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How can I start learning about coding?

jewishdolphins
By jewishdolphins
in Programming
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I am going to be a computer engineer when I go to college. Currently I am still in high school and think it's time to learn how to code. Not very sure which code language to start with. I've never coded before and I just want to learn the most common coding languages without getting super confused. As a result, I need some recommendations. Anyone know a very slow paced video or tutorial that will show me how to begin coding? 

 

I looked up javascript tutorials and they are just way too fast paced from what I am seeing so far. Not very sure how people start learning how to code. Maybe I have to buy a book, or maybe I just need to be redirected somewhere else. Not sure.

 

Help.

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Many programming languages share similar concepts, so if you master one language and have a mastery of the concepts you can switch to another language with some effort.  Some programming languages are designed to be used for a particular field of work, and we have no clue what kind of work you want to do.

 

But if you want some suggestions for languages you need to learn, then I recommend:

  • C++
  • Java
  • PHP
  • Python
  • Fortran

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definitely start with python

 

codecademy is a great teaching site you can use for free

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www.code.org

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  • Author

 

Many programming languages share similar concepts, so if you master one language and have a mastery of the concepts you can switch to another language with some effort.  Some programming languages are designed to be used for a particular field of work, and we have no clue what kind of work you want to do.

 

But if you want some suggestions for languages you need to learn, then I recommend:

  • C++
  • Java
  • PHP
  • Python
  • Fortran

 

Yeah I know C++ and Java are really important ones. The only one I've done is mess around with python when I was trying to do some stuff with an arduino circuit. Know any good videos to start me off? I'm not quite sure which exact ones ill need, but the ones ive heard of the most are java and c++. 

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pick a language... C# is easy and as a programmer myself i reccomend it... to learn it you could pick up a book, look it up online, and also watch Barnecules Nerdgasm's Codegasm series on YouTube... 

 

If typing and syntax is too complicated start with scratch.mit.edu it is easy and is a good way to train your brain to think like a programmer without having to memorize syntax and spend hours troubleshooting.

 

If you have further questions feel free to PM me

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Yeah I know C++ and Java are really important ones. The only one I've done is mess around with python when I was trying to do some stuff with an arduino circuit. Know any good videos to start me off? I'm not quite sure which exact ones ill need, but the ones ive heard of the most are java and c++. 

C++ is difficult I (as a programmer myself) do not recommend it as your first language... Same goes for Java

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Yeah I know C++ and Java are really important ones. The only one I've done is mess around with python when I was trying to do some stuff with an arduino circuit. Know any good videos to start me off? I'm not quite sure which exact ones ill need, but the ones ive heard of the most are java and c++. 

 

I don't know any good videos, I've heard that Lynda.com has a lot of e-learning materials.  However I also recommend you invest in some books, C++ and Java Bibles are very useful to have around as reference materials if you're serious about learning how to code.

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scratch.mit.edu 

 

I highly recommend you check it out... It's super simple you won't be able to make anything very complex but it will at least get you on the right track... 

 

They have a community over there to completely dedicated to programming so they would be good people to ask. 

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The way I learned Python was using Learn Python the Hard Way to get the basics and then come up with ideas for projects and try to make them. When I didn't know how to do something then google (basically stack overflow) and other programmers were a very valuable resource.

 

I then went to university and learned the more advance elements of python (and programming in general) which I may have eventually found on my own. Still having previous knowledge makes a course much easier so I intend to learn at least the basics of Java before I start CPSC 231 which will be mainly about Java/object orientated programming.

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It requires money...

 

Codecademy doesn't. It has a lot of free courses.

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Codecademy doesn't. It has a lot of free courses.

Can't find them. Everything i click on says i need to pay 20 a month

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something not yet mentioned in the thread it seems:

 

you shouldnt learn to code, you should code to learn.

 

much like you will never master a spoken language without using it in conversation, you will never learn how to code without coding real world programs.

 

example:

i learned about file handling in programming class in school, but i really didnt know why and how.

 

then recently i faced an issue with an apple II emulator: all game roms i could find were in ".2mg" format, which my emulator could not read. my emulator did however have the ability to read more widely used ".dsk" files.

 

upon investigating i discovered .2mg files are basicly a .dsk file with a 64 byte header in front of it that indicates filesize (because sizeOf() isnt a thing appareantly...) and X number of undocumented data after the standard length 143360 byte .dsk file.

 

after facepalming and a thing about an apple emulator not being an apple emulator without needlessly diverging from standards i grabbed my (quite limited) python knowledge, and started to work with a chrome window next to my programming enviroment of choice.

