Learned On Their Own Who here is self tought?

[Echo_of_thunder 1]

I was wondering. how many people here have learned something such as programing or computer repair on there own. meaning you didnt go to school to learn. I know myself it was the weather, along with html. Honestly I am still learning the both of them. Both change offen enough.

[Mich 0]

Well Echo_of_thunder you must be self taught in the spelling department.

 

All my computer learning I have done on my own. I have never taken a class on anything. I used to know about programming, but things have gotten too sophisitcated for me to keep up. I am still hacking a HTML and a little CSS. All my puter programs I have taught myself how to use. Including PSP 8, which I am still having trouble with.

 

Anywhow, you can count me as one who is self taught.

[truefusion 3]

I learned HTML by viewing the source code of websites and matching the text with the surrounding elements. Anchors were probably the first HTML element i learned because of how easy they are to track down in the source code. I learned CSS in a similar fashion, though it took a bit longer to figure out where the classes and ids were defined at. What interested me in CSS was how you can apply different styles to designated elements that could not be done with simple HTML alone. Basically i took the time to learn and expand because i felt limited with my current knowledge. Same goes with pretty much everything i know concerning computers. I dove into PHP because HTML pages were static and burdening when updating big websites, and i got tired of frames and iframes. PHP also brought new ways to expand. The knowledge from PHP helped me understand JavaScript easier, so i learned a bit of that too, though i don't use it much. But then i felt limited with PHP too, since it was mostly for web development and i wanted to get into desktop application development and PHP is a bit immature for it (though PHP-GTK is pretty mature, but i'm not that interested in GTK). That's where Python came in. I also took the time to get into C and C++, but i haven't done extensive studies on it, and i hate compiling programs and having to worry about memory management. That's why i stick to interpreted languages.But that's all concerning software development. All my hardware knowledge came from what a friend told me about, since he's interested in the hardware aspect of computers. The current computer i own i put together after purchasing all the necessary parts, but that's basically like connecting dots—it's not hard; however, if a part is busted, a newbie might think they did something wrong instead. Other knowledge from, for example, graphic design was just me messing around when i was bored and inspired by other art. Same goes for music production.I don't really like to use the term "self-learned" or phrases like "learned on my own" because in the end there was at least one tutorial or manual or forum i read and used to further my understanding and knowledge, which there is very little difference between reading a book in school and having a teacher to help you—if the teacher can at all help.

[Echo_of_thunder 1]

Well Echo_of_thunder you must be self taught in the spelling department.

 

All my computer learning I have done on my own. I have never taken a class on anything. I used to know about programming, but things have gotten too sophisitcated for me to keep up. I am still hacking a HTML and a little CSS. All my puter programs I have taught myself how to use. Including PSP 8, which I am still having trouble with.

 

Anywhow, you can count me as one who is self taught.

LOL Well Mich I notice my fu pa after I clicked it, so it was too late. also true my spelling is bad but hey I know we all we all have seen worze here with sum of thez people.

[puneye 0]

I am also self learner student of computer. I didn't go any school to learn computer classes. These days I am learning designing website, web programming. I start to learn html code with w3school and so on. Nowdays, I have little knowledge of frontpage, dreamweaver. And I also know something about joomla.I think online web tutor will teach me completely.

[Echo_of_thunder 1]

I am also self learner student of computer. I didn't go any school to learn computer classes. These days I am learning designing website, web programming. I start to learn html code with w3school and so on. Nowdays, I have little knowledge of frontpage, dreamweaver. And I also know something about joomla.
I think online web tutor will teach me completely.

Well some advice Puneye, w3school is okay but I have learned it hands on is the best way than from there. There many free editors around and a lot of trial offers too, even dreamweaver. And most have a tut with them that tells you how and what to do and why.

[Ash-Bash 0]

I learned how to build my fantastic computer of 4.6ghz on my own! and I am 14 .I got no one's help I didn't read any of the manuals I just knew what I was doing some how.

[Digitalidad 0]

When I was at university I had to learn to program in dBase III+ and to learn MS Office because teachers were not really good. So I got some books at the library, including Excel for Dummies and went to the labs at school to learn more. After that, I learned to use Frontpage, Bryce, Corel Draw, and now with all the tutorial on the internet I've learned about a lot of softwares like Hexagon, Flash, etc.I think that it doesn't matter if you have a tutorial or a book you're still "learning on your own". The big thing about it is that you have the will and the persistence to learn without a teacher pushing you to do so. Many people are just so scared of anything new that they go to a lot of schools when they could easily learn by themselves at home

[truefusion 3]

Many people are just so scared of anything new that they go to a lot of schools when they could easily learn by themselves at home

I wouldn't say they're scared of learning something new. I would say it's more of being scared of not getting hired in a field of their interest. After all, a sheet of paper that says you are competent in the field (i.e. diploma) is more desirable to an employer than a sheet of paper that implies that you're just a hobbyist (i.e. in this case, your resume); at least where i live and today's world it is.

