• Home
  • About

Make Me a Programmer

Coding doesn't have to be hard.

  • About
  • Write for Us
  • Be Interviewed
  • About
  • Write for Us
  • Be Interviewed
  • Home
  • About
  • Common Questions
  • Lessons From a Veteran
  • Write for Us
  • Be Interviewed As a Software Pro
  • Meet Our Writers

Is Programming Hard? Here’s What You Need to Know

Is programming hard? This is a question many non-programmers ask me.  This makes it rank up there with questions like, “do programmers work from home” and “what kind of education…

read more

What Non-Programming Skills Do Programmers Need?

As programmers or aspiring programmers, we often focus on the technical skills we need to build software. We work on improving our programming skills, picking up new frameworks, or reading…

read more

Do Programmers Use Mac or PC?

In this post, we tackle a question that troubles many an aspiring programmer: Do programmers use Mac or PC? The question does have a short, straightforward answer. Here it goes:…

read more

What Do Programmers Wear to Work?

The posts that I write for this blog are aimed at answering questions non-programmers and aspiring programmers have about being a programmer. This results in me answering some questions that…

read more
  • Are programmers lazy? Programmer personality traits explained by an expert
    Expert Interviews

    Programmer Personality Traits Explained by an Expert

    September 9, 2021 /

    Stereotypes abound about programmers. People who are drawn to tech are introverted, socially awkward, lazy, or rude—or so laypeople believe. But are they really? Certainly, people who have these traits exist in software development. That’s why the stereotypes exist. But there are plenty of people who don’t fit within this mold. To understand why these stereotypes exist and why—especially when it comes to the notion that programmers are lazy—they’re often wrong, we sat down with someone with years of experience in the software world: Erik Dietrich. Erik has worked as a developer, architect, manager, CIO, and, eventually, independent management and strategy consultant. This breadth of experience allows him to speak…

    Read More
    Make Me a Programmer

    You May Also Like

    Software engineer or software programmer

    Is a Software Engineer the Same As a Software Developer?

    October 24, 2018
    What Is the Difference Between Coding and Programming

    What Is the Difference Between Coding and Programming?

    March 25, 2022
    100 Days of Code Success Stories Make Me a Programmer

    100 Days of Code: Nabendu Biswas on Motivating Students—and Himself

    January 9, 2022
  • 100 Days of Code Success Stories Make Me a Programmer
    100 Days of Code Success Stories

    100 Days of Code: Disney Web Producer Katie Reynolds on Self-Reliance

    September 3, 2021 /

    This post is part of a series interviewing folks who have recently participated in the #100DaysOfCode challenge. Today we’re talking to Katie Reynolds, a web producer for Disney. Katie has worked in web content management for over a decade, but she never needed to know much coding besides very basic HTML. In her current role, she does most of her work in a no-code content management system (CMS). After her company furloughed her for a few months during the pandemic, Katie realized that she felt like she didn’t have any real technical skills in the event that she needed to find a new job. That motivated her to kick-start her…

    Read More
    Make Me a Programmer

    You May Also Like

    Best way to learn Python

    Best Way to Learn Python: Resources and a Brief How-To

    October 29, 2021
    Languages on boards

    Why Are There So Many Programming Languages?

    June 19, 2019
    Should programmers learn linux?

    Should Programmers Learn Linux?

    May 22, 2020
  • 100 Days of Code Success Stories Make Me a Programmer
    100 Days of Code Success Stories

    100 Days of Code: From Ambulance Driver to Dev With the Coding Paramedic

    July 23, 2021 /

    This post is part of a series interviewing folks who have recently participated in the #100DaysOfCode challenge. Today, we’re talking to Elias Rostad, who goes by the alias @CodingParamedic on Twitter. Why the Coding Paramedic? Because he worked as a paramedic for 10 years before turning to code. Elias’ work as a paramedic ranged from big cities to small towns to a ship in the Pacific Ocean for two months to AirMed on a helicopter. As a paramedic, Elias was getting burned out, particularly amid the COVID-19 pandemic. His wife noticed how much he enjoyed playing with the Grasshopper learn-to-code app and suggested he explore programming further. So, Elias bought…

    Read More
    Make Me a Programmer

    You May Also Like

    Programmers interacting

    How Do Programmers Interact With the Rest of the Team?

