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Comment by warent | Hacker News Reader

Hi everyone, Wyatt Arent here. When this article was proposed, it was unexpected and I'm still humbled. It's a privilege to have an opportunity to inspire and help as much as I can. Thanks for your time, keep kicking ass, here's to continued growth and evolution of us all

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Since you successfully passed the Google interview, can you comment on how much the OCW content prepared you for it? Or did you have to supplement with other algorithm books? I believe many people would find your self-taught-no-CS-degree experience very interesting.

Yes, Even I want to know this too. I am an aspiring self taught developer. Can you please elaborate on the courses you specifically took, any extra books you referred to and any side projects ? I would really like to know more about your experience in detail as I feel it might help with my journey.

I replied to another user "40acres" in this thread about my process, check that out for additional details. Yes, watch videos and read books. "Tushar Roy - Coding Made Simple" on YouTube was a massive help. Some books I've read: Cracking the Coding Interview, Programming Interviews Exposed, Programming Pearls, Hacker's Delight, Mythical Man Month, Boolean Reasoning: The Logic of Boolean Equations, Understanding Linux Network Internals, Introduction to Algorithms CLRS, Return on Software: Maximizing the Return on Your Software Investment, Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art.

I read (past and presently) a lot of business and finance books as well. Also tons of books teaching soft skills, which is hugely important.

is there Hacker News Gold? you just earned it

Did you self study CLRS? Or did you have supplementary material?

Totally awesome! I just have one question.

When you got blocked or felt like you hit a wall, what did you do?

Curious about this too!

Do you mean in regards to a technical issue, or a personal life issue, or something else?

Now that I think about it, both. But when I posted, more specifically to technical issues. e.g. When a concept was really foreign what did you do.

I hit a wall everyday in texts I read/do. If googling/stack exchange doesn't help I try again later or the next day. Almost everytime I am able to figure it out immediately upon the second try after sleep or X hours have past, strange how that works.

Great story.

I am also working through MIT OCW classes, currently on 6.0001 (Introduction to CS using Python).

Just a few questions: - What specific courses did you take? - Did you complete the psets and quizzes / exams to test what you learned? - Did you buy, rent, or download the suggested books? - Did you listen to all the lectures or skip around? How about recitations (where available)?

Any course that had lecture videos in the "electrical engineering and computer science" department. Patrick H. Winston is phenomenal. Also any Erik Demaine lecture, including his grad work in paper folding. Watch some lectures under the Mathematics and Physics department as well. Particularly Herbert Gross is memorable. Convert as many solutions into code as you can.

I always watch lectures speed up to 1.2x speed and watch them in order. If topics were particularly beautiful or interesting, I'll watch multiple times. If I don't get something, rewind, hear it over and over until I get it. Still don't get it? Google it. Find other explanations. Don't move on until you get it. Can't get it? Then accept the content is too advanced at this moment, and you simply need to work your way up to it. Very important to remember: don't get upset with yourself.

I did psets maybe half the time. Always took notes. Flashcards. Flashcards. Flashcards. Flashcards. Also flashcard apps too. Definitely did recitations when available. Did research on all the textbooks and read maybe half, just the ones that have been deemed "classics" and great literature. I usually purchase physical copy books or kindle.

Is there any reason that you chose MIT OCW exclusively, as opposed to other universities or MOOCs?

Also, how did you decide which psets or labs to do, and which to skip?

Well done! This is very impressive.

IMHO, curiosity and desire to learn form the basis of any good technologist career. And arguably they are very important for a happy and fulfilled life. I applaud your tenacity.

Thank you for the kind words :)

Wyatt,

You're story is inspiring of course and I have 2 questions if I may. I've had similar issues although I have a lot of support; mostly chronic un(der)employment; substance abuse and briefly was quasi-homeless. I finally have a few waiter & landscaping gigs and a roof so def lucky AF, but now that I've ticked off the bottom few runs on Maslow's heirarchy I wou

[comment broke] ..Ld like to ask a few questions:

- What percentage of your success was hard work, what percentage aptitude and "nature" / intelligence and what percentage was luck?

- In the way people describe love as "you just know"; how sure of programming and your path were you?

- AFTER coming up from rock bottom; did you have a long term goal or simply stability and how did you manage yourself mentally to continue?

I taught myself programming, I enjoy the ability to understand technology and solve everyday issues as well as build things. I am stable; but trying to decide whether tech is a field I should pursue directly; or a component of the skillset I will need for my career. It's tough to determine if I am at a ceiling because I can't stay motivated, it isn't for me, or I am focusing on the wrong vertical (eg app Dev vs Dev ops vs project management)

Thanks.

Very inspiring.

I think a remarkable part of this that no one has mentioned is that the article mentioned you struggled with homelessness at least at one point. Can you talk more about your experience being homeless? Did you have difficulties finding the ability to get your basic needs met while studying? How did you support yourself? What did you take away from the experience?

Have you written about your journey from GED to Google? If you have I would be interested in reading it.

Maybe someday when I'm much older and have more to include in my story

Hey Wyatt, Congrats!

Wanted to know how long it usually takes you to get through a typical CS/Math course and how much time you spend on it a week?

Also how long does it take for you to get through the readings? Some of those books you mentioned are lengthy, especially Mathematics for Computer Science!

Thanks!

Could you go into some more detail about the Google interview?

For instance, was there whiteboard coding?

What position were you hired for at Google?

I cannot go into detail. However, I can tell you that reading about other people's experiences online, places like Quora, Glassdoor, etc, did help take away much of the mystery

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