Is it too late for me to be a programmer if I am already 28 and have no computer science background?

manpreet Best Answer 2 years ago

There is no age to learn programming or coding. Anybody can learn programming at any stage of life by self-learning or joining professional programming courses. But it takes more effort to become a professional developer or programmer. There's a lot more to professional programming of development than writing software code. It requires understanding of Software engineering process and methodologies to working with a team to solve problems, capture requirement, design, code and testing. Understanding a programming language is only a minor part of coding. Problem-solving is the most important skill and collaborative problem-solving is a difficult skill to learn. If you want to learn Programming as a hobby, you can learn it now. If you're learn programming in college degree you will have opportunity to work on a fairly large team-oriented project in class which is good for finding job. If you want to learn programming now and make a career you may find it difficult to get your first job. But if you are able to get first job then you can make a career in IT industry as a programmer will be easy. It is suggested that if you have domain knowledge such as Banking, Insurance, Healthcare, etc. then by gaining programming skills may help you to get Business Analyst jobs to make career in IT industry.

manpreet 2 years ago

Yes, it's too late for you. There was a time when you were younger that it didn't occur to you to ask permission to learn. You don't need much to learn programming, but you do need that, and you don't have it anymore. So consider: a Chromebook costs $300. Given a small bit of work, you can download a much better set of software onto it (crouton). Given that and some connectivity, you have access - for free - to (almost) exactly the same set of tools professional programmers use, and the documentation that explains those tools, and examples of how to use the tools, and commentary on how those tools can be used to the best effect. The only difficult decision is figuring out where to wade in and start learning, and while there are better choices, there really aren't any bad ones. You can do this on your own, in your own time and on your own schedule. The only other thing you need is a quiet place to think. If you want to triple your productivity, get together with a few friends and learn But you can't have the habit of asking permission to learn. If you think it's unseemly or embarrassing to be learning new things that students half your age have already mastered, don't bother starting (because soon enough you'll get to the point where you're learning things that students a third of your age have already mastered). As to your second question: a degree in computer science will not teach you how to program. Think of it in terms of a science rather than a medical degree: a computer scientist thinks about classes of programs, operating systems, and machines. A programmer thinks about the program, operating system and machine in front of her. Programmers are self-taught. Figure out how to draw fractals on your screen. Then figure out how to do it quickly. At that point, go and get an MS in computer science. You'll have the credential and be ahead of the folks who have just a BS and similar experience.