So since I was little, I've always wanted to be a Software Developer. I was running as a kid and saying that I wanted to program computers.

Obviusly a had no idea of the feat that was the path of the software developer so I can tell that if you in your time as a programmer, or even as an employe in the tech industry, you felt like not having an idea in anything about your work, trust me everyone feels that.

So I would like to get here as a simple human trying to be the best possible I can be and try to help you get to your best. I'll give you some tips and things to help you be a better profesional. Either I help you with some insight or , at least, I will help myself explaining this complicated and simple world that is the life as a software developer, like the rubber duck example(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging).

I'll be honest, I like to type and write things, although I have a hard time trying to express myself. So if you have some tips or critique about me or my writing, let me know.

I won't say I know everything about programming or software. I just wanna share some tips of where you can start or continue this great profession that's the software industry. So here we go.

Where to start

In today's 21st centrury it seems really easy to start to code, but is hard to start programming.

I personally attented to the university and have my degree, but honestly there is a ton of people that never have had profesional education in the field of computer science, software engineering, or similar, and have great skills as developers.

So depending on your personal opinion, skills and prefered way of learning, you can find the solution that works best for you.

You can go on a degree, you can search in internet, you can look up for some of the thousands learning online platforms that exist today (udemy, udacity, pluralsight, etc... ), you can talk to a friend or teacher, or find a book ( https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-best-book-for-learning-to-program ). There're even MIT courses online (https://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm).

Is important to notice that your mileage may vary. Some people get bored when they go to school, others really like to get deep down on books, or like to watch videos on youtube. So pick you choice.

I may note that formal education is always well receive by employers, so if you have the time and resource to go to university I will suggest you that you go for it. But I've never seen university as a must have. A lot of employers just want comparable field experience of a degree. Probably if you work for 4 years in a software company you already know more than the 2nd year students, with the most prominent exception being the theory knowledge.

If you already have a degree in other thing, and you're working full time, you would rather search other option. I'll never try to tell you that software is the future and you have to leave your current life and work to ride the train of technology as some education platforms show in their publicity. It always comes down to everyone of us as individuals.

"I feel I know nothing"

Trust me is normal. When I finished my degree I felt that I knew nothing. Is true that the software industry is huge and has a lot of bifurcations, but the true is that I know more than I realize.

Learning programming is a long run as any work. You maybe know some things but you aren't sure if you can work full time on that or you feel unsure if you can attack a full-blown project with your knowledge.

But the more you know the more you realize the what you ignore. Keep learning, try to code and do projects. Maybe a personal project or something you found on the internet. You will realize that you ignore a lot, but you'll end-up reseaching and eventually you will learn with everything you do. Is important that you try to remember what you did, what you had problems with and how did you fix it.

You can search for books on the subject and read them they will give you some insight. Don't fear to start a new project because you ignore the best practices or the best way to approach the problem. If you do it wrong, you will realize on the go or later, so when you have some fancy solution like the best practices, SOLID principles, design patterns or a new framework, you will know where you can apply your new knowledge, but if never stood infront of a problem and tried to fix it, the new knowledge will be harder to understand because you had never found that problem that applies to.

Just code but program being mindful.

To wrap up

Don't worry if it's hard, you have to expand you knowledge with time and patience. You can't become a developer in just a day. You'll learn if you keep on it and you will understand more things. Be happy. Try to learn a lot. Don't be hard on yourself if you think you need to learn a lot, or you make a lot of mistakes, a lot of great developers have had problems in the past and they will probably continue to have.

Cheers, keep it up and be happy.