Basic knowledge ob programming

[DarshanDash]

Hi Programers!,

I've been searching around the web like YouTube and Google etc on learning the basics of computer programming but I never found one which really teaches the basics and follow through of it.I'm extremely new to programming.My only knowledge about programming is it has different languages c++,python and I guess there are more

I barely have a clue on what each sentence (or code) means and from what I heard math is involved in programming but my question is.Is it tough to learn coding? 

I hope there are some methods or sites i could learn coding there are tons of programmers here and I'm hoping you guys could help me out

[Voze]

Hello my friend  ! It's is not that hard learning how to code. It can be pretty tough in the beginning but it will become easier and easier the more you learn. There exists a lot of programming languages. Javascript, Java, C#, Javascript just to mention a few. Math can be involved if the program that you are creating requires it. Example: Creating a 3d game engine requires math, creating a program that asks you for your favorite color doesn't. If you want to start learning how to code then I would recommend watching these videos: 

 

[Mathieu Godin]

Hey, First language I learn was Small Basic. It's kinda made for Children but it is easy to understand and you can easily make a Graphical interface. You can start by moving a rectangle, then use that rectangle to make a button. This button can then play a sound. What I did when I was comfortable enough with Small Basic was a circle who could jump and then fall back with the gravity. I could also move it right and left with the keyboard arrows. 

 

You can download small basic here. 

 

After, well all language are kinda the same. Any time you code, the biggest challenge is to use something for the first time. If I use a new language, framework or anything else I will have to learn how to communicate whit it. Event if I know c++, java, python etc, I will have to take some time to learn the way it works. 

 

But knowing how to code is going to follow you with any language. And that's what you will learn with small Basic.

[Nuluvius]

On 23/04/2017 at 0:05 PM, DarshanDash said:

Is it tough to learn coding?

I dislike the word 'coding' but to succinctly address the question: it is completely relative; it was easy for me, it is still easy for me but what is easy for me may cripple you and vice versa. It depends, do you want to learn and if so how badly do you want it.

On 23/04/2017 at 0:05 PM, DarshanDash said:

from what I heard math is involved in programming

Again it depends on where in the industry you feel like you want to go. In the general sense however, the assumption that mathematics is a requirement is very draconian and highly obsolete now. If someone were to say that to you against the broad context then you can probably feel confident in disregarding everything else that they have to say on the subject and move on with your life...

[Dat Guy]

On 23.4.2017 at 1:05 PM, DarshanDash said:

I barely have a clue on what each sentence (or code) means and from what I heard math is involved in programming but my question is.Is it tough to learn coding? 

This largely depends on the language you choose. There are languages which (more or less) equal a basic level of English (e.g. COBOL) and there are more abstract ones (e.g. C++).

[vorticalbox]

https://www.bottomupcs.com

 

Quote

In a nutshell, what you are reading is intended to be a shop class for computer science. Young computer science students are taught to "drive" the computer; but where do you go to learn what is under the hood? Trying to understand the operating system is unfortunately not as easy as just opening the bonnet. The current Linux kernel runs into the millions of lines of code, add to that the other critical parts of a modern operating system (the compiler, assembler and system libraries) and your code base becomes unimaginable. Further still, add a University level operating systems course (or four), some good reference manuals, two or three years of C experience and, just maybe, you might be able to figure out where to start looking to make sense of it all.

To keep with the car analogy, the prospective student is starting out trying to work on a Formula One engine without ever knowing how a two stroke motor operates. During their shop class the student should pull apart, twist, turn and put back together that two stroke motor, and consequentially have a pretty good framework for understanding just how the Formula One engine works. Nobody will expect them to be a Formula One engineer, but they are well on their way!

Why from the bottom up?

Not everyone wants to attend shop class. Most people only want to drive the car, not know how to build one from scratch. Obviously any general computing curriculum has to take this into account else it won't be relevant to its students. So computer science is taught from the "top down"; applications, high level programming, software design and development theory, possibly data structures. Students will probably be exposed to binary, hopefully binary logic, possibly even some low level concepts such as registers, opcodes and the like at a superficial level.

This book aims to move in completely the opposite direction, working from operating systems fundamentals through to how those applications are complied and executed.

