Getting Started in Programming: A Conversation with Doc and Snaza

In today's digital age, programming has become an essential skill for anyone looking to start their own business or pursue a career in tech. But where do you begin? For many, it starts with exploring open source projects and learning about APIs. Doc and Snaza, two experienced programmers, share their journey of getting started in programming and offer valuable advice for those just beginning.

For both Doc and Snaza, their love for programming began with exploring GitHub repositories. They would often look over open source projects to learn from others and gain experience. "I've been really into using GitHub a lot," says Doc. "I just like looking at the source code of projects that I'm interested in and trying to figure out how they work." Snaza agrees, adding that this was how he got started with programming. "I was just interested in seeing how systems functioned and how to make these features accessible for other users."

As they began exploring open source projects, both Doc and Snaza also joined the Discord community. For Snaza, it was one of the first places he jumped into when discord bots were becoming popular. "It was like the first thing I ever really got involved in," he says. "I didn't know what was going on at first, but I was excited to learn." Doc also shares his experience with Discord, noting that he joined as soon as it became available. "I just wanted to see how the system worked and how I could contribute," he says.

Now, both Doc and Snaza are experienced programmers with a passion for their craft. For Doc, it's not just about writing code; it's also about the systems administration field that he's become familiar with. He's been running his own gaming community since 2013 and has developed skills in Linux servers and software development. "I've run my own gaming community for over seven years," says Doc proudly. "It's amazing to see how much experience I've gained from doing it on my own."

Snaza, on the other hand, is a seasoned bot developer with a strong focus on Discord. His expertise in creating custom bots and integrating them into the platform has earned him recognition within the community. "I love designing websites," says Snaza. "I'm not the most aesthetically pleasing person, but I've got skills." He credits his partner, Ralph, for helping him develop his design skills, which he's now applying to other projects.

What sets Doc and Snaza apart from many aspiring programmers is their approach to learning. Rather than simply following a traditional path or seeking guidance from others, they've taken a hands-on approach to developing their skills. "I look at what's being done on GitHub," says Doc. "I see what people are doing and I try to learn from it." Snaza also emphasizes the importance of exploration. "If you just stick to one thing, you'll get bored," he says. "It's better to explore different things and find out what you're passionate about."

For those just starting out in programming, Doc and Snaza offer these final words of advice: be open to learning from others, take the time to explore and experiment with new technologies, and don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. As they continue to grow and develop their skills, one thing is clear: with dedication and a willingness to learn, anyone can become a skilled programmer.

Throughout this conversation, it's evident that Doc and Snaza share a common passion for programming and a commitment to learning from others. Their experiences, although different in some ways, demonstrate the importance of exploration, experimentation, and hands-on learning. Whether you're just starting out or an experienced programmer looking to expand your horizons, Doc and Snaza offer valuable insights into the world of programming.

In terms of career paths, both Doc and Snaza have followed somewhat unconventional routes. For Doc, it was running his own gaming community that led him to develop skills in systems administration. For Snaza, it's been a focus on bot development and integrating them into the Discord platform. While these paths may not be traditional, they've proven successful for both individuals.

One thing is clear: with hard work and dedication, anyone can pursue a career in programming or tech-related fields. Whether you're looking to start your own business, join a team, or simply explore new technologies, Doc and Snaza's story serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of following your passion and being willing to learn from others.

As we wrap up this conversation with Doc and Snaza, it's clear that these two programmers have found their calling in tech-related fields. Through their experiences, they've demonstrated the value of exploration, experimentation, and hands-on learning. Whether you're just starting out or an experienced programmer looking for inspiration, take a page from Doc and Snaza's book: be open to new ideas, explore different technologies, and don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it.

For those interested in pursuing a career in programming or tech-related fields, there are several key takeaways from this conversation. First, it's essential to be open to learning from others. Look at what other programmers are doing on GitHub, join online communities like Discord, and seek guidance from experienced mentors. Second, don't be afraid to explore different technologies and try new things. This is the best way to discover your passions and develop skills that will serve you well in your career. Finally, remember that learning is a lifelong process. Whether you're just starting out or an experienced programmer, there's always something new to learn.

