6 ms·

How to quickly but effectively become technically conversant

6 points by avni000 12y ago

For a non-technical entrepreneur wanting to up her technical capabilities what would you recommend? Not looking to be a programmer, but ideally learn enough to better lead and work with engineers and/or build a crappy prototype.

bjourne 12y ago
Sorry there are no shortcuts. Study as hard as you can and spend as many hours you can practicing programming. Then in a few years you'll be able to productively work with other developers.
- avni000 12y ago
  Thanks for sharing your perspective - helpful.
cmstoken 12y ago
Spend a lot of time reading technical material, and be active on Twitter and other places were engineers hang out. Watching videos also helps. There's a lot of JS/Rails/Python stuff on YouTube etc...
- avni000 12y ago
  Oh I hadn't thought about going to YouTube for videos - I'll certainly check that out. Thanks for your tips - definitely helpful!
Teichopsia 12y ago
I'm still learning so take my advice with a grain of salt. That being said, first we ought to applaud you for taking the interest in understanding what goes on behind the scenes and better communicate with the engineers. If I may, there are three courses you could look into. I've only taken the last one, which is fantastic for people that don't have a CS background. You'll learn about data structures. The other two I just came across them today. Now, the intent of this is only to give you a general idea of the amount of information these people deal with. If you happen to be a P.M. and deal with clients, this will help you avoid making promises for x feature to be ready x day due to lacking an understanding of what must be done to get it working. And so forth... Once again, I'm just starting, so take my advice with a grain of salt. https://class.stanford.edu/courses/Engineering/CS101/Summer2014/about https://class.stanford.edu/courses/Engineering/CS101/Summer2... https://www.coursera.org/learn/insidetheinternet https://www.coursera.org/learn/insidetheinternet https://www.coursera.org/course/pythonlearn https://www.coursera.org/course/pythonlearn
- ranty 12y ago
  Oh god, really. It's not that hard. If you're into it and enjoy learning about it, then your head just fills up. It's like moving to a new town and getting used to the place.
  - avni000 12y ago
    I agree with that - I've blown through a number of codeacademy and code school courses just because I've found it so interesting. But now I feel like I have this floating knowledge of some coding without a foundation of context to set it on. So would love to get recommendations of where to start with the real basics (like data structure etc).
    - lacus 12y ago
      Can you be a little more specific about what you're ultimately hoping to build, or learn? I'd generally agree with the commenter who suggested you pick a simple problem and then try to solve it. That's the only way to understand where these bits and pieces you've learned fit into the broader picture. I'm getting the sense that that's what you're after here, at least initially -- a general understanding/overview of how this stuff all comes together in the real world? Is that right, or no?
      - avni000 12y ago
        Ultimately, I would love if I could build a very basic prototype (of a web app) so that I can scrappily build a product to test. I recognize that that is not an easy task and would take a significant investment to get to proficiency, let alone mastery. But as someone that is analytical but not "technical", it can be exceedingly frustrating to have an idea that you want to implement and create but you don't have the know-how to do so. So I'm trying to find a way to teach myself to fish without becoming a master fisherman. And in the process I also hope that I can become a more effective entrepreneur because I will be able to communicate not only intent and design to the engineers, but appreciate the feasibility and development path.
zeeshanm 12y ago
I would say just learn basic data structures, and understand client/server model. Learning about these two will help you have conversation about how your product strategy goals go along with engineering design. You probably shouldn't need to talk with your engineers in deeper details but at design level. Hope this helps.
- avni000 12y ago
  This does help - thank you. Part of the challenge is understanding exactly what it is you're seeking to learn. This helps me narrow down what I should be trying to understand as I build my expertise.
ranty 12y ago
There is only one way to learn: have a problem then solve it. It has to be a real one, too. So go and find (small) problem, work out how to solve it and implement it. Then if you really want to learn: promote and sell the damn thing.
- avni000 12y ago
  Thanks for this practical advice - I guess what you're saying is it doesn't matter if it's JS or Ruby or whatever, just play around until you figure it out. Will give that a shot.

