The tech industry is growing, evolving, changing, and offering new, amazing opportunities for those who are invested in growing their own knowledge and abilities. Recently, I started a bootcamp and got three weeks into the program. Unfortunately, due to the extensive amounts of homework, which I hardly had time to do after spending nine hours on campus, two hours commuting, and trying to spend time with my family, I found completing the work virtually impossible. Not to mention, I was struggling to find the time and energy to cook lunches for daycare, play a game, or even snuggle.

The second week into the bootcamp, there was a code challenge. I was so nervous and tired that I wrote nonsense throughout the challenge, ultimately failing. During the third week of the course, I had to submit a CLI application, which, unfortunately, didn’t go too well, either. During the entire process and the three week period, I learned a lot, and during it, I realized that it’s not about how fast you are going to graduate and receive your diploma, but about actually understanding what you are doing and how to implement it.

What is CLI?

CLI or Command Line Applications are programs you interact with through your terminal and shell. There are no graphics or visual interface past what is seen in your terminal after you have run a program. There’s no drop-down navigation for you to browse, or anything for you to click. The CLIs are only able to communicate with the user through ASCII output and will only accept input from a user through ASCII characters that are entered into a prompt. The simple interface and the constrained features allow people who are unfamiliar with programming and computers to interact with the machine. In fact, technology wouldn’t be where it is today without the presence of CLI applications.

The Importance of knowing CLI

As a developer, some of the tools that are most powerful and impactful are considered CLI applications. For example, “git” is a CLI application, and so is “learn.” The entire “ruby” interpreter is actually presented in the CLI application and interface. Now is the time to grow the excitement around creating CLI applications. While they may seem somewhat trivial and chances are, they aren’t going to impress your friends, they are the true foundation of software and the first step in your journey to effectively change the world using code.

Unlock a Future in Tech

Now is the time to begin looking into a future in the tech industry. The fact is, things are going to continue to change and evolve and you have to put in the time and effort to make it (which is something I learned firsthand from my above-mentioned experience). In addition to offering a huge selection of opportunities regarding your career and the industries you can enter, this is a career choice that is only going to continue to grow and develop, which means as long as you remain aware of the trends and the new technologies being offered, you can continue to be successful in the tech-industry.

Starting from the Bottom If you are in no way a “tech” person, don’t fret – it’s never too late to enter this industry. The key is to start now and stop waiting. This industry is growing by leaps and bounds and there is no sign that this growth is going to stop any time soon. If you are interested in finding an industry where there’s untold growth and unknown earning potential, this is the one for you.

My Tech-Industry Goals

After completing the program I have enrolled in – successfully – and learning everything necessary to excel in this field, my ultimate goal is to secure a job as quickly as possible. This isn’t because I am a woman or a mom, but because I have completed my course successfully and that I am good at what I have chosen to do. Because of my recently failure in the above-mentioned program, I plan to repeat the previous three-week course in the same topic – Ruby language. However, I am going to utilize different labs and this time, my ultimate goal is to own it! I’ve learned from my past mistakes, which is one of the most important lessons that anyone can learn from. My goal is to excel in this growing industry and in the future, I may even share more about the experiences I have to achieve success in this difficult realm. While this is just one course, I believe it’s the beginning of my foray into something bigger and more challenging than I ever expected and I am excited to see what the future holds after I have successfully completed the course that I have committed to.