03: Common Misconceptions About Programming

I've been creating programming education courses for about 10 years, and during that time I've seen many students give up because of simple misconceptions and incorrect perceptions of programming as a craft. In this module I explain these misconceptions and the patterns of behavior I see that thwart (or enable) your success.

1: "You Have to Quit Your Job"

The fantasy peddled by many Coding Bootcamps is you quit your job to study full time and after just six months you're making $250k/year at Google. Another similar fantasy peddled by computational education con artists is you can quit your job to study programming full time and then create the next Facebook. What none of these people tell you is the people that can quit their job to study full time are people who already have money or support. You'll hear about someone quitting their job, but they don't tell you how their spouse kept working to pay for their dream, or how that person happened to have plenty of money in savings, wealthy parents, or some other form of golden parachute.

If you don't have a similar support network then there is absolutely no way you can pull off quitting and studying full time. I'm telling you right now do not quit your job. That's a childish fantasy that does not match reality. The reality is you need a job in order to make money to support yourself and your family while you work on this course and quitting your job will cut off that supply of money. The smart thing is to keep working, and adjust your life and work schedule so you can study.