Coding All-in-One For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 1

Exploring Coding Career Paths

IN THIS CHAPTER

Using coding in your existing job

Exploring entry-level full-time coding roles

Understanding skills and tasks in various coding roles

We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.

— T.S. ELIOT

For many people, the words “coding career” evoke an image of a person sitting in a dimly lit room typing incomprehensible commands into a computer. The stereotype has persisted for decades — just watch actors such as Matthew Broderick in War Games (1983), Keanu Reeves in The Matrix (1999), or Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network (2010). Fortunately, these movies are not accurate representations of reality. Just like a career in medicine can lead to psychiatry, gynecology, or surgery, a career in coding can lead to an equally broad range of options.

In this chapter, you see how coding can augment your existing job across a mix of functions, and you explore increasingly popular careers based primarily on coding.

Augmenting Your Existing Job

Many people find coding opportunities in their existing job. It usually starts innocently enough, ...