 

[LegionOfOne]

Check out thenewboston. Bucky has TONS of great stuff. Programming is only as tough as what  you are willing to invest. Myself, I found a language I love and I am hooked. Once you find what you like you will be surprised when you realize that learning about it is no longer a "chore" and it's more fun. Quoting breaking bad about when you find something you love: "It's all still magic".

 

Good luck and stick with it :-)

-Lucas

[SilicateWielder]

On 4/23/2017 at 6:05 AM, DarshanDash said:

Hi Programers!,

I've been searching around the web like YouTube and Google etc on learning the basics of computer programming but I never found one which really teaches the basics and follow through of it.I'm extremely new to programming.My only knowledge about programming is it has different languages c++,python and I guess there are more

I barely have a clue on what each sentence (or code) means and from what I heard math is involved in programming but my question is.Is it tough to learn coding? 

I hope there are some methods or sites i could learn coding there are tons of programmers here and I'm hoping you guys could help me out

 

Learning to code is easy, but learning to problem solve at the necessary level for the problems you want to solve is what will be difficult. People say coding is hard to learn but when people say this they're grouping coding language and problem solving together like these are the same thing.

 

Coding is the act of writing instructions that a computer can understand

But problem solving is needed to figure out what those instructions need to be in the first place.

 

Once you're good at problem solving in coding you can apply those skills to a vast majority of other tasks.

 

As for where to learn, I would recommend checking out codecademy, they have courses on Python, JavaScript and even Ruby I believe. 

 

here is a link: https://www.codecademy.com/

 

Also, math can be involved in coding, but that depends on what you're doing with that code. 

 

Also, as for reading code and knowing what it means, you don't simply just understand it, even if you're seasoned programmer, especially for complex code. You have to have an understanding of the code in order know what it's task is and how it performs that task. You can read other people's code but usually it has to be well commented at the very least in order to understand even a shred of any of it. Additionally, having programming notes from the author of the program or script helps as well if you want to read code that isn't yours. 

[Yamoto42]

1 hour ago, UnbrokenMotion said:

Also, math can be involved in coding, but that depends on what you're doing with that code. 

I would disagree on that, specifically on the use of the word "depends".  People hear the word "math" and think go algebra and calculus.  But that is neither all, nor the focus, of the math involved in programming.

 

Programming in and of itself is discreet math with special focus on logic, graph theory, and algorithm analysis.  I might argue, aside from some basic arithmetic, what the common person would think of upon hearing the word "math" might actually be smallest non-empty subset of actual math in the field.

[Beskamir]

Quote

Is it tough to learn coding? 

Not really, although you may get bored at the start when you don't feel like you're progressing anywhere or have the skills to do something fun and cool. Which I might clarify is kind of nonsense. You can start making some pretty neat stuff with just a basic understanding of logic (if statements), user input and some print statements. For instance a text adventure can be done with just those 3 things.

 

Of course a text adventure isn't the most interesting thing imaginable but you get my point. Pick something that's reletively "easy" (if you can explain the ruleset/procedure of the thing you want to do to a friend with nothing more than conditions, loops, and basic math operations then it should be easy enough) and try to make it. Some ideas would include board games like Snakes and Ladders, Nim, etc. which you could even further simplify. Ideally ask an actual programmer if the game you have in mind is too complex or not and a lot of the times the complexity seems to come from one specific element such as a good AI which you could just cut out and make the game only pvp or just use a random AI. Also simply use the console at first, making a UI can be pretty complex and not really something you'll be able to do without functioning game logic anyway.

 

As for which language I recommend... Python is basically the goto language for learning how to code. For one it's actually useful (one of my friends has a dev job where he'll be writting code in Python) so you're not just learning it to learn the skills to learn a more useful language. Also it's really quick to setup and don't have to worry about specifying types or how to link multiple source code files during compilation. (I mean it was annoying that I basically had to learn CMake when I just wanted to learn C++ and OpenGL stuff)

 

Sorry if I rambled on too much or used terms you're not familar with. Feel free to ask me to clarify stuff.

