Hearted Youtube comments on James Cross (@jamescross) channel.

  1. I'm 57 and work in Live Entertainment. I've been teaching myself HTML, CSS and JavaScript so I can become a Frontend Web Dev and make better money and do something less physically demanding. I've been at it for about a year now. It's slow going as I have limited time to study and code because of my regular work. I also get discouraged easily, but I'm trying to stick with it.
    1700
  2. 3 months of learning, 9 months of applying, 5 months into my first dev job.
    1400
  3. I loved the video man. I'm actually a self taught junior developer, just got my first job after six months of grinding and socializing, had myself a mentor that vouched for me and recommended me to their company, passed the technical test had an interview and I'm starting out today. Super excited for this new journey and to finally do what I love. I used to work in the Oilfield and hated myself working there so I took a leap of faith and just quit. Took me two years to find my own way and I am thankful for this opportunity, God is great.
    971
  4. I turned 23 this month. No degree or anything since high school. I live with my parents and have lots of free time. I want to turn my life around & this is the first step. Thank you so much for the video !šŸ‘ØšŸ¾ā€šŸ’»
    858
  5. I'm a senior software engineer with a little over 20+ years experience as a professional developer. I have given thousands of technical and cultural interviews over the years. The three biggest misconceptions/mistakes I see from entry-level applicants: 1. They grossly over-estimate what is expected for an entry-level developer to know. We aren't looking for perfection, we're looking for a basic understanding of the job you're applying for, and an expressed desire to learn. So many applicants graduated 6+ months earlier and haven't touched programming since, and can't even explain a for loop. It's shocking. That's almost always a no go. Keep learning. 2. No bullshitters. You cannot bullshit in this field. The technical questions are black and white, A or B. There is no gray area, and we already know the answers. If you start trying to lie and make things up, you will not get the job. 3. Professionalism. You can be a rock-star technically, but there is more to being a professional developer than sitting there hammering out code all day. You need to be able to communicate clearly with business and other teams that may not have a technical background. You need to be able to prioritize and multitask. You will always be juggling multiple things. Colleagues and management will definitely help you, but you have to bring something to the table too. WORK ON YOUR SOFT SKILLS! I volunteer each semester to give mock interviews at the university here. Soft skills are almost always among the weakest of a new graduate's skillset.
    765
  6. 6 months of self taught programming now im on my 8th year full time as a software engineer. Best decision of my life.
    735
  7. Full-stack awareness... yes. Full stack expertise... NO. Don't be a "jack of all trades, master of none." Learn about every tier but specialize in what you enjoy building.
    632
  8. Just got my first front end job after learning online for the past 10 months :) Super stoked! Hope you are recovering well, devsmak! :)
    614
  9. Learn TO PAGE & CODE as a web dev, CREATE on your computer a few web pages, MAKE YOUR GITHUB, make it accessible, do your RESUME even with no experience but DO MENTION you have a PORTFOLIO (laptop with your creative web pages) THAT'S A START as long as you can show YOUR CODING and you understand the codes, the pagination, how to place text, images etc... DO IT! im over 60 AND DIVING INTO THE WEB WORLD come on kids! SKY IS THE LIMIT... remember that line!
    544
  10. as a 25 year "veteran" of software engineering, I cannot stress your point enough... focus on learning by creating software that solves a problem or adds value. Tutorials are helpful, but at a certain point, you will hit a learning wall... when you do, that means you need to start doing.
    488
  11. I work in the construction field and itā€™s taking a toll on my body, Trying learn to code to help me live a longer life with those I love
    433
  12. Im starting with front end and then will slowly move towards back end with time. Im so torn down. Unemployed for 3 years and I want to change my life and do something better with my self. Watching videos like these are getting me out of my slump. Thank you for this video.
    405
  13. Not worth to buy, totally worth getting one from your employer šŸ˜Š
    304
  14. It isnā€™t flexing itā€™s showing your hard work and inspiring others good job man
    297
  15. Iā€™m 26 years old and have been in sales for the past 6 years of my life. I graduated with a degree in finance but I realized I didnā€™t want to do anything in corporate finance a few years ago and I donā€™t want a career in sales. Iā€™m now learning html and loving everything Iā€™ve learned so far. Great video and thanks for the advice!
    295
  16.  @AD-wg8ik  I was so fed up with being average and not being able to do more with my family... I locked myself in a room every night, literally lost a couple of friends from going slightly crazy. I wasn't playing around anymore. I mean it was 3 months but of course during those 9 months of applying, I continued to learn but at the end of 3 months I felt confident I could land a job. I'm only making 25% more than I was making at my previous job but it's the fact I no longer feel stagnant and I'm working towards my goal.
    283
  17. I did a bootcamp at a certain university in the state of kansas in 2019, and it left me totally unprepared to actually land a job. I had a portfolio that I couldn't even fully tell a recruiter or company how I coded it, because they didn't teach us HOW to think, just WHAT to think. Here I am, starting my journey over and I'm 2 months in, feeling pretty dang good about it.
