bshef

They can't do this! There are dozens of us! Dozens!

Yes

Troll harder

I have many friends who swear by it, though it's only ever used for one, very niche use-case: Documenting only mildly interesting moments for friends to see.

There's no need to document unimportant things. If you have a random thought that'd you like to blurt out to the world, there's Twitter. If you want to remain social with people outside of real life contact, there's Facebook. If you want to communicate with people, there are any number of messaging apps -- which, by the way, can send any form of media. If there's something going on that is interesting enough to where you'd want to document it semi-permanently, there's any number of cameras and camera apps. If you want to broadcast everything you're doing, there's Periscope and Facebook Live.

So the reason people -- particularly young people -- prefer Snapchat (outside the infamous sexting) is because they can essentially broadcast mildly noteworthy moments of their lives to their friends without worrying about all those pictures and movies hanging around, taking up space, or possibly coming back to embarrass them.

But as for me? My toddler just loves playing with the animated filters. That is literally the only reason I have it.

Pick a popular, modern programming language, and go through the official tutorials. Then, think up a small project for yourself, one you can knock out in a weekend or perhaps over the course of a few weekends. Then do it. Maybe it's a little game, maybe it's a handy utility... it doesn't even have to be something new or unique in the world, as long as it is something you haven't done before.

There, now you can call yourself a coder. Want to upgrade to "programmer" ? Check out languages that are related to the one you just learned. They'll be easy to pick up, so repeat the process. AVOID FRAMEWORKS, and just focus on the language and officially-recommended tools.

Perhaps start tinkering with a Raspberry Pi or Arduino. Learn about the differences in operating systems between Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. Get familiar with Linux -- Ubuntu is a great starting place if you're coming from a Windows background.

Make sure you understand the fundamentals of how computers WORK. In particular, experimenting with x86 assembly language will help bridge the gap between what your modern code says, and how your processor interprets the instructions. Also peek into learning things such as Discrete Mathematics (the math of logic), and State Machines and other theoretical concepts of computer science. You probably won't use this knowledge directly in the real world, but it's the backbone of all computer science... and you will have to take classes that cover this material to get a computer science degree.

...no?

Follow up with your interviewers and ask for some detailed feedback. Keep the conversation cordial and professional. If they're willing, and provide some feedback, you might see some areas where you can tweak your process or shore up some skillsets.

Good luck, and don't give up!

Whatever project you do, do it small-scale first. Release early, and then release often. All too often people get started on a myriad of wonderful side projects, but they are never in a usable state because their initial scopes are too broad.