[DarshanDash]

Okay so I'm pretty much geared up and excited to learn it with what you guys suggested me.So my initial thoughts on this is after learning programming I can somehow create an app or website right? Cause I'm pretty stuck on my studies hardcore and I want programming to be something I can release my stress on enjoy developing something.

[Dat Guy]

Yes, you can.

[DarshanDash]

On 4/29/2017 at 3:56 PM, ElfFriend said:

Not really, although you may get bored at the start when you don't feel like you're progressing anywhere or have the skills to do something fun and cool. Which I might clarify is kind of nonsense. You can start making some pretty neat stuff with just a basic understanding of logic (if statements), user input and some print statements. For instance a text adventure can be done with just those 3 things.

 

Of course a text adventure isn't the most interesting thing imaginable but you get my point. Pick something that's reletively "easy" (if you can explain the ruleset/procedure of the thing you want to do to a friend with nothing more than conditions, loops, and basic math operations then it should be easy enough) and try to make it. Some ideas would include board games like Snakes and Ladders, Nim, etc. which you could even further simplify. Ideally ask an actual programmer if the game you have in mind is too complex or not and a lot of the times the complexity seems to come from one specific element such as a good AI which you could just cut out and make the game only pvp or just use a random AI. Also simply use the console at first, making a UI can be pretty complex and not really something you'll be able to do without functioning game logic anyway.

 

As for which language I recommend... Python is basically the goto language for learning how to code. For one it's actually useful (one of my friends has a dev job where he'll be writting code in Python) so you're not just learning it to learn the skills to learn a more useful language. Also it's really quick to setup and don't have to worry about specifying types or how to link multiple source code files during compilation. (I mean it was annoying that I basically had to learn CMake when I just wanted to learn C++ and OpenGL stuff)

 

Sorry if I rambled on too much or used terms you're not familar with. Feel free to ask me to clarify stuff.

Uhm hey listen i installed Python and i wanna start off with the basics then from the work on? I hope that sounds good and an effective way on learning programming.If not anyone let me know.My conflict now is i dont know where to learn it from my first plan was to search of Youtube but there's tons of channels i want something you guys would highly recommend.Tq

[Nuluvius]

14 minutes ago, DarshanDash said:

Uhm hey listen i installed Python and i wanna start off with the basics then from the work on? I hope that sounds good and an effective way on learning programming.If not anyone let me know.My conflict now is i dont know where to learn it from my first plan was to search of Youtube but there's tons of channels i want something you guys would highly recommend.Tq

Make sure you learn with the most current version of the language, though this is true for any language really. Perhaps familiarize yourself with the documentation. A nice place for you to begin may be Codewars as the challenges there tend to be slightly less blinkered to a specific scope; I may even go so far as to say that there are some useful real world skills to be learned and honed there.

 

At the same time you might also want to be thinking about the theoretical aspects such as engineering practices, patterns, architecture and methodologies as well as paradigms (since Python is multi paradigm).

[DarshanDash]

4 minutes ago, Nuluvius said:

Make sure you learn with the most current version of the language, though this is true for any language really. Perhaps familiarize yourself with the documentation. A nice place for you to begin may be Codewars as the challenges tend to be slightly less blinkered to a specific scope, I may even go so far as to say that there are some useful real world skills to be learned and honed there.

 

At the same time you might also want to be thinking about the theoretical aspects such as engineering practices, patterns and architecture as well as paradigms (since Python is multi paradigm).

If i may ask what is the difference between the documentation? or what is it

[Nuluvius]

14 minutes ago, DarshanDash said:

If i may ask what is the difference between the documentation? or what is it

What is language documentation? Each one is different but in a broad sense it is, or aims to be a (more or less complete) reference on a given language; it's features, it's capabilities, it's standard libraries, usage examples and such. In other words it tells you what building blocks you have at your disposal, what they are discretely capable of and some examples of how to use them. Some do a better job than others at this but I'd say that the Python documentation is quite extensive and decently presented.

 

In this context go with version 3.6.1 and the corresponding 3.x documentation. They even give you some tutorials and beginners guides, that's nice of them don't you think.

