Jira and Service desk as an entry point for a programmer

[Nikolay Petrov]

Hello dear people,

I will be happy to get some advice from you on the following topic: Jira and Service desk as an entry point for a programmer.
So firstly about my current state. I am a bachelor in computer science where I studied most programming languages but at a basic level. My first job was not programming related either so I was basically studying for a degree which I didn't utilize.
Shortly (early 2020) I landed a job as a Jira administrator. I am really happy to date with it and I have learned a lot for almost a year - I consider myself to be very creative with the way I use the Jira automations, I use some additional payed apps which gave me some more knowledge in Velocity, Dax (PowerBI), Json, HTML and CSS.
... and here I am at a point where I consider the next step to be real programming. My main goal in life as a whole is to give as much value as possible. I know for most people they start as a programmers and then they might do programming for Jira. I wonder if I can do this the other way around - start with smaller projects in Jira and then begin creating bigger things.

The difficult part for me is that I have no access to a mentor since I work in a logistics company which outsources its programmers.
I need advice on how to start creating my own projects - anything like programming languages, courses (doesn't matter paid or free), etc.
Here are some ideas I would like to work on:

• Synchronize data between our database and Service desk fields;
• Import data based on events happening in our database;
• Create custom fields for the licensed users;
• Add/change visuals to the project and issue view;

Sorry for the long post and probably noobish needs and thank you in advace for the assistance.

[Kat Warner _TechTime_]

Hello @Nikolay Petrov - you might like to check out https://developer.atlassian.com/ for topics that get 'under the hood' of Atlassian products.

[Nikolay Petrov]

Thank you Kat!
I will check out your suggestion. :)

[Jeff Turner]

I assume you're using self-hosted Jira? If so, here are some avenues for self-development:

• - Learn SQL by querying the Jira database. SQL will be both very useful for your day job (e.g. creating create interactive reports using Confluence) and for any future programming career.
  
  (Note: the database schema is a bit overwhelming at first due to plugin (ActiveObject) tables - this might help if you're on Postgres)
• Write reporting scripts that connect to Jira via REST API, authenticating with OAuth (applinks).
• If you haven't got it already, install the ScriptRunner plugin, which opens a world of small extension possibilities.

[Nikolay Petrov]

Hello Jeff,
We are actually cloud based and what you are suggesting for querying I am currently doing with a BI connector tool. I am designing reports with DAX which is definitely easier than SQL but gets the job done.
Regarding the Scriptrunner - I have considered using the app but I am not sure whether it can work for idea I had.
Firstly, I have the ideas, secondly I need to come up with a plan to create them, then if this requires a payed app our management needs to confirm the budget.
With no prior experience working as a programmer I can't assure them that I will be able to learn/do scripting in the 1 month free trial period. I am currently studying Java with a Udemy course since Groovy is basically lite Java, but in Udemy nobody tells me the whole process for the App designing like mentor would do, e.g. we do the front-end with A, B and C, then connect it to the back-end with X, Y, Z, we need to use the language J, because it will give us more benefits.
This is something I missed during my university years which I can blame it on my and the teachers - there was wide range of disciplines but nobody made the connection between them so you are left with inapplicable knowledge.
Definitely checking Kat's solution.
Thank you for the advice!