I've been self-learning programming for a few years, following a short bootcamp I attended at the beginning. Since then, I've mainly used tutorials and personal projects to continue my learning while balancing a day job. Now, I'm looking for more structured learning with an instructor but I'm facing issues with college courses that have a lot of prerequisites I can't meet. Is there a way to access structured learning with an instructor? I'm familiar with JavaScript and C#, and I have some basic knowledge of SQL, MySQL, and Node.js. Currently, I'm trying to connect a local Fastify server to a local MongoDB, but I've hit some roadblocks. I realize there are many concepts, terminology, and techniques I still need to understand, and that's making it tough to find solutions on my own.
4 Answers
Check if local schools provide a non-degree option that lets you enroll in a few courses without meeting all the usual requirements. This might open up some opportunities for you!
Community colleges often offer affordable courses where you might only need to know the basics of one programming language—Python's a popular choice these days! Look for introductory classes; they're usually pretty accessible.
If you don’t need credit, see if you can audit a course! Many professors are open to this and it helps you avoid those pesky prerequisites. Just a heads up, though, some find traditional learning less useful nowadays with all the online resources available. You could even ask an AI to help design a learning pathway for you!
Have you considered learning from books? This kind of self-study can really help you grow as a developer, and it's something you can do for the long haul as you progress in your journey!
I tried using AI, but some explanations are tricky, and I think having a real person would make it easier to ask questions. For instance, I asked for a C# project idea, and it suggested building a compiler from scratch—way too much for me right now!