In conclusion, Doc and Snaza's conversation offers valuable insights into the world of programming and tech-related fields. Their experiences demonstrate the importance of exploration, experimentation, and hands-on learning, and offer practical advice for those looking to start their own business or pursue a career in tech. Whether you're just starting out or an experienced programmer looking for inspiration, take a page from Doc and Snaza's book: be open to new ideas, explore different technologies, and don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis is twit you are both relatively young or early in your careers and there's no no problem with that but we talk or at least i talk whenever i'm on the show a lot about how to get started because i get that question from younger people a lot who are just going into you know maybe software engineering program at university or something and they ask about you know how can i get started you know how can i get an internship how can i get something on my resume like i don't have any experience but you need experience to get these jobs and so forth so i kind of want to ask both of you that question um you know what advice would you give because i look at both of you and i see you know you guys have been very successful so far um in your careers what what kind of advice would you give um people maybe your age or younger that you're so younger than yourself or even us old folks uh you know who maybe want to change careers and get into this what advice would you give them on how to start out what to do i will i will start this as a recent college grad well recent 2020 i graduated um be involved wherever you can i ironically enough and i love this i love telling this piece of of story about my life so far is my hiring uh where i'm at right now which i started two days after my commencement the monday it was my i walked across the stage saturday and i started monday and that's and starting in a position that paid more than most of the people that graduated with me and a large piece of why i got hired was because of of my experience and my experience was just doing things that i enjoyed if you are um if you're a developer and you want to and you're going to school and you want you know you want to be a programmer for whatever you you may not even know what yet and you like doing that kind of stuff on the side then get some projects spun up get involved in something open source that you see that you want to do and or make it yourself find a problem you want to solve and make it yourself which you know that's that's a large piece of how me and snaza got together and and met each other was because of something he did that he made himself that i got involved in and just continue to to do it and and learn and grow and before you know it you know if you're just starting in college four or five years down the line you're going to apply for a job and you have this thing on your resume that you never really probably thought about but in reality your employer is looking at this and going wow this kid right out of college has you know five plus years of of exactly what we're looking for and with me in the systems administration field that was exactly it i've run my own gaming community since 2013. i've been messing around with linux servers since that time in in linux in general before that i mess around with software because i like doing it and it turns out every piece of what i was doing on my personal lab that i had translated a bit to my own business was being used here at the company that i work for and they saw like a match made in heaven and the degree matters you know but that was the the key piece that that identified me from the rest of any other applicant was not only was i familiar with the software and the systems that they use but i'd been doing it on my own for you know seven plus you know seven years yep no that's that's great advice uh snaza what about you you're a seasoned bot developer on discord now you said you've been doing it for what like four or five years or something yeah um i guess the way i kind of started off is i've been really i just like using github a lot and so i just look over github repositories whenever i like using a project and it's open source i always just like to peek around and take a look at the source code and see what i could pick out and know how it operates and that's generally how i've kind of started off becoming a programmer and knowing more about apis and such and then once i've gotten on the discord that was like the first thing i jumped on to when some discord bots were a thing before it wasn't a thing like officially it was just raid over user accounts but i was still interested in seeing how that system functioned and how to uh make these features and make them accessible for other users and so that's just how i mainly started off just going for what i was interested in and looking a lot around github and open source in general awesome awesome i think that's great and it does match up with a lot of what um what i hear and i know doc you're you're passionate about this as well right yeah and actually i was wondering if snazzler would um uh a cool thing about ralph is he's he he's already in his career do you have like a career path in mind or just you want to continue just doing what you're doing i mean he was being very specific about loving being assisted systematic which is an interesting thing to me because some people want to get out of that he likes being in it um is that something you want to do or is it you just want to be like a great programmer and go open source wherever it takes you just kind of curious about that um i'm i'm not interested in sis admin myself specifically i know how to do successful work as much as it um will i will do to host my projects of course but um for me i've mainly just been going for being a full stack developer just making websites design sometimes designing them and making applications as well as far as the career path's going um i've looked i've looked into i've been definitely trying to make his other career but uh there's not much specifics yet i'm just um just using what i've been doing and maintaining open source projects like i have been doing to hopefully build up that reputation that's great and i i hope to see more battle ribbons on your avatar there so he can i mean he can he can design a website that's for sure and it literally started off with me saying hey we need to redo this again one of those you want to help because when it comes to designing anything i'm the most unaesthetic person that you could ever meet he's like okay yeah sure and two days later he comes to me with uh with a figma uh layout of a relative site template i'm like i love this this is great and he's actually the one who redesigned all of the all of the craig sites and in any of the sites that we've worked on for the projects at this point has redesigned them and does a bang-up job youthis is twit you are both relatively young or early in your careers and there's no no problem with that but we talk or at least i talk whenever i'm on the show a lot about how to get started because i get that question from younger people a lot who are just going into you know maybe software engineering program at university or something and they ask about you know how can i get started you know how can i get an internship how can i get something on my resume like i don't have any experience but you need experience to get these jobs and so forth so i kind of want to ask both of you that question um you know what advice would you give because i look at both of you and i see you know you guys have been very successful so far um in your careers what what kind of advice would you give um people maybe your age or younger that you're so younger than yourself or even us old folks uh you know who maybe want to change careers and get into this what advice would you give them on how to start out what to do i will i will start this as a recent college grad well recent 2020 i graduated um be involved wherever you can i ironically enough and i love this i love telling this piece of of story about my life so far is my hiring uh where i'm at right now which i started two days after my commencement the monday it was my i walked across the stage saturday and i started monday and that's and starting in a position that paid more than most of the people that graduated with me and a large piece of why i got hired was because of of my experience and my experience was just doing things that i enjoyed if you are um if you're a developer and you want to and you're going to school and you want you know you want to be a programmer for whatever you you may not even know what yet and you like doing that kind of stuff on the side then get some projects spun up get involved in something open source that you see that you want to do and or make it yourself find a problem you want to solve and make it yourself which you know that's that's a large piece of how me and snaza got together and and met each other was because of something he did that he made himself that i got involved in and just continue to to do it and and learn and grow and before you know it you know if you're just starting in college four or five years down the line you're going to apply for a job and you have this thing on your resume that you never really probably thought about but in reality your employer is looking at this and going wow this kid right out of college has you know five plus years of of exactly what we're looking for and with me in the systems administration field that was exactly it i've run my own gaming community since 2013. i've been messing around with linux servers since that time in in linux in general before that i mess around with software because i like doing it and it turns out every piece of what i was doing on my personal lab that i had translated a bit to my own business was being used here at the company that i work for and they saw like a match made in heaven and the degree matters you know but that was the the key piece that that identified me from the rest of any other applicant was not only was i familiar with the software and the systems that they use but i'd been doing it on my own for you know seven plus you know seven years yep no that's that's great advice uh snaza what about you you're a seasoned bot developer on discord now you said you've been doing it for what like four or five years or something yeah um i guess the way i kind of started off is i've been really i just like using github a lot and so i just look over github repositories whenever i like using a project and it's open source i always just like to peek around and take a look at the source code and see what i could pick out and know how it operates and that's generally how i've kind of started off becoming a programmer and knowing more about apis and such and then once i've gotten on the discord that was like the first thing i jumped on to when some discord bots were a thing before it wasn't a thing like officially it was just raid over user accounts but i was still interested in seeing how that system functioned and how to uh make these features and make them accessible for other users and so that's just how i mainly started off just going for what i was interested in and looking a lot around github and open source in general awesome awesome i think that's great and it does match up with a lot of what um what i hear and i know doc you're you're passionate about this as well right yeah and actually i was wondering if snazzler would um uh a cool thing about ralph is he's he he's already in his career do you have like a career path in mind or just you want to continue just doing what you're doing i mean he was being very specific about loving being assisted systematic which is an interesting thing to me because some people want to get out of that he likes being in it um is that something you want to do or is it you just want to be like a great programmer and go open source wherever it takes you just kind of curious about that um i'm i'm not interested in sis admin myself specifically i know how to do successful work as much as it um will i will do to host my projects of course but um for me i've mainly just been going for being a full stack developer just making websites design sometimes designing them and making applications as well as far as the career path's going um i've looked i've looked into i've been definitely trying to make his other career but uh there's not much specifics yet i'm just um just using what i've been doing and maintaining open source projects like i have been doing to hopefully build up that reputation that's great and i i hope to see more battle ribbons on your avatar there so he can i mean he can he can design a website that's for sure and it literally started off with me saying hey we need to redo this again one of those you want to help because when it comes to designing anything i'm the most unaesthetic person that you could ever meet he's like okay yeah sure and two days later he comes to me with uh with a figma uh layout of a relative site template i'm like i love this this is great and he's actually the one who redesigned all of the all of the craig sites and in any of the sites that we've worked on for the projects at this point has redesigned them and does a bang-up job you\n"