We continue the special series under the heading "Success Stories" - in it we will talk about developers who studied on CodeGym and now work in our company, developing the product. Our second hero is Anton, who served in the army before programming, but decided to completely change his profession. He learned Java in three years, and now writes tasks and plugins for CodeGym quests.
“After 1.5 years in the army, I realized that I would quit”
My first education was in the military, majoring in Technical Information Security. After the first 1.5 years of service, in 2014, I realized that I would be leaving. There were two options why I could stay in the army: it was work for an idea or a salary. Neither one nor the other, I could not get in the armed forces. A few years ago, when the value of the dollar soared, my colleagues and I laughed that the cleaner in the shopping center was getting more than we were. Speaking about the idea, I wanted to be involved in changes in the army, but it was impossible to influence anything. When I decided that I would leave the army, I looked at the vacancies in my first specialty and realized that I had to retrain practically from scratch. On the "citizen" there were other requirements for my profession.
“I devoted all my free time to learning Java”
Before the end of the contract, I had 4 years: enough time to find a new occupation. At the institute, I tried to program in C ++, it was interesting. So I bought myself a book about C++ and started learning it. Then he took up C #, mastered the basics. Also decided to stop on Java. That is, I was looking for my programming language for about a year. At that time, I did not understand what was the essential difference between the EP. In my case, the choice depended on the quality of IT courses that were on the market. I chose Java after all thanks to the CodeGym courses - these are one of the best courses in this language. About two years before the end of the contract, I took up my studies in a serious way - I devoted all my free time to studying Java. I started by reading books on this language. I remember how it is now: I printed out 300 sheets in small print of a book and read it. Later I signed up for CodeGym and started playing levels, watched instructional videos. I completed 28 levels in 3 months. It's pretty fast: many students take much longer. In general, I taught programming for about three years, of which Java was two years. It was very difficult for me to rewire my brain to understand classes and objects. The transition from Java to frameworks was difficult - I did not know how to approach them. I was saved by the fact that the first education was connected with networks, and I knew how they work. I did not stop there, but went to the second programming tower at the Kiev Polytechnic University. There were both disadvantages and advantages in this training: there was the necessary theory on object-oriented programming, they explained how to connect discrete mathematics with programming, but in practice, for example, they taught trends from 15 years ago. many students go much longer. In general, I taught programming for about three years, of which Java was two years. It was very difficult for me to rewire my brain to understand classes and objects. The transition from Java to frameworks was difficult - I did not know how to approach them. I was saved by the fact that the first education was connected with networks, and I knew how they work. I did not stop there, but went to the second programming tower at the Kiev Polytechnic University. There were both disadvantages and advantages in this training: there was the necessary theory on object-oriented programming, they explained how to connect discrete mathematics with programming, but in practice, for example, they taught trends from 15 years ago. many students go much longer. In general, I taught programming for about three years, of which Java was two years. It was very difficult for me to rewire my brain to understand classes and objects. The transition from Java to frameworks was difficult - I did not know how to approach them. I was saved by the fact that the first education was connected with networks, and I knew how they work. I did not stop there, but went to the second programming tower at the Kiev Polytechnic University. There were both disadvantages and advantages in this training: there was the necessary theory on object-oriented programming, they explained how to connect discrete mathematics with programming, but in practice, for example, they taught trends from 15 years ago. It was very difficult for me to rewire my brain to understand classes and objects. The transition from Java to frameworks was difficult - I did not know how to approach them. I was saved by the fact that the first education was connected with networks, and I knew how they work. I did not stop there, but went to the second programming tower at the Kiev Polytechnic University. There were both disadvantages and advantages in this training: there was the necessary theory on object-oriented programming, they explained how to connect discrete mathematics with programming, but in practice, for example, they taught trends from 15 years ago. It was very difficult for me to rewire my brain to understand classes and objects. The transition from Java to frameworks was difficult - I did not know how to approach them. I was saved by the fact that the first education was connected with networks, and I knew how they work. I did not stop there, but went to the second programming tower at the Kiev Polytechnic University. There were both disadvantages and advantages in this training: there was the necessary theory on object-oriented programming, they explained how to connect discrete mathematics with programming, but in practice, for example, they taught trends from 15 years ago. and went to the second tower for programming at the Kiev Polytechnic University. There were both disadvantages and advantages in this training: there was the necessary theory on object-oriented programming, they explained how to connect discrete mathematics with programming, but in practice, for example, they taught trends from 15 years ago. and went to the second tower for programming at the Kiev Polytechnic University. There were both disadvantages and advantages in this training: there was the necessary theory on object-oriented programming, they explained how to connect discrete mathematics with programming, but in practice, for example, they taught trends from 15 years ago.
“I thought it was a failure, but it turned out that everything is very good”
My first interview is the only one in my developer career so far. It's a cool story. When there was a month left before the end of the contract in the army, my classmates from the military lyceum and I went to celebrate the 10th anniversary of graduation in Rivne. One of our graduates offered to pick me up by car. We got to talking, I asked him where he works, it turned out that he was a tester in CodeGym. I tell him: “Oh, so I learned Java there. Do you happen to need programmers there?” He replies: "Just looking for a junior." As a result, I was invited for an interview. The interview had 15 Java questions. I answered 13 questions correctly, on the 14th - half correct, on the 15th - incorrectly. I thought it was a failure, but it turned out that everything is very good. They took me to work. I have been working in CodeGym for two years now. The department in which I work called Content Team. Our team is primarily engaged in writing tasks for the CodeGym course. In addition, we write the backend of our project. I also do plugin. I'm glad I went into development. Now I'm working on something that I'm really interested in. Recently there was a task that I spent about 10 hours on and took only one break. It should be noted that in the first years of work, salaries can be increased quite often, depending on how you show progress. Of course, now I earn much more than in the army. on which I spent about 10 hours and took only one break. It should be noted that in the first years of work, salaries can be increased quite often, depending on how you show progress. Of course, now I earn much more than in the army. on which I spent about 10 hours and took only one break. It should be noted that in the first years of work, salaries can be increased quite often, depending on how you show progress. Of course, now I earn much more than in the army.
Tips for a novice developer:
See information from various sources. Sometimes I came across the fact that I did not understand certain sections of programming. My advice in this case is to simply change the source of information, because a lot depends on the presentation of the material. Video analysis of problems helps. If all else fails, you can find the original book, sometimes a wrong translation can distort the information.
Learn technical English. I had to catch up with English, but it was necessary. When I started working on projects, I realized that some things can only be found in English. The pool of technical words is about 200 words that can be learned in 2 months.
First learn everything superficially, and then each component separately. If you immediately delve into all the details, it will take a lot of time. Especially in the beginning it is not necessary.
Don't be afraid to apply for jobs. There can be a lot of requirements in the description that are not really needed for a junior. If the company is really looking for a junior, then knowledge of Java and Spring is mainly required.
