how would you teach coding

[apoyusiken]

how would you go about teaching coding to someone clueless

[Millios]

Teach the basics of the language you wanna teach and then give them some basic tasks

 

Basic task will depend on what language or software they use so it can be from the classic "make it say *hello world*" to "make it do basic addition" like calculate x + y (when x and y are given numbers)

[Haswellx86]

As I have stated many times, Computer Science is very interconnected. You could try to maintain the abstraction and just make them learn coding, but connecting the other nodes of Computer Science and Computer Engineering will help to develop a better understanding about computers.

 

With my experience, there are mainly 2 ways to start teaching code. The first way is to start with Python, and the second way is anything else such as C or Java.

 

If you just want to teach coding to a beginner, I would suggest the Python way. The language is simple, which gives more brain headroom to focus on logic building and algorithms.

 

But as I state it always, learning and understanding the inner workings, fundamentals and the derivation of the thing you are trying to learn makes you understand it better. Teach them something outer of coding such as about the Python interpreter. If it was something like C, you could get so much more control to do any wacky stuff you want. Experimentation makes you understand better.

[FlyingPotato_is_taken]

Start with logic like paper cards that shall be sorted.

Let them come up with an method on how you could sort them. This is the algorhtihm.

From there teach how to express them in pseudo code or a easy to read language like Object Pascal.

 

Programming is just an written expression of logic.

[Timme]

I think this is a nice "sum up". 

1. Start with a Real-World Analogy

Think of coding like giving step-by-step instructions to a robot or a very literal person. For example, making a sandwich:

• Problem: Make a sandwich.

• Basic Blocks: Bread, filling, knife, plate.

• Logical Statements:

  • If you have bread, place one slice on the plate.

  • If you have peanut butter, spread it on the bread.

  • If you have jelly, spread it on top of the peanut butter.

  • Place the second slice of bread on top.

This mirrors how coding breaks problems into smaller pieces and connects them with logical rules.

2. Define Basic Coding Elements

• Variables: Store information (e.g., bread = 2 slices)

• Conditionals: Make decisions (e.g., if peanut_butter_available: spread())

• Loops: Repeat steps (e.g., for each slice in bread: spread(peanut_butter))

• Functions: Group reusable steps (e.g., make_sandwich() instead of rewriting all steps)

3. Show a Simple Code Example

If they’ve never seen code before, start with plain English pseudo-code before jumping into an actual language:

python

CopyEdit

if there is bread and peanut butter: spread peanut butter on bread put another slice on top print "Sandwich is ready!" else: print "Missing ingredients!"

Then, you can show the same logic in an actual language like Python:

python

CopyEdit

bread = True peanut_butter = True if bread and peanut_butter: print("Making a sandwich!") else: print("Missing ingredients!")

4. Emphasize Debugging and Problem-Solving

Coding is not just about writing instructions but also fixing errors and improving solutions. Encourage them to think like a detective:

• If the program isn’t working, what went wrong?

• How can they simplify the problem further?

 

[Dat Guy]

On 3/26/2025 at 11:28 AM, apoyusiken said:

how would you go about teaching coding to someone clueless

• Start with a friendly language that lets the "someone clueless" have quick results. In my experience, people who would like to have a short hands-on introduction to programming don't really want to learn much about how RAM, CPUs and/or compilers work.
  I usually recommend (and use) Perl for this.
   
• For the same reason, don't try to be smart. The Explain Like I'm 5 approach is usually the easiest way for both you and the other person(s).
   
• Prepare your own example code, easy to understand and well-documented. I know, documentation sucks, but when I taught myself "coding" (which is quite a different thing than programming, to be honest), code with comments saved me a lot of annoyance.
   
• Suggest further readings. You can't hold their hands all the time.

[apoyusiken]

On 4/7/2025 at 9:59 PM, Dat Guy said:

• Start with a friendly language that lets the "someone clueless" have quick results. In my experience, people who would like to have a short hands-on introduction to programming don't really want to learn much about how RAM, CPUs and/or compilers work.
  I usually recommend (and use) Perl for this.
   
• For the same reason, don't try to be smart. The Explain Like I'm 5 approach is usually the easiest way for both you and the other person(s).
   
• Prepare your own example code, easy to understand and well-documented. I know, documentation sucks, but when I taught myself "coding" (which is quite a different thing than programming, to be honest), code with comments saved me a lot of annoyance.
   
• Suggest further readings. You can't hold their hands all the time.

you know what i realised, coding isnt hard (not the algorithm part just plain coding part) but it is difficult to understand so when im explaining something simple for me they have a hard time understanding so when i realised this i was more successful

[Guest]

On 3/26/2025 at 3:28 AM, apoyusiken said:

how would you go about teaching coding to someone clueless

You first have to teach them to think, in an orderly fashion, about a problem.  Writing code (regardless of language or progamming paradigm) is the easy part; knowing how to organize your approach to a problem in such a way that addresses all of the potentialities is where the real work starts.

I've traditionally challenged employers (who may seek to downplay the effort) to tell me how to change a flat tire -- a problem that most drivers THINK they can solve.

Regardless of the detail of the solution offered, I can always find some detail that was omitted ("You forgot to open the door to get out of the car."  "You forgot to pull the car over to the side of the road." "You forgot to check if the spare was properly inflated."  "You didn't remain vigilant of passing traffic while you were exposed to it." ...)

I pose simple programming challenges to young teens.  But, before setting them out to code some algorithm, I challenge them to describe it to me (the rest is just "syntax").