[brandonjbegle 0]

Every bit of programming i know is from reading stuff on the internet or in the case of HTML, reading the source code of websites and lookin to see where they fit. Also i used frontpage to see what tags fit what objects. I don't see why you should take a class on anything you could just read for free on the net. I know some html, batch, vbs, and javascript.

[Ash-Bash 0]

I learnt programming on my own that was easy I just spent a whole day programming and I was fantastic at it! I made my own Photo shop! Which I still use because I like the theme and performance of it .

[Nabb 0]

I've learned programming from the internet mostly. When I was around 8 or 9, my cousin introduced me to VB (he told me that making snake would be easy, but I couldn't work out how ), and now I know PHP, ActionScript, JavaScript, BF (<-- lol), and probably a few more esoteric languages Once you grasp the basics of programming, learning new languages is mostly about learning the syntax. High school for me had a little programming (in the years when I was 10 (VB) and 12 (a little AS, but it was mostly animating in Flash)).I've also taught myself a lot of mathematics, which high school teaches much too slowly. Wikipedia and Mathworld rock!Hey, I'm pursuing Computer Science and Mathematics in university

[Ash-Bash 0]

I'm pursuing Computer Science and Mathematics in university

Cool Good luck with it I hope you get a good job too

[princeofvegas 0]

Everything I know about computers and programming, I pretty much taught myself. My parents bought me my first computer when I was 6 years old and from there I had to know everything about it. My elementary school in New Mexico was one of the first in the country to have acces to the internet and I can still remember tracking the mayaquest as they moved through mexico.I then became interested in how programs were made and how websites were made, now let me remind you that at this time there were no books, so I went into the source code for the programs and pretty much broke it down and figured it out on my own. The first bit of computer programming that I learned was modifying the gorillas game that came with BASIC.When it came to website I pretty much learned HTML when it was at 3.0. and from that point it has been difficult keeping up with the technology so I have now focused on just one area, PHP and mysql because it is the most commonly used and it is so versatile. I did try going to school a few years back but soon found out that I knew more than my instructors. I quickly tested out of almost all of my classes and earned my diploma in no time at all.

[rayzoredge 2]

I wouldn't say they're scared of learning something new. I would say it's more of being scared of not getting hired in a field of their interest. After all, a sheet of paper that says you are competent in the field (i.e. diploma) is more desirable to an employer than a sheet of paper that implies that you're just a hobbyist (i.e. in this case, your resume); at least where i live and today's world it is.

I agree very wholeheartedly with this truth. Nowadays, even in this age of technology, paper is very important. If you don't have a diploma, certificates, or any fancy paper with your name on it, or any credentials to back up key magical words on your resume (like degree, certified, etc.), it will be much harder to convince anyone to hire you based on your skills. At the same time, anyone can go through the motions, graduate with a degree, and be incompetent with their supposed acquired skills. (A degree or certification says that you met the standard, but how well did you progress and retain the information?)

I guess I can be somewhat put into OP's subject topic category, since I am somewhat proactive on learning things on my own. Just about everything that I know about computers, I learned by myself with hands-on, tutorials, research, and simple observation. It's funny to say that I've never built a desktop computer, yet I am 100% sure that I can pull it off because of the time that I've virtually "tinkered" with components. TrueFusion is right about building computers from scratch being much like connecting the dots... especially today, with color-coding, one-way insertion, and a little common sense. (An LGA 775 socket in a motherboard may sound like Greek to most people, but most people would also make the connection that a processor with an LGA 775 form factor will fit in that socket. Likewise with RAM - matching supported clock speeds and type, video cards and AGP/PCIe, etc.)

If you really want to utilize the meaning of the term, everyone is a self-learner. Life teaches us so many things when we venture out and make mistakes, and even lessons are learned through the good things. You will find out that haggis actually tastes good to you or not... if you try it. You will find out that you like or don't like skydiving... if you try it. Sticking a fork into an outlet back when you weren't old enough to know better will teach you about the conductivity of electricity. Being around kids will remind you that the simple things can be the best things in life. Becoming a parent will test you in the most difficult ways possible, and experience will teach you to an extent what to do and what not to do. Reading will teach you vocabulary and grammar structure, and if you look into it even more, style of writing, history of literature, and even new ideas and concepts that can spur the imagination into developing those ideas and concepts into reality. Playing games can inspire you, work on your eye and hand coordination, and you can even learn from them. (I've played enough FPS's in my time to know more about combat than you'll ever know.)
Edited February 16, 2009 by rayzoredge (see edit history)