I have been coding for a little less than a year, going through a few Python books and coding every exercise, but it didn't really “click” till about 4 or 5 months ago. Since then I taught myself C and recently Ruby.
I've made a few usable programs this past summer in addition to reading stacks of books; K&R, half-way through The Linux Programming Interface, Eloquent Ruby, Debugging with gdb, Web Application Hackers Handbook, and others.
Small, safe, secure Ruby server. Work in progress. https://github.com/Ghostface-jr/Rube
C workout application that I used to print out a daily workout regimen. https://github.com/Ghostface-jr/Workout-Generator
C app that uses the Leafly.com api to retrieve information. https://github.com/Ghostface-jr/Leafly-app
I found that I really like networking, unix, and security. I am learning how to use Metasploit, nmap, ect and am working my way through exploiting some machines; Metasploitable, Windows XP, stuff like that. I am also have considerable knowledge of web application security, especially relating to Ruby-on-Rails. I know I still have a lot to learn but am excited, motivated, and ready to contribute starting on day one.
So anyway, I'm looking to move to the Bay Area or Seattle asap, if you were a tech company would you hire me for an internship with a full time evaluation after 5 or 6 months? I ask because I feel like I'm at the very beginning of the learning curve and when I see posts of amazing projects by people younger than me on HN I question my abilities.
