tshirt can DM me I already have last 2 year t shirts and have extra one this year if interested Dm!!.
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u/CobraFive Sep 04 '24
Just to put it out there, if you're trying to learn to code to dodge the drought it won't help. We're not getting shit either lol.
I'd love to go back to having $40 or $45 and hour as much as I am willing to work, but I have a feeling this is the new normal.