Learning to code

[Quiverism]

Hey guys, i will try to keep this short.

I´m a newbie, being thinking about learning to code for years, decided to pull the trigger about a 2 months ago after being disappointed with my current carrer. I wasted the first month in "planning mode" with little to none actual studying. Decided to start with CS50 introducting to programming, and i´ve honestly been loving it.

Current situation is the following:

• Gonna start CS next year in a local university.

• I am living with my parents at the moment so i don´t need to work, which means i can fully commit to just studying for the next 6-7 months, but I believe working experience will pay off way more than just studying so i would like to get a job in the field ASAP, doesn´t need to pay good as my objetive right now is get my feet wet.

• I have absolutly no idea what i would like to do in the future (mobile, web, data science, A.I., etc), nor do i have any projects in mind ATM. AKA: I have no inclinations right now.

Having these factors taken into account... What do you think is my best course of actions?
I´ve asked a friend who is a data scientist and he told me to start with web development (in the following order: HTML & CSS > JavaScript > GIT > Client-Server) and to always try to create a few simple projects with everything new i learn.

What do you guys think? Is it a good enough plan? I guess after going through those i will have a better idea about where to go next, plus it would be "easy" to get a entry-level job of some kind. Other people have told me to go Python (very beginner friendly), while others say C# (Harder to understand, but you will end up with a deeper understanding of programming).

Thanks in advance!

[asquirrel]

While you are learning HTML/CSS and Javascript, keep that work in Git. You can run a repo on your own PC, you don't need a github account. Or you can use a github account, up to you. Also look into courses on UI design and user experience, color selections and design aesthetics. I don't know what these courses will be called. There are a bunch of other languages that are missing from your list though: C#, asp.net, .net, PHP, and Java are the ones off the top of my head.

 

Be aware that, of programmers, web developers are actually some of the worst paid. Good ones can make bank, but that's true in any profession. There's a massive difference between "I'm a programmer who writes middleware applications at cloud scale" and "I design the front end UI of our application." One of them is mostly a graphics designer with a little bit of programming, the other is mostly a programmer with a little bit of understanding of user experience. The latter gets paid far more (70k vs 120k).

 

Going forward you'll want to look into how to build cloud scale apps. Which also means how docker works, and how databases work. At large companies this work will all be siloed off away from you, but at a small company (<100 people) you might be asked to do it all yourself. The modern web page is not just a web page, it's an entire infrastructure of dozens of components all linked together.

 

The modern web page has a server side app that it is interacting with to determine what shows up on the page. Once you have the basics of building a web page down, 99% of your work should focus on that client-server interaction and understanding APIs/how to use them.

[TrueTaylor]

Upper year CS major here. I'd say start with whatever you feel comfortable with. Some will say you have to start with Big Java: Early Objects and read every word, others will say you must start with C/C++ or python if they're more lax. Personally, I think all you really need is a project to keep you motivated to learn. Whether it be a website for yourself to display your resume and achievements, a simple game that you create, or just an everyday utility tool that you have found a use case for.

 

Stay motivated! And use a project you are interested in to facilitate your learning.

[ichihgo]

19 hours ago, Quiverism said:

Hey guys, i will try to keep this short.

I´m a newbie, being thinking about learning to code for years, decided to pull the trigger about a 2 months ago after being disappointed with my current carrer. I wasted the first month in "planning mode" with little to none actual studying. Decided to start with CS50 introducting to programming, and i´ve honestly been loving it.

Current situation is the following:

• Gonna start CS next year in a local university.

• I am living with my parents at the moment so i don´t need to work, which means i can fully commit to just studying for the next 6-7 months, but I believe working experience will pay off way more than just studying so i would like to get a job in the field ASAP, doesn´t need to pay good as my objetive right now is get my feet wet.

• I have absolutly no idea what i would like to do in the future (mobile, web, data science, A.I., etc), nor do i have any projects in mind ATM. AKA: I have no inclinations right now.

Having these factors taken into account... What do you think is my best course of actions?
I´ve asked a friend who is a data scientist and he told me to start with web development (in the following order: HTML & CSS > JavaScript > GIT > Client-Server) and to always try to create a few simple projects with everything new i learn.

What do you guys think? Is it a good enough plan? I guess after going through those i will have a better idea about where to go next, plus it would be "easy" to get a entry-level job of some kind. Other people have told me to go Python (very beginner friendly), while others say C# (Harder to understand, but you will end up with a deeper understanding of programming).

Thanks in advance!

Problem solving and Problem solving then Problem solving then Technolgies.

 

Technologies are good and all but what big companies and the good one aim the get from you is your problem solving skill, I've seen what big companies interview is like and I can tell you it's all about your problem solving skills, techonolgies can be learned with a little bit of time but you problem solving skill need years of traning so definiently that's something you want to start it right now and stuck with it as long as you want to be greater ( setting aside it's fun af and you'll want to do it for fun anyway ), and Comptetive programming is your start to go you can follow https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBr_Fu6q9iHYQCh13jmpbrg which is a GrandMaster in CF platform.

[matrixatp]

Starting in web development is easy but I would recommend it only if you know that that's what you want to do. I started of writing simple console applications in C++ then moved to simple desktop applications in Java. I spend  some time with Android. I'm currently an backend web developer and I can say that if you start with that it will teach you some bad programming practices. If fact some of the supervisors I've had wrote horrible code because they've been web developers all their lives. You can try Python or Ruby for web. They are OK. Avoid NodeJS and PHP. No matter what people say they are both wrong for beginners (IMO). I'm a PHP dev, yes, I'm not afraid to say it. For the past 10 years people have been telling me thet PHP will be dead soon but it's still here.

[steelo]

imo, python is the best 'first step' into programming

[Dat Guy]

On 6/7/2020 at 4:32 AM, asquirrel said:

While you are learning HTML/CSS and Javascript, keep that work in Git.

Or Mercurial, Fossil, BitKeeper, Darcs or whichever VCS you feel comfortable with. There are alternatives for a reason.

 

On 6/7/2020 at 3:31 AM, Quiverism said:

Other people have told me to go Python (very beginner friendly)

Python is horrible in my opinion. It is very slow and it forces you to use "the correct" whitespace instead of readability whitespace.

Try Perl, Go and Lisp (Racket) first!

 

I, personally, also use C for web development which will teach you a lot about CS and very little about abstraction.   

[vorticalbox]

If you're going into CS you should also just look into reading up on that. I've not completed this as work gets in the way a lot be so far it's really good.

 

 

https://www.bottomupcs.com/

 

 a snip from the book
 

Quote

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.

 

[Rap4d]

I am in my 2nd (soon 3rd) Semester of CS (University). I had no coding knowledge other than Java basics. 
 

But here is the kicker, if you want to pass your modules I‘d advise you to start with Java and then move on with C/C++ (or other way around, because I personally hate Java). Your Uni is most likely going to have Modules based on these programming languages.

 

In your free time I‘d advices you to start learning HTML, Python and/or PHP (especially HTML and Python). 
 

C and Java will help you to understand the general structure of any Coding langue.