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Comment by CoreSet | Hacker News Reader

Thank you for the advice! Let me ask for clarification on a few points.

Absolutely agree with 1, 2 (just did Codeschool's free "Try Git" tutorial and am moving on to the paid version) 3, 4 (though I don't have any experience here) and 5 (I think the majority of our HTML/CSS will be through online courses).

For 6, you're referring to this, right? http://ruby.railstutorial.org/

Also, would you recommend studying Python or any other languages concurrently with Ruby besides HTML, CSS, and JS? I love Ruby's simplicity so much compared to half-remembered bits of high school Java that at this point anything else will come as a shock.

On 7, do you have any ideas for other angles? I'm coming from a journalism/content background and will try to avoid wholesale anything pegging me as green, but if it came down to it...Journeyman Developer? Upstart App Writer? What would be the best way of honestly representing my expertise?

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1. About git. In my experience, I have never met anyone who learned git by just doing tutorials. The best way to learn git is to start using it for every coding exercise.

2. Yes, that's the Rails tutorial.

3. Is the dev academy Ruby-focused, JS-focused, or something else? Because I would most certainly NOT recommend you try to learn multiple languages concurrently. Whatever language is the focus of the dev academy, master that one. So no, don't learn Python/any other languages concurrently. (HTML and CSS are not programming languages. They are markup languages and it is assumed that any web developer has basic proficiency in them). The one exception is you usually need to know some JS. So if, for example, the dev academy does Ruby, you'll still probably be taught JS. But as far as self-teaching goes, focus on the language that's the focus of the dev academy. Master that first.

4. You're missing my junior developer point. "Upstart" and "journeyman" are all synonyms of "junior." My point is that you should not give such a blatant indication that you are junior in any way. Let them make up their mind about your abilities when they interview you. Saying you're a junior developer is only going to hurt you. It is only going to increase the likelihood that your resume gets tossed out. Just say you are a (Software|Web|Ruby|JavaScript|Python) (Developer|Engineer).

3. The camp is Ruby (RoR) centric, although you're correct in assuming the curriculum includes a strong JS component (from the materials I've seen). I was mostly interested in the idea of learning another language concurrently for the possibility that it would illuminate important general principles in development/CS, but yeah, I think you're right that whatever I'm taught should be my principal focus.

4. I agree. It's interesting, I would never utter (or write) the words "entry-level journalist" or "upstart writer", etc., but something about this new technical domain made it feel as if I should advertise my inexperience. Thanks for the wisdom!

For 6, yes he's referring to that.

Learn python, but maybe not now. You are taking on plenty with git, ruby, rails, html, css and js.

The best way of honestly representing your expertise is, in my opinion, web application developer.

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