Please don't go the web developer (javascript) path; node, react, webpack, etc.. It will drive you nuts, things keep changing radically in a very high pace and can take quite some time before you feel comfortable in this crazy field.
I would choose python, ruby(or crystal), c++, c#, etc.. and stay away from the browser, unless you have a very good reason to write for that.
I am not the author, but I'm in the exact same situation (except I'm 37). And I am following the javascript path. It seems employable, interesting and, not hard.
I know it is a bet, I'm betting in React and if in two years it is old news, I will have to move on. But until then, I am employable.
I am very early in my learning path (started from scracth last November), but I have a very clear impression that it is easier to learn Javascript than any of the languages you mentioned.
Would you care to elaborate more your point? It would help me a lot.
I wouldn't necessarily say that JS is easier to learn than those other languages, but I think it's easier to be productive in it.
If you use one of those other languages with the web, people are going to want you to use Javascript anyhow. So you have to learn both, unless you only do very, very basic things.
If you use one of those languages without doing web-stuff... Ugh. Maybe some phone apps line Swift or Java might be do-able, but I dunno about productivity for a long time.
On the other hand, it's not that hard to get good enough with Javascript to build some nice usable websites and get paid. IMO it's by far the shortest path to a programming career, and that will help get good enough to learn other languages and spread out while earning income.
> “The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 will ensure that law enforcement and the security and intelligence agencies have the powers they need in a digital age to disrupt terrorist attacks, subject to strict safeguards and world-leading oversight,” a statement from the Home Office reads.
And as expected some wheeling and dealing once they have the data:
> Many law enforcement agencies will be able to access this data, but so will lots of other, less obvious public bodies, including the Food Standards Agency, ...
First they steal private data of more than 60 million of innocent people. Then they share it with "less obvious public bodies", where we have to trust it is in save hands.. It is just a matter of time before this data is out in the open. How could we ever feel more safe when they do this? They better call it "The Criminal Act 2016". Is this what people vote for in a Democracy?
In reality there is the decade old problem that the Dutch justice system cannot handle the amount of criminals. Not enough judges and money for that.
Partly because of this it has become very hard in the Netherlands to even file a police report for light to medium weight crimes committed to you. Police simply send you away if a crime is not heavy enough in their opinion. Criminals walk free on the street, and when they are caught they most often are back on the street the same day, unless it is a real serious crime of course.
At some point they even decided not to file a police report below 3Kg of cocaine smuggling from the Dutch Antilles. Why? There were just too many doing it and the justice system couldn't handle it..
The Netherlands in reality has a very high crime rate, but the government found smart ways to conceal that.
> 7.13.
Toward this end, the “100% Control” policy was implemented, in which flights landing in Schiphol originating from the Dutch Caribbean, Suriname, or Venezuela are subject to extensive searches. Rather than attempting to scare off potential smugglers with the threat of incarceration, the Dutch approach was based on increasing the rate of interdiction to the point that smuggling becomes unprofitable. In other words, the focus was on the drugs, rather than the couriers, and was based on incapacitation, rather than traditional deterrence. Europol described the mechanics of the policy in this way:
> > Crews, passengers, their luggage, the cargo and the planes are systematically searched. Couriers with amounts of less than 3 kg of cocaine are not detained, unless they are arrested for the second time or another criminal offense is
involved. Instead, the drugs are confiscated and the smugglers are sent back. Couriers who have been identified are registered on a blacklist, which is provided to KLM, Dutch Caribbean Airlines and Suriname Airways.
You must be very naive to believe all that.. The actual amount of cocaine smuggled into the Netherlands is currently higher than ever before.
Also, the street value for 3Kg of cocaine is far above 50.000 euro's, do you realise how poor the people of the Dutch Antilles are? Without even a police report and a free ride back it's a clear invitation. And I didn't even mention the corrupt airport security, some of them make a sweet income out of this. It is definitely not "100% control", at all..
At some point they even decided not to file a police report below 3Kg of cocaine smuggling from the Dutch Antilles. Why? There were just too many doing it and the justice system couldn't handle it.
I was pointing to a World Bank study describing what actually happened, which is very different from what you said.
A virtual machine might be a solution, just leave it full screen for them when you leave home. I've given up trying to educate my parents best practice with pc's, it doesn't seem to work.
That's what I've always thought, haven't tried it with my parents. Idea is, set up a vm, snap shot it, have their save folder somewhere outside of the VM, and then if they manage to mess up the VM, just restore the snapshot.
Honestly, it is when I am trying to teach my parents how to use computers do I realize how annoying computers are. I mean, some of the simplest things we take for granted are pretty dumb if you have to explain it to someone.
Indeed, that's how they do that, in the hope the horde will follow their made up winner. Unfortunately most media in this world are more corrupt than people are willing to believe.
I think you shouldn't dislike computers for not enjoying what other people do with it. But a part of the magic of computers and the internet in the 90's is definitely gone, for ever, true. But hey, would you prefer to go back to connecting to a BBS with a 14k4 modem? I prefer my wireless 340Mbps broadband modem, really.
Fortunately I do enjoy every new day and can still become excited about new technology, which is emerging all the time. And I truly believe that computers and the internet have become much better and ever more interesting. You just have to be very selective in the vastness of things out there.
14.4kbps! When I first connected to the internet, 300bps was the order of the day. We loved it because it was a lightning fast upgrade from the poor sad folks that were still stuck with 110bps. Gosh, what we could have done in those days with UTF-8 and Unicode...
Just watch the Udacity add from 2016. Besides the price tag on that video (paid from students money), most scenes look more like science fiction than the reality of what we achieve with the jobs we do! It's business as usual.
The problem with courses is not only money, it is also valuable time spend. Another issue is that Courses often tend to give you the false impression that you master something once you've completed it. There is always that difference between selling a course and what students actually gain.
Why not spend your time to become a better autodidact, and use this vast free resource called the internet? Maybe it's just me, but I really don't want to depend on paid courses.
