Hi guys,
What counts as real experience as far as securing a job goes?
I've got about 7 years experience with different languages but I wouldn't say I know one particular language.
I've never done anything really out of the blue. I've made a CMS using PHP and MySQL but thats the extent of it.
How can I get some real experience? Do some real coding?
To get real experience you need to run into real problems. Usually this means you need to work on an application of some sort that has to be scaled to a large set of data, large crowd, or large... something else.
Think about applications you use that you enjoy, and then go about trying to copy that yourself in whatever language you choose or are trying to get/keep a job in. The problems you encounter along the way will be less deflating if you're working on something you really believe in.
Necessity is the mother of invention. Find problems you face, solve them.
There's nothing more to it.
I'd suggest you enter college or any other higher education. If you are serious about working as a programmer in the end, you need an education.
Otherwise you could always check out www.asp.net/learn for some Web-programming, which seem to be something you are familliar with and you might be able to relate to how you did certain parts in a "scripting"-language. This might be a good and free start.
If you want to learn even more, head over to VTC.com and purchase a license, they got tons of great and fun videos on programming!
Good luck!
Learn to build applications (or for a challenge, operating systems) in a language like C, C++, or something more modern like Java or D. Contribute to an open source project. Web programming is becoming more mainstream everyday, but "real" programmers might be defined as those that build more isolated programs.
In my book, you're not a real programmer until you can read code someone else has written, and fix it.
Follow the Nike motto, "Just do it."
Pick a problem that seems interesting to you or that solves a real issue you have. Design a solution and pick a language that is well suited to the problem domain and program it. Learn from your mistakes and continue to refine it or move on to a new project that catches your fancy.
There is nothing that anyone on here will be able to say other than, "Go program." The only way you are going to get experience is by doing.
How can I get some real experience? Do some real coding?
Bingo. And one productive way to do just that is to contribute to an open-source project. Check out codeplex, sourceforge, google code, and so on. Find a project that interests you and start "coding for real". :o)
When you're talking about securing a job, what you really mean is "What can I put on my resume?"
The answer is: Any programming project about which your current boss would say, "Yeah, I remember him doing that."
If you can put it on your resume, it's real. It doesn't matter if you're new to the language or not. It doesn't matter if the project was complicated or important. You did it, you got paid, you can prove it. That's all.
If you don't have a job, you're just about screwed. Anything you do that a company doesn't pay you for looks like a hobby on a resume. I would recommend making little apps that you can sell to the general public for a few bucks, creating a web page to market them, and list that on your resume. You can also contribute to an open-source project. It still kind of looks like a hobby, but at least future employers can sample your work.
If you work at a non-programming job, there's no reason you can't write code for your workplace. I sold treadmills at Sears. It was difficult to keep track of what was in the stock room. I created a system to help us keep track. Technically, they paid me to do it, so it was professional work. It looks kind of weird because the job title is "sales associate," but if you asked my boss about it, he'd remember it, and say I did a good job. The crappier your current job, the more little bits of software can help. Any shift manager at a restaurant or store would LOVE to have an app to help schedule people's shifts. Doing that by hand is a nightmare, but in code, it's just an overlapping series of rules.
If you currently have a programming job, figure out what technology you want to work with next. (I would suggest the language with the most open positions in your area.) Figure out a side-project you could do in that technology, and do it. If you don't think your boss would approve that project, do it in your own time, and present it as a gift. Your resume will not care if your manager really wanted it or not, and as long as he remembers you did it, it will be real to potential employers.
Even if you have expertice in one language, platform is importantU(Linux,Windows,Mac), and also the kind of application (Mobile,Web, Desktop).
I think you can learn many different language but chose one technology, the one you like or the one that fits with your job needs.
If you feed yourself by doing this it wont be so hard to do it =)