[Beskamir]

3 hours ago, DarshanDash said:

Uhm hey listen i installed Python and i wanna start off with the basics then from the work on? I hope that sounds good and an effective way on learning programming.If not anyone let me know.My conflict now is i dont know where to learn it from my first plan was to search of Youtube but there's tons of channels i want something you guys would highly recommend.Tq

Alright, awesome! You're plan seems solid enough. Getting a feel for the basics and then applying them to something fun even if you're still missing the finer details of the language will be quicker than trying to learn everything at once. Besides details can usually be search/discovered/shown when needed.

 

Now as for a good guide to get started on the basics, when I tried self learning python before university I ended up following guide that taught Python 2 rather than 3 so then at university I had to relearn a few things. If you want you *could* learn Python 2 and then switch over to Python 3 in a few hours but I suggest you just learn Python 3 to begin with. Anyway if you want here's the guide I used a few years ago: https://learnpythonthehardway.org/book/

 

Also on a related note, I've sort of been trying to piece together a tutorial series with the aim of making it really fun as quickly as possible but it's not really ready yet. I've got a somewhat poorly scrapped together version that I've been trying to get my brother to beta test for me and due to how I try to make it interesting I gloss over or skip a lot of details. Essentially it's more of a project guide to making something neat and learning Python as a side effect rather than a conclusive tutorial for learning the language itself. So more or less my guide is intended to be used with a heavy dose of Google, the Python documentation, Stackoverflow, tutorialspoint, etc. So if that sounds interesting to you then I guess I can show you what I've got so far and try to work out any issues that arise on the spot. Actually someone else on this forum has asked me to teach him over PM so maybe I can just add you to the conversation and see where that goes.

 

Otherwise, for a more structured learning experience I can only really think of tutorialspoint although it may be much more helpful for finding out how to do a specific thing in a language rather than learning that language. Also it sort of goes into detail on stuff you don't really need to know when your starting off, like bitwise operations. Try checking the resources listed here:

For instance, I just noticed the following resource ( https://inventwithpython.com/ ) there and it seems somewhat along the lines of what I'm trying to do but actually completed  

[straight_stewie]

On 4/23/2017 at 6:05 AM, DarshanDash said:

I barely have a clue on what each sentence (or code) means and from what I heard math is involved in programming but my question is.Is it tough to learn coding? 

It really depends: Are you trying to be a good programmer or one who just gets the job done?

In the short term, learning how to program is as simple as picking a common language and looking up some tutorials.

In the long term, it is as difficult as studying discrete mathematics. Traditional mathematics may or may not be very important depending on what you are trying to do. However, discrete mathematics and Boolean algebra is very applicable to nearly all programming and could even be viewed as the "mathematical and logical foundation upon which computers and computer programs are built".

[Nuluvius]

2 hours ago, straight_stewie said:

However, discrete mathematics and Boolean algebra is very applicable to nearly all programming and could even be viewed as the "mathematical and logical foundation upon which computers and computer programs are built".

Yeah but one really doesn't need to view it that way to be proficient or gain proficiency by any means. For instance, I think that if it was forced upon me in that way then I'd never have made it due to my dyscalculia. Very early on I sort of stumbled through the basic concepts and found them trivial but once I'd learned (the technical detail of) exactly what it was that I'd picked up I was already way beyond that point.

 

My argument stands and I would put myself forth as testament to it; one does not need mathematics to become a successful Software Engineer/Developer. Of course there's areas that do require mathematics, likewise, there's areas that require other additional disciplines such as neuroscience, chemistry, biology, physics and so on and so forth but it all very much depends on what you want to do in the industry. I will say again that the doctrine of mathematics being a requirement/bar for entry is a very obsolete and draconian one and those that still try to preach it should take a long hard look around.

[straight_stewie]

7 hours ago, Nuluvius said:

I will say again that the doctrine of mathematics being a requirement/bar for entry is a very obsolete and draconian one and those that still try to preach it should take a long hard look around.

I did not say that it was a requirement for entry. I said that in the long term, atleast a basic understanding of discrete mathematics and boolean algebra is required to make efficient computer programs. 

My point with my post is that it's the difference between knowing how to look up a guide or a stack exchange post, and being able to write a good stack exchange reply. You can totally get into programming and be fairly successful without any knowledge of anything beyond basic early high school maths. Sorry if my point was a little ambiguous.