    October 10, 2018
    Lessons from a veteran developer

    Lessons From a Veteran: Hard-Nosed Advice From a Softie

    May 15, 2020
    What Is the Difference Between Coding and Programming

    What Is the Difference Between Coding and Programming?

    March 25, 2022
  • Foot on desk next to laptop
    Lessons From a Veteran

    Lessons From a Veteran: From Economics to Software Engineering With Andrew Bryant

    July 16, 2021 /

    This post is part of a series interviewing veteran developers, asking them questions about their journey to tech mastery and sharing the advice they have for those getting started. Today we’re talking to Andrew Bryant. Andrew is a developer and data analyst living in Chile. He studied economics in school before pursuing a tech career. Andrew has worked for startups doing everything from natural language processing (NLP) to UI fixes. He also writes code that generates artwork. Let’s hear what he has to say about the benefits of working at a startup and how having a non-software engineering background helped him when he started his career. Basic logistics: Stack? How…

    Read More
    Andrew Bryant

    You May Also Like

    Are programmers lazy? Programmer personality traits explained by an expert

    Programmer Personality Traits Explained by an Expert

    September 9, 2021
    Software Engineers laughing

    Are Software Engineers Happy? Yes, They Are, and Here’s Why

    April 3, 2019
    Can you use Git without GitHub?

    Can You Use Git Without GitHub?

    January 8, 2021
  • Magento performance concerns
    Guest Post

    Magento Performance Concerns and How to Boost It

    May 28, 2021 /

    If you’re a web developer interested in working in e-commerce, Magento should definitely be on your radar. Experts and famous e-commerce players regard Magento as one of the major platforms for running online stores. Magento is a top choice of mid-sized and large companies, as the CMS enables serving thousands of visitors simultaneously and provides broad opportunities for customization and scaling. In turn, this often leads to a bunch of problems related to the overall performance of such sites and, in particular, their speed. Every Magento migration company is aware of possible troubles and searches for efficient solutions to overcome them. In this post, we’ll consider some classic peculiarities of…

    Read More
    Make Me a Programmer

    You May Also Like

    100 Days of Code Success Stories Make Me a Programmer

    100 Days of Code: From Ambulance Driver to Dev With the Coding Paramedic

    July 23, 2021
    Best way to learn Python

    Best Way to Learn Python: Resources and a Brief How-To

    October 29, 2021
    Do programmers need a degree?

    Do Programmers Need a Degree?

    June 5, 2020
  • Programming languages explained
    Expert Interviews

    Programming Languages Explained by an Expert

    April 2, 2021 /

    Programming languages: There’s a lot to unpack there. For those new to the field, you probably have questions like How many programming languages are there (and, more importantly, how many should I know)? How do programming languages work? How and why are they made? How do programming languages make money? To answer these questions, we sat down with someone with years of experience in the software world: Erik Dietrich. Erik has worked as a developer, architect, manager, CIO, and, eventually, independent management and strategy consultant. This breadth of experience allows him to speak to all industry personas. He’s also written several books and countless blog posts on dozens of sites.…

    Read More
    Make Me a Programmer

    You May Also Like

    Bloggers giving high-fives

    Should Programmers Blog? 5 Things to Consider

    September 14, 2018
    Someone worried about programming being hard

    Is Programming Hard? Here’s What You Need to Know

    February 5, 2019
    how to choose a programming language to learn

    How to Choose a Programming Language to Learn

    May 7, 2022
  • Lessons from a veteran developer
    Lessons From a Veteran

    Lessons From a Veteran: Career and Personal Self-Discovery With Juho Vepsäläinen – Conference Director and Consultant

    March 26, 2021 /

    This post is part of a series interviewing veteran developers, asking them questions about their journey to tech mastery and sharing the advice they have for those getting started. Today we’re talking to Juho Vepsäläinen, a conference director and consultant. Juho is behind the SurviveJS effort, where developers train to optimize their development workflow’s tooling. He has been active in the open-source scene since the early 2000s and has participated in projects like Blender and webpack as a core team member. You can follow Juho on Twitter @bebraw. Let’s hear what he’s learned on his career in the tech industry and how that coincides with his personal journey of self-discovery.…

    Read More
    Make Me a Programmer

    You May Also Like

    Bloggers giving high-fives

    Should Programmers Blog? 5 Things to Consider

    September 14, 2018
    What is the best programming book for beginners?

