From: Chad Perrin <code@...>
Date: 2011-12-12T10:10:55+09:00
Subject: Re: I need advice on what to do next.

On Mon, Dec 12, 2011 at 09:05:42AM +0900, Nathan Kossaeth wrote:
> 
> I was wondering on what I should do next?  I want to get a career in
> programming and I don't know the next step I should take.  I know I need
> experience with programming in order to get a career in it so I need
> some practice first.

What kind of programming do you think you'll want to do?  Web
programming?  Integration (i.e., tying other software tools together)
coding?  Desktop application development?  One of a few dozen other
things?

The key, of course, is to start working on small projects.  Figure out
some stuff you wish your computer would do, and tackle those things as
personal projects, just to get some practice.  Which direction to focus
your efforts, and what resources you might want to check out for more
ideas on how to learn the ins and outs of software development, can be
guided by the ultimate direction you want to go (if you know yet).

Also . . . what kind of budget do you want to put into learning?  How
much effort do you want to put into setting up environments for the
actual software development itself?  Should I recommend books (I think
*Everyday Scripting with Ruby* and *Eloquent Ruby* are two excellent
choices for a next book after something like Chris Pine's)?  Should I
suggest you get a Unix-like environment (FreeBSD, Mint Linux, or PC-BSD,
for instance) set up so you're doing your computing in conditions that
lend themselves to having ways to automate pretty much everything you do?

Hopefully, either some of what you want was addressed above or you have
some good ideas now how to help us help you further.  Welcome to
programming with Ruby!  It's a lot of fun, at least for me, and I hope
you enjoy it as much as I do.