You want to make a career transition into programming. How can you get the skills you need?

I think if you are starting out, you should focus on something that's tangible. As in to say, you're working toward something that can be visually seen or interacted with. For that I recommend web, mobile, or game development. If you're looking into web or mobile development, I recommend taking a look at roadmap.sh. They have some great roadmaps to get you started! I also recommend taking notes with Notion.so. If you want to do game development, I would suggest figuring out what game you want to make: mobile, 2D, 3D, VR, etc. I don't have much experience but I recommend getting a YouTube tutorial or a Udemy class, notably one that also covers the basics of the language (e.g. C# with Unity).

In my honest opinion, even if you don't want to become a web developer, you should definitely consider learning it anyway. It's likely that in the future, you or someone close to you will need a website. On top of that, if you are reading this comment in a browser, you already have all the tools to use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript!

Choose a language that you are comfortable with, like Python, as it is an excellent starting point. Practicing programming from beginner to advanced levels is crucial for success in making a career transition. Start with foundational concepts and gradually tackle more complex programming tasks to build your skills and expertise.

I recommend taking a look at roadmap.sh because they have a great roadmap for most types of development, and their recommended technologies to learn. For example, out of JavaScript frameworks they recommend React. They also include other popular options if you don't want to stick with the most popular. Another example is with CSS styling, they list preprocessors like SASS and PostCSS, and alternatives like styling modules, Tailwind, Bootstrap, etc. Another method of choosing is to see job posting requirements. Most companies tend to use the same technologies, such as React and Tailwind, that could also be a good goal post for technologies to learn.

If you are a self-learner, I highly recommend starting out with YouTube tutorials, Udemy, or w3schools. These are all great resources to help you get your feet wet. If you really like reading, I recommend looking up the technology you want to learn and read their documentation. Most of them also come with tutorials now, such as Astro and Next.js, which makes it easy to code along and learn. If you prefer learning in a group, I recommend either finding friends who are learning the same thing as you or know it already. If you don't have any friends that are interested in this, look for online groups. I find mine through MeetUp and GitHub. Once you get really confident, consider contributing to open source. You got this!

Practicing can take a whole bunch of different routes, but this is what I do to stay sharp. I like to work on side projects for new technologies. It'll usually start with me following the official documentation's tutorial. If they don't have one, I'll look up a YouTube tutorial for it. Then I'll try to apply to my own small project to really ingrain what I've learned. The next thing I do is take lots of notes using Notion.so. It's impossible to remember everything, and tech is like a language. You use it or lose it. Lastly, I stream myself teaching about software development. So far I've found that if I can teach it to somebody, then that means I know enough to use it myself. Plus I just love teaching and doing research.

If you want to a bunch of new cool tech people, I think LinkedIn and Twitter is the way to go! There are lots of tech groups on both and the communities are very supportive of questions and ideas. If you want to meet people, try MeetUp. It doesn't have to be specifically about tech groups, you can join any group you want. Personally, I'm part of a tech group for people transitioning into the tech field and a hiking group. If you want to contribute online, there is always open source on GitHub, and replying and asking questions on StackOverflow and Reddit. If you want to join a Hackathon, I like to use Devpost. They list hackathons, make it easy for you to find partners, and put you and your skillset out there!