    What Is the Best Programming Book for Beginners?

    November 20, 2019
    100 Days of Code Success Stories Make Me a Programmer

    100 Days of Code: From Ambulance Driver to Dev With the Coding Paramedic

    July 23, 2021
  • Is software engineering a good career?
    Common Questions

    Is Software Engineering a Good Career?

    March 19, 2021 /

    We all work a lot during our lives. But if we’re going to work our entire life, shouldn’t we do something that makes us happy? Let me introduce you a career you might not be expecting: software engineering. So, now you’re probably wondering if software engineering is a good career. Maybe you’re on your path learning how to program. Or maybe you’re not happy with your current job and decided to take a look out there to see if you’d find anything different. Whichever reason brought you here, you’re lucky: We’re talking about the pros and cons of a software engineering career. First, the Short Answer All right, before I…

    Read More
    Pedro Barbosa

    You May Also Like

    Lessons from a veteran developer

    Lessons From a Veteran: Step Outside of Your Comfort Zone

    May 30, 2020
    What Is a programming framework?

    What Is a Programming Framework?

    August 21, 2020
    HTML

    Should Programmers Learn HTML?

    December 14, 2018
  • Lessons from a veteran developer
    Lessons From a Veteran

    Lessons From a Veteran: Incidental (or Maybe Accidental) Catalysts With Jonathan Hall

    March 12, 2021 /

    This post is part of a series interviewing veteran developers, asking them questions about their journey to tech mastery and sharing the advice they have for those getting started. This week we’re talking to Jonathan Hall. Jonathan started out as a self-taught developer and is now a consultant and blogger who helps small teams benefit from DevOps best practices. He publishes a daily newsletter with advice about implementing DevOps, and you can follow him on Twitter @TinyDevOps. Let’s learn how Jonathan got his start in programming and how you can be a self-taught developer, too. Stack? How long have you been doing it? These days, I spend a lot of…

    Read More
    Jonathan Hall

    You May Also Like

    Lessons from a veteran developer

    Lessons From a Veteran: John Pereira on Just Having Fun With It

    October 8, 2021
    Do programmers use Mac or PC?

    Do Programmers Use Mac or PC?

    June 19, 2020
    Lessons from a veteran developer

    Lessons From a Veteran: Back to School With Michael de Ridder’s Drunk Metaphors

    July 31, 2020
  • Lessons from a veteran developer
    Lessons From a Veteran

    Lessons From a Veteran: Ukpai Ugochi on Her Career Change to Software Engineer

    March 5, 2021 /

    This post for those considering a career change to software engineer is part of a series interviewing veteran developers, asking them questions about their journey to tech mastery and sharing the advice they have for those getting started. Today we’re talking to Ukpai Ugochi. Ukpai is a full stack JavaScript developer transitioning her career from marine engineering to software development. She loves sharing about her experience to encourage people who love software development and don’t know where to begin. She also contributes to FOSS in her free time. Let’s find out what lessons Ukpai has learned, like overcoming impostor syndrome, during her career change to software engineer. Basic logistics: Stack?…

    Read More
    Ukpai Ugochi

    You May Also Like

    Is software engineering a good career?

    Is Software Engineering a Good Career?

    March 19, 2021
    Programmers interacting

    How Do Programmers Interact With the Rest of the Team?

    October 10, 2018
    What Is the Difference Between Coding and Programming

    What Is the Difference Between Coding and Programming?

    March 25, 2022
1234

Affiliate Disclosure

Who?

This site participates in the Amazon Associates Program and other affiliate marketing programs.

Why?

This is a community site, but hosting and content aren’t free.  We’re looking to cover our costs and perhaps earn enough money for the occasional cup of coffee.

How?

If you click on an affiliate link and wind up purchasing something at the site, they send us a small commission as a way of thanking us and encouraging us to send them more business.

What (does it cost me)?

Absolutely nothing.

Want to Submit a Post?

If you're interested in contributing an article, please feel free to get in touch.

Categories

  • 100 Days of Code Success Stories
  • Common Questions
  • Expert Interviews
  • Get Started Programming
  • Guest Post
  • Lessons From a Veteran
  • Uncategorized

Archives

Ashe Theme by Royal-Flush - 2023 ©