 

the concept was quite simple, take out the 143360 bytes i need, and put them in a file with a propper extension.

version 1 was a mess, but it did the job. it successfully converted my specific file with a bunch of hardcoded offsets.

version 2 was my attempt at making it at least somewhat stick to standards, providing a help upon any form of wrong invocation, and a choice option for both error code based returns, and/or text based output.

 

version 3 was where it was 4AM, and i was crazy enough to optimize a 2.5kB python script down to a size of 745 bytes without losing any functionality.

i did this merely to find out how far i could go in optimizing code, even going down to re-using parameters half way trough a program so i dont need extra flags taking extra bytes of code.

 

my next step will probably be looking up the standardisation for outputs in linux programs, and rewrite in C to see if i can drop even lower in filesize.

(to give you an idea, i've written assembly programs that were bigger than 745 bytes after compiling)

--

it is trough stuff like this that i've taught myself how to code, even back in high school i was usually top of the class in coding  (ignoring the guy programming his own rewrite of skyrim in the corner, he's now in his final year of a game development college degree. as well as an encryption "enthousiast", graphics designer, and skilled lockpicker. pretty sure at one point that year he lockpicked a classroom door, with the teacher's approval offcourse.)

and currently i'm working on making a "port" of sudo for windows, that is varying levels of broken right now.

the knowledge i'm using for that project actually comes from a troll bet i did with a teacher. its not much more than passing on arguments.

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I've started learning programming using this book - http://www.introprogramming.info/english-intro-csharp-book/

It covers all the basics and has enough exercises after every lesson. When you learn the basics it's easy to switch from one language to another. Remember that the language is only a tool.

 

Starting with Python is a good idea too and Codecademy is a nice place to learn some of the basics.

C++ isn't a language I'd pick if you are a beginner.

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Don't get all worked up about the language itself. Learn the principles(i.e. variables, loops, if/else, functions etc) first. After you master that every language is just a matter of syntax, 

 

Check this book out : http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/

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I've started learning programming using this book - http://www.introprogramming.info/english-intro-csharp-book/

It covers all the basics and has enough exercises after every lesson. When you learn the basics it's easy to switch from one language to another. Remember that the language is only a tool.

 

Starting with Python is a good idea too and Codecademy is a nice place to learn some of the basics.

C++ isn't a language I'd pick if you are a beginner.

i'd actually suggest java as a beginner language, because it holds true to a lot of conventions, as well as being a "secure language" thats really hard to screw up your system with.

the ungodly amount of guides and projects available in java is defenately a plus for learning as well.

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Don't get all worked up about the language itself. Learn the principles(i.e. variables, loops, if/else, functions etc) first. After you master that every language is just a matter of syntax, 

 

Check this book out : http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/

another reason i really like scratch

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scratch.mit.edu

I highly recommend you check it out... It's super simple you won't be able to make anything very complex but it will at least get you on the right track...

They have a community over there to completely dedicated to programming so they would be good people to ask.

this. I'm also starting out and scrtch helps massively in terms of concept.

- snip-

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There are tons of languages each of them is better for something, there isn't a best language if someone says that please proceed to ignore him, now what we can do is tell you which are the most popular languages (useful if you want to look for a job) and what are the possible choices for a beginner, you can start from any language you want but it's highly suggested to start with something that has a decent level of abstraction, for example if you start directly from C/C++ you'll have to worry about memory management which is an unnecessary weight that's gonna slow you down. People still suggest C or C++ as first language since it's probably what they used to start learning about programming and still most schools use one of those two but as of now there are better choices available, C# for example, it's highly flexible and relatively easy to learn, a similar option would be Java, another commonly used language for beginners is Python (although it's syntax is a bit weird imho), if instead you want to get into web programming you could take a look at Javascript or PHP (Js is going to be client-side, PHP server-side, keep that in mind), but obviously if you are going to develop for web you need to use HTML which is extremely basic and easy, in the end it's just a markup language nothing more.

 

My suggestions are:

  • C#
  • Java
  • Python
  • Javascript (Web)
  • PHP (Web)

 

After you got the hang of it you can start looking at C and C++ which are a must know for every programmer if in the future you want to look for a job as a programmer you have to learn them.

 

PS: I'd stay as away as I can from youtube tutorials, buy a book.

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After you got the hang of it you can start looking at C and C++ which are a must know for every programmer if in the future you want to look for a job as a programmer you have to learn them.

I agree with everything you said except for that.

C and C++ aren't mandatory for every programmer. There are a lot more jobs for .NET and PHP developers for example than for C/C++ (at least here). 

From salty to bath salty in 2.9 seconds

 

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