    276
  18. Stepping away from tutorials is the best thing I've done. I work on my projects and if I can't solve it I just Google and it sticks in my head. Also reading documentation and textbooks is a major help.
    246
  19. Hey , Iā€™m 27 and currently in school. Struggling with depression and anxiety the last 2 years so school has it ups and downs. Your videos are a good motivation for me to not give up. Thanks a lot !
    226
  20. 39 yrs old. Studied graphic design got hired by a web marketing company to design print and then websites. Decided to learn to code so I could better understand what I was designing. Loved it. Taught my self to code PHP for a Wordpress site that I had to manage. Years later I'm now teaching coding to HS students. It's been a weird journey but I enjoy where I'm at right now. I plan to make this vid available to my students.
    210
  21. Iā€™m self taught, learning html, css and javascript. Been about 3 months now, building a simple js app for battleships. Definitely hasnā€™t been easy. I find that evenings Iā€™m burnt from day job and kids, and mornings i get a lot more done. The struggle continues but Iā€™m optimistic, some days feel like Iā€™m not getting it and others much better. Keep coding folks, no one said it would be easy
    200
  22. Nice man been watching your vids for a while. Ive been applying and grinding interviews, got an offer for 100k base today (I currently make 53k!!), so its kind of insane the market right now for devs. I did some random react web dev stuff while working as an IT guy and only had a little over a year working on an actual dev team doing agile sprints, jira tickets, code review etc. So anyone reading just know its possible to get it, just be patient and never lose faith in yourself.
    192
  23. An overlooked tip for when you make these kinds of videos laying out a pathway is to strip away too many options... The worst thing about being a newbie is the overwhelming decision fatigue which then delays making a decision. In this video, you outlay 4 possible decisions which now require additional research. Most people just want one option so they can begin their journey instead of having to consume more videos about more possible pathways. You should interview a newbie on your channel so that they can ask "newbie" questions in which you can use your expertise to answer the questions that every other newbie is asking at home. I guarantee that people in the comments still haven't picked a path because they are still having to research. We just want ONE path to get started. 1. Free Code Camp Org 2. The Odin Project 3. Udemy 4. CS50 - Harvard Computer Science
    176
  24. Great video dude top notch content! LOL you killed me with the Angular comment!!! As an Angular dev I couldn't agree more with that statement!
    176
  25. I do enjoyed my first full stack position. Yes, the projects wasn't that big, yes I did everything from CSS to databases and server management, and yes I was underpaid based on the amount of responsibility and value I was providing. But it was a great experience and now I have a better understanding in which areas I would like to focus.
    172
  26. I would to say that, in long hours usage, the 16gb model would be the recommend to programming studies. But not everyone is able to buy it. In my case, for example, I took the 8gb MB Pro model and I used it about 10 - 12 hours per day. What really consumes memory are the simulators and Android emulators used in my mobile work. If you have condition to take the 16gb model, take it! But, if you don't, don't feel bad! Both are good machines and in few years you will plan to buy another updated model.
    169
  27. liked and subscribed immediately after he said "I'm not going to make you wait till the end of the video". thanks for being a decent human
    157
  28. I think that, if you could filter that data by country, you would find out why Windows still takes the lead. You called Macs expensive but, as a Brazilian dev, a new Macbook could cost, easily, 2 years worth of salary depending on where you are and your job position. Some of the Macbooks cost more than some cars around here and the Mac Pro starts at around 79k BRL, which is 20k more expensive than my car that I bought new. Yes, there are a lot of Brazilians using Mac, I'm not one of those, currently on Windows and Linux, looking into the Mac environment and trying to justify the absurd price of a Mac. With that said, I can totally see why Windows is, still, the preferred OS for the major part of developers when you factor in the cost, the familiarity with the system and the fact that it is readily available, pirated or not.
    150
  29. Appreciate all the advice and definitely going to be implementing a ton of the suggestions you made in the video! This came at a complete surprise but I am extremely grateful for the review as this was definitely needed!
    141
  30. As a CS Grad I completely agree with you there, I've noticed self-taught programmers generally are better at coding whilst CS Grad students know more so talk a lot in theory (and also that piece of paper you mentioned), but not so much in practice. I unfortunately joined a company in a completely different field from conventional programming as a grad student and now I'm having to relearn to get back into the software field.
    136
  31. Agreed. I have developed professionally on both Macbook and PC, and honestly there isn't that big of a difference. I have a Macbook M1 and I love it, but I would not spend $3000 on laptop if i was just starting. Also, if you are really into gaming and don't want to have two machines a PC might be a better option for you. You can do the exact same thing on either, so it just come down to personal preference and your financial situation.
