I need help getting back into development

One of the best tutorials on really "grokking" git concepts, and it's online and interactive: https://learngitbranching.js.org

For programming, start with buildings things for yourself. Be practical, start small, and iterate, regardless if you consider the previous iteration was a success or failure. I've heard good things about https://automatetheboringstuff.com/ (in Python) in this regard.

Just remember: imposter syndrome is real. Everything you learn exposes you to ten things you don't yet know. Successful devs are comfortable with this reality - the job is one of constant learning. Best of luck!

For getting a grip in current web development, I would recommend fullstackopen.com - it's a free online course by the University of Helsinki and starts from basically zero, and gives you a lot of insights into web dev.

It may take some time, but it's really worth it and an overall great course.

Best of luck to you!

I’m trying to understand Git, but it’s a giant conceptual leap.

Git is not that different from svn (I mean, the biggest hurdle is going from a shared folder to any version control system)... I'd say the main difference is that branches live in a different namespace than files (ie. you don't have trunk/src/whatever but just src/whatever in the main branch). On top of that there's that commit and push are two different things (and the same with fetch and checkout) and that merges are way easier than in svn (where you had to merge stuff manually).

If you create a repo locally and clone it twice in two different directories, you can easily simulate what would happen when you and a coworker collaborate via a centralized repo (say, github) - do a few experiments and you'll see it's not as complicated as it seems (I'd recommend using the CLI instead of some GUI client: it's way easier to figure things out without the overhead of learning to differentiate between git concepts and how the GUI tries to help).

I guess, what I’d like to hear from you all is a way to jump back in as quickly as possible in such a way that it may be a career.

You might check job listings in your region/country to figure out what languages and technology stacks are in high demand, as where you are seems to matter a lot.

Start with a git GUI application. I use git extensions on windows.

You'll be able to get a feel for how it all works and it actually shows you the commands it's running.

I also use bingai a lot when learning. The more specific your question the more likely you are to run into hallucinations and that. But for explaining basic concepts or query things that are well documented it's really good.

It also sources it's answers so you can follow the link for further reading if needed.

Just don't trust it to generate large amounts of code.

I'm trying to understand Git, but it's a giant conceptual leap.

To start with, start with just using git locally. Don't worry about GitHub or similar. Then git and SVN will work very similarly. The main difference is that you need to git add files with changes inside before you commit them.

Once you're comfortable with using it by yourself, then I suggest running something like forgejo locally to be your own code server. Then you can play and learn how the two parts work together.

Generally, you need to give yourself a little time. You need to do the work. Be efficient...sure, but don't try to force it to be quicker than the time you need to learn.

Best advice I have:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FPO4fm4nxc

Keep at it. Do actual projects. Actually use the tools for a while. It will eventually make sense.

Someone will probably shoot me down for this but I actually find ChatGPT good for explaining concepts to me. Especially when I just want a high level understanding of a concept as I try to understand another one without getting too bogged down. A lot of Google results go into way too much detail.

My personal recommendation:

• Pick up Python, it's easy to learn and highly productive. If you also learn fastAPI, you can benefit from highly validated, declarative models to build REST APIs in the backend, well fast. It will yield quick results, you won't become demotivated and you can pick up a paid project soon.

• Pick up Rust. It's "in" right now and I get requests from marketing people that know nothing about programming, asking if their project could be implemented in Rust

• Go with memorizing the shell commands first, try to understand git later. Get productive, try to get where you were with e. g. svn or cvs. If you are comfortable, look at something in depth if you have a problem that you can't solve with the knowledge you have.

• Fuck Java, seriously.

• You have commercial interests, so it is probably wise to look into becoming a fullstack dev to maximize the kind of projects you can do. Look into React, vue.js, svelte. React is probably still the most widely used framework, you'll quickly do a project with vue.js and svelte is a super interesting look into things to come.