How to become a humanities programmer

Developers easily include former marketers, doctors, lawyers, and government officials. According to HTML Academy, more than half of the entry-level coding students have no technical background – and this does not affect the quality of their final projects. Therefore, it is worth trying a new profession, even if you did not like mathematics at school, are not fond of “hardware” and have never written code.

“The most important thing if you are moving into development from other industries is technical literacy. If it is difficult with a computer, then programming will be even more difficult. A technical mindset and an understanding of fundamentals are required but not required. If they are not there, it is still possible to switch to programming, it’s just a little more difficult, ”says Sergey Popov, head of the front-end outsourcing League A. … – More time is spent on immersion and study. I know guys who are inveterate humanities who have become great developers. The main thing is to work hard. ”

Nothing is impossible

Naturally, there are complex areas and languages ​​in programming that require knowledge of higher mathematics and a technical mindset. But you can start with something simpler. For example, from studying front-end development. This direction can really be mastered, even if you are a real humanist. Unlike the back-end developer, who is responsible for all the internal and computational logic of the site, the front-end developer is engaged in building the front-end, which is faster and easier to learn.

“My education is absolutely non-technical. I am a doctor, and even on maternity leave, but I successfully defended the project. If someone had told me a year ago that I would make a website from scratch in 9 weeks, I would not have believed it. Everything is only in our hands! ” – shares the student of HTML Academy Anna Gumenyuk.

Even if you’ve considered yourself a humanist all your life, you can only understand whether programming is right for you by experience. One option is to learn from free simulators. They are designed for beginners and help playfully to gain basic knowledge and decide whether a profession is right for you.

“I am educated in the humanities. At school, we were taught poorly in computer science, I was not particularly interested in this topic and never wrote code. But all of a sudden I went through the web development simulator at HTML Academy for myself, ”says Alena Kudlaeva. She advises to take the simulators seriously, despite their game format: take notes of all unfamiliar terms, get used to new symbols on the keyboard and develop attentiveness while exercising on simulators. For those who decide to continue their studies in full-fledged courses, this will undoubtedly help in the future.

If all of you have signed up for a programming course, remember: difficulties accompany any training. At times you will be disturbed by doubts about the choice, lack of motivation, fatigue. This is a completely normal process that all students go through and can be dealt with.

When faced with a difficult section, you may feel like giving up. If the topic does not come up at all, try to find more information, talk to a mentor, write to the course curator you are taking, or other experienced developers. Ask for advice and support in the student chat or on the programmer forums. And then come back to this topic with new knowledge.

And remember: the more often you study, the better the material will be absorbed. The habit of studying for 1-3 hours a day helps to keep yourself in good shape. Besides, it is easier to remember the content of previous classes when there are no weekly breaks. You are in context all the time, so there is no reason to panic.

At the beginning of the tutorial, it often seems that one wrong action and everything will break. It seems better to do nothing than to make a mistake. It is not right.

Even neural networks learn as we do – by trial and error. To start recognizing cats in images, the neural network looks through thousands of photos, many are mistaken. But in the end, it can recognize a cat in pajamas.

Instead of being afraid of errors, it is better to analyze them in detail with other programmers. This will help prevent them in the future.

Before starting the course, write a list of what will change in your life after completing the course. At the moment when motivation begins to decline, it is worth returning to these notes and remembering what you all started for.

If you are combining study and work, think about the level of workload in advance. Taking on overly complex projects can quickly burn out. Carefully read the descriptions of the projects, consult with the course curators: they will help you decide.

“I chose an average project of complexity since I work and do not have much free time. It was the right decision: I had to tinker with even an average project, – Andrey Pichugin, a student of HTML Academy, shares his experience. – I probably would not have mastered a difficult one, I simply would not have time to correct everything before passing.

If you want to see for yourself that everyone can program, try learning the React developer profession at HTML Academy. This is a chance for those who have always dreamed of working in IT but were afraid that they would not succeed. Experience is not important: both technicians and humanitarians successfully master the specialty.

The curriculum includes an introduction to the profession and three modules on programming in JavaScript and React.js. After that, students will have an internship – an assessment of their level and the development of skills for real work, and then a paid internship in the front-end outsourcing “League A.” 95% of HTML Academy graduates who completed their training and internship * have found a new job – which means you can too.