    127
  32. So, I had been using PC exclusively until I found out all the devs and most of the other employees with the company I'm interning with use Mac OSX. And while I could still technically use a Windows machine, the extra steps I'd have to go though to perform the same tasks was just not worth it to me. So, with the wife's blessing, I got myself a new 16" M1 MacBook Pro. And tbh, although there's still a bunch of things I hate about OSX, for coding, it has made my life a lot easier. So I will stick to coding on my Mac and everything else on my PC.
    113
  33. Dude, I can totally feel you on this. I want to do a career shift at 45+ and it feels so daunting looking into learning web dev because of that lol. Thanks for making these videos and reminding me its nevah to late! ^.^
    107
  34. I think certifications are valuable if you want to get into IT. If you want to become a developer, then you should probably build business class applications, basically the ones that you will be hired to build, and put them on your portfolio site.
    106
  35. I think learning to work around the limitations of low end hardware is really valuable for beginners. I got a nice $2k Thinkpad when I graduated high school, but before that I learned a lot with my old $400 dell laptop that I got in like fourth grade. Learning to work efficiently on whatever device you have access to can really help you to be more efficient once you can afford a better device.
    105
  36. I'm in a 2 year AS program for programming and web development and 90% of my classes are hands on programming classes python 3, php, sql, javascript, html and css. 3 of my 4 classes this semester require building 2 programs a week. so thats 6 programs im writing a week. the other class this semester is linux os. In my linux class im learning terminal on ubuntu. I can honestly say its been worth every penny vs a bootcamp. I tried to learn on my own but was hitting a wall. The classes helped me through that wall. the bootcamp was 15k and classes for my associates degree is $1200 a semester so ~ $4800. No way i could have learned everything I know now in 3 short months. Im just about done with my first year. I still have many classes that will go over java, github and version control, more javascript, and a bunch more
    104
  37. Donā€™t worry. It took my 1.5 years in college to finally finish ā€œlearning front endā€- html css Wordpress, JavaScript , and basics of react.
    100
  38. Great channel and video, thanks for sharing Dorian!
    100
  39. Iā€™m really glad this turned up on my recommended, I am currently studying a computer science degree aged 46 after working as an artist. Front end allows me to be creative while coding, my two favourite things! Hoping I find a company that will take me on soon šŸ¤ž
    96
  40. Biggest tip for any developer, and I mean any developer at all. If the job sounds interesting, just apply for it. I don't give a single shit if you only check 10% of the boxes, do it anyway because nobody is going to fit 100%. If they do claim to fit 100%, they are lying through their teeth.
    96
  41. Seriously, take these advices to the heart. Very helpful indeed and feeling much confident after listening to your advice. You have given one of the best tips for free, best guidance for free and above all you are doing a wonderful job for all aspirants. Thanks a ton!
    94
  42. Learning to code at 25šŸ¤¦ā€ā™‚
    92
  43. I'm a Software Engineer and I DON'T prefer MacBooks over Pcs
    91
  44. As a software engineer student going into my senior year, I can say you literally covered everything and more of what weā€™ve learned. Thanks for all you do! This info is invaluable
    91
  45. Honestly, I feel like Windows is the way to go. Even though, I am an Apple Fanatic, it is important to understand that most of your classmates and professor will teach you programming through Windows.
    88
  46. Coming from enterprise software engineering - I can tell you even our group, despite ā€œlooking for full stackā€ have a desire for either a strong java(backend) or strong front end candidate at any one point in time. The key is to be able to focus in an area and have the chops to handle other areas like devops, QA etc.. Interesting topic tho, a bit of a clickbait title, but hey got me to click I guess ;) A little trick, advertise yourself as ā€œfull stackā€ even if your mainly focused in one area, youā€™ll get more interviews and will likely find a good fit for your interests/skill sets eventually - thatā€™s what 90+% of our Indian candidates doā€¦
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  47. I did everything you said in this video last year and I got the job. These tips work folks.
    87
  48. I'm looking at getting my first coding job, in the next few months(late bloomer at 55) and looking forward it. I'm in Louisville, Ky. and the base for me, is going to be about $45.000 for Visual Basic or around $55.000, I feel I'll go up pretty fast(with a goal of around $100.000 within 2 years), gaging my learning ability, pretty good for a non-tech city. Great video, thanks!
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  49. I got passed up on so many positions this year, but it opened the door for me to be available for Apple when I landed my current role. And considering there was no other company I wanted to be at more, I couldn't be happier or feel luckier. If others are applying for a ton of jobs and getting a lot of rejections, just remember it only takes the right one saying yes. I applied for over 300 positions over six months. Now that I'm where I want to be it's funny that a few of those companies that rejected me are asking if I'm available now. It's so satisfying to inform them that I am not.
    81
  50. Being self taught is a lot harder. I decided to not Persue bachelors , as I saw the portfolio of students who graduate and I know I can learn more from books and YouTube. Im making my portfolio and will start applying for jobs. Donā€™t lose hope. Even us college students lose hope sometimes.
    80