Want to start coding/programming but have no idea where to start...

[Yoo Song Won]

I know quite a bit about PC hardware but want to start teaching myself how to code and program.

 

However I have literally no idea where to start since I have no idea how to code at all.

 

Where should I start?

 

Thanks.

[AlwaysFSX]

I was told to go to sololearn.com to start off and it worked. Better than reading a 500 page book on how to learn C++..

[Sharif]

Same here,I gonna go through a chapter of this today and go trough random articles if I get stuck or confused (My plan right now,as more importantly, it seems I need to start) 

C - http://www.learncpp.com/

[Yoo Song Won]

Just now, AlwaysFSX said:

I was told to go to sololearn.com to start off and it worked. Better than reading a 500 page book on how to learn C++..

Did you just start off learning C++ right away? 

[AlwaysFSX]

Just now, Yoo Song Won said:

Did you just start off learning C++ right away? 

I originally took a programming class in high school but paid no attention to it, so I was familiar but needed to relearn everything. You won't learn everything you want to immediately but you'll get started pretty quickly and feel like you're making good progress.  Just take it slow to learn what things are and how they're used.

[Enderman]

codecademy.com is free

[LinusTechDips]

5 minutes ago, Yoo Song Won said:

Did you just start off learning C++ right away? 

Nothing will prepare you for programming.

Find an online course, some video courses are good too for basic stuff. But the most important thing is - try yourself everything that you see. You won't learn programming just by reading a lot of tutorials. You need to compile and test stuff on your own.

[Skylake02]

Playing around with your knowledge (once you obtain some) is the best way to get familiar with programming. Once you feel confident enough, try to start some of your own projects. If you're still unsure, follow some tutorials and then play around with what is being built in the tutorial.

One of the most important skills of teaching yourself is not just learning effectively but knowing where to learn. Make sure you judge your sources, and if you're not learning effectively from there, try something else. You need to know how you learn best and what sources are trustworthy.

[Mira Yurizaki]

Learning how to program I've found isn't about learning some language and rolling with it. You have to learn the basics about how computers work and the concepts of programming itself. Any language (including the dreaded BASIC!) can be used to aid you in this quest.

 

... On that note, Python is a popular tutorial language and there are plenty of tutorials based around it. I'd argue C isn't as bad as people say it is, provided you have the right resource. What you can do though is hit up your local Barnes and Noble, if you have one, and spend some time in the section where all the programming books are.

 

In the mean time, I've found this a good read: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/ProgrammingLanguage

[Skylake02]

1 minute ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Learning how to program I've found isn't about learning some language and rolling with it. You have to learn the basics about how computers work and the concepts of programming itself.

1

Agreed.

 

You need to change your mindset and think more like a computer.

[Sharif]

2 hours ago, AlwaysFSX said:

I was told to go to sololearn.com to start off and it worked. Better than reading a 500 page book on how to learn C++..

I am loving this site!! It's just like Memrise! (Another awesome site/app) 

[PixelDrift]

I started learning to build websites years ago, and now I'm a professional.

I never went to college for it, I guess everyone learns differently but I just set an end goal, what I want to build and went for it. I feel that's the best way to get started, just come up with something to challenge yourself that you want to make and then go for it.

 

The fundamentals of programming are the same no matter what language your using, it's a mindset, something you need to understand. