Please Stop Advicing People To Learn Frameworks Blindly

[Balancedsan]

This is a shoutout to people who like to advise others to learn frameworks whenever someone post for help in finding jobs.

PLEASE, do not blindly advice people to learn frameworks just because they are in demand for jobs. This is a toxic mentality that needs to abolish because it does more harm than good.

No doubt I understand that many people here are rushing into getting a job as its a competitive market and some people here has gone on to the point of quitting their previous job to learn programming full time. But I find that many people here are learning things for the sake of getting a job and ignore important programming concepts which put them at a further disadvantage in the long run.

And what I mean is topics like algorithms, design patterns, and Object Oriented Programming gets ignored and viewed as unimportant compared to learning frameworks because that’s is what most job ads state in their job hunt.

Although getting the job is important, it’s just as important to ensure you are able to adapt to the market and keep the job. Many people fail to understand that the purpose of the framework is to reduce code complexity so that you do not need to write redundant code for repetitive tasks.

It does not substitute your actual skills which you rely upon. And because many companies care more about the profit they get for the app being made then the quality of code many people mistook those things I mentioned as unimportant resulting in many self-thought developers writing spaghetti code in the long run.

Algorithms, OOP, and design patterns are actual programming paradigms that are meant to aid you in writing well-structured code that are less buggy. These are the things that help you fall back on for a lifetime. And since programming is a field that requires you to be adaptable it’s important to learn good habits that help you improve in the long run.

Frameworks change all the time, and over the years there will be more frameworks that will be developed, today react may be hot but who knows in the next 5 years another new framework will be released and be the next hot thing. If someone just knows how to use frameworks and ignore the fundamentals, that person will be dry out very fast. A good programmer will easily be able to learn a new framework based on their skillset they lie on and this is why learning programming fundamentals are important.

While i do understand the importance of learning a framework to get noticed for the job. It should not be something that gloss over programming fundamentals

Also i want to point out that many people mistaken the meaning of “algorithms” algorithms isnt about learning quick sort, or link list etc. A algorithm is a set of well defined instructions in sequence to solve the problem, when we program we are already using algorithms. The key in learning algorithms is finding the most efficient solution to your problem.

[arigoru]

Main issue I have with how lot of the bootcamps teach people to program lies in the fact that lot of the time it makes people dive directly into code when presented with an challenge. That is terrible habit that leaves learners on roadblocks a lot, or wondering “wait, so what do I do now” or just starting into abyss with absent mind.

All of this is because those people are learning basics of programming, but never “what to do before you start”.

This is what gives people from actual universities an edge, because they went trough this stage and know how to actually start and what to do before you start coding. They can use whiteboard and make flow charts and todo lists etc.

It can’t be stressed how much it is important to just take a pen and list, or some related software, or just text editor, and first outline the problem and how you could solve it, not in code but just in free thinking, go over all possible inputs manually etc.

I see freecodecamp forums full of people and questions that only exist because people skip this part. It is sad really, because most of the time you can not even help those people properly, because they haven’t learned basics and don’t even understand it.

I am new to web developement, and learning it for only 1 and half month, but I am not new to IT and was in industry related jobs\education before this. Because of that I had lot of the basics covered before I started, and in just one month I can see that I already can do better job then lot of people here who started year or even two ago, and when I look on why it is that, I see that they really lack fundamentals on way you start approaching problem, planning, and even understanding on how learning your brain new skills work.

Lot of people aren’t even able to read properly. It leaves me with conflicting feeling, but I can see why sites that teach thing “X” not going to first start with something completely unrelated like whiteboarding skills. People would probably just ignore that anyway.

[Balancedsan]

Exactly, cs fundamentals helps u appreciate good code. I only have taken a few subjects in cs. But those few lessons are valuable to me and helped me appreciate code.

For me i think the idea of a bootcamp isnt bad But rather its the audience who are attending them with many new beginners who go in without any prep work or fundamentals

.Bootcamp falls strong in learning soft skills such as collaborating with people as well as building projects in a team which builds aptitude and character which helps.

But falls short in building technical skills as u mentioned with a rush curriculum of 3 months. Hence i think a bootcamp will benefit people who already have strong fundamentals much better.

[arw2015]

A framework is a design pattern.