Beginnings — Learning Android development by taking Udacity’s Nanodegree for free
Follow me through my ups and downs in this coding adventure
Hey there!
For me, today marks the beginning of an exciting journey of learning Android development. With my friend Jagan’s words inspiring me to take action now rather than my intended starting day — tomorrow, thus begins my odyssey.
First off, some background: I like programming. A lot. That’s why I chose computer science over biology in high school and majored in computer science in college. After over a year taking a tangent in a different path fueled by various motivations, I’ve returned to coding for good. I’m a software engineer; at least that’s what I studied to become. But there’s some more learning left to do before I can go into the real word and add value to people’s lives through tech.
I used to code in C, C++, Java and develop websites for small businesses using HTML, CSS, JS, PHP and SQL. However, with the meteoric rise in smartphone usage, smartphones have become ubiquitous and they represent a strong symbol. The symbol of getting things done. Smartphones help people get more done, be more productive and overall get more out of life. This makes my shift to mobile development not only a reasonable choice, but a valuable one. It’s my firm belief that I can add value to people’s lives by contributing to the tech that helps them do more.
Get Krishna Reddy’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
After a thorough research of various online and offline courses, and bootcamps, I’ve decided to learn Android development by completing Udacity’s Android Nanodegree. The nanodegree comprises of several courses from Udacity and combines them with 8 projects that I’ll be doing as part of the nanodegree.
The pros of the nanodegree are:
1. Expert project code reviews
2. Expert mentorship and study groups
3. Industry-recognized Nanodegree Certification from Udacity
4. Job opportunities through Udacity’s career fair — Propel
Here’s the catch though — I cannot afford the term fees of the nanodegree, which totals to ₹105,964 (₹44900*2 +18% GST) as of this writing.
So I did what any rational person does when faced with a crunch — I got creative. So, I am going to complete the nanodegree just the way it was intended to, but with a slight twist. Since the nanodegree is a compilation of other Udacity courses (which are free), I will be learning all of these courses and doing the eight projects that are part of the Nanodegree. As for the expert project reviews I would be missing out on, that’s where my friend Jagan comes to the rescue. Being an ex-Udacity Android code reviewer himself, he has generously accepted to do my project code reviews for free. Being a long-time android developer, he would also be a great mentor to have on my side. As for Udacity’s certification and career fair, my belief is that — once I’ve gone through the course material and am able to develop all the projects listed in the coursework, I will be confident in my abilities as an android developer and can approach companies on my own and let my projects speak on my behalf.
There. The entire Nanodegree covered. For free.
And that is my grand plan to learn Android development through Udacity’s Android Nanodegree for free in the upcoming months.
My intent with Medium is to journal my progress and thoughts as I take this course and share my learnings, mistakes and outcomes from it in the form of weekly updates.
So be sure to stay tuned to weekly updates for the preparation, coursework, timeline, progress and all the spicy details.