6 points by avni000 12y ago

bjourne 12y ago

Sorry there are no shortcuts. Study as hard as you can and spend as many hours you can practicing programming. Then in a few years you'll be able to productively work with other developers.

avni000 12y ago
Thanks for sharing your perspective - helpful.

cmstoken 12y ago

Spend a lot of time reading technical material, and be active on Twitter and other places were engineers hang out. Watching videos also helps. There's a lot of JS/Rails/Python stuff on YouTube etc...

avni000 12y ago
Oh I hadn't thought about going to YouTube for videos - I'll certainly check that out. Thanks for your tips - definitely helpful!

Teichopsia 12y ago

I'm still learning so take my advice with a grain of salt. That being said, first we ought to applaud you for taking the interest in understanding what goes on behind the scenes and better communicate with the engineers. If I may, there are three courses you could look into. I've only taken the last one, which is fantastic for people that don't have a CS background. You'll learn about data structures. The other two I just came across them today. Now, the intent of this is only to give you a general idea of the amount of information these people deal with. If you happen to be a P.M. and deal with clients, this will help you avoid making promises for x feature to be ready x day due to lacking an understanding of what must be done to get it working. And so forth... Once again, I'm just starting, so take my advice with a grain of salt. https://class.stanford.edu/courses/Engineering/CS101/Summer2014/about https://class.stanford.edu/courses/Engineering/CS101/Summer2... https://www.coursera.org/learn/insidetheinternet https://www.coursera.org/learn/insidetheinternet https://www.coursera.org/course/pythonlearn https://www.coursera.org/course/pythonlearn

ranty 12y ago
Oh god, really. It's not that hard. If you're into it and enjoy learning about it, then your head just fills up. It's like moving to a new town and getting used to the place.
- avni000 12y ago
  I agree with that - I've blown through a number of codeacademy and code school courses just because I've found it so interesting. But now I feel like I have this floating knowledge of some coding without a foundation of context to set it on. So would love to get recommendations of where to start with the real basics (like data structure etc).
  - lacus 12y ago
    Can you be a little more specific about what you're ultimately hoping to build, or learn? I'd generally agree with the commenter who suggested you pick a simple problem and then try to solve it. That's the only way to understand where these bits and pieces you've learned fit into the broader picture. I'm getting the sense that that's what you're after here, at least initially -- a general understanding/overview of how this stuff all comes together in the real world? Is that right, or no?
    - avni000 12y ago
      Ultimately, I would love if I could build a very basic prototype (of a web app) so that I can scrappily build a product to test. I recognize that that is not an easy task and would take a significant investment to get to proficiency, let alone mastery. But as someone that is analytical but not "technical", it can be exceedingly frustrating to have an idea that you want to implement and create but you don't have the know-how to do so. So I'm trying to find a way to teach myself to fish without becoming a master fisherman. And in the process I also hope that I can become a more effective entrepreneur because I will be able to communicate not only intent and design to the engineers, but appreciate the feasibility and development path.

zeeshanm 12y ago

I would say just learn basic data structures, and understand client/server model. Learning about these two will help you have conversation about how your product strategy goals go along with engineering design. You probably shouldn't need to talk with your engineers in deeper details but at design level. Hope this helps.

avni000 12y ago
This does help - thank you. Part of the challenge is understanding exactly what it is you're seeking to learn. This helps me narrow down what I should be trying to understand as I build my expertise.

ranty 12y ago

There is only one way to learn: have a problem then solve it. It has to be a real one, too. So go and find (small) problem, work out how to solve it and implement it. Then if you really want to learn: promote and sell the damn thing.

avni000 12y ago
Thanks for this practical advice - I guess what you're saying is it doesn't matter if it's JS or Ruby or whatever, just play around until you figure it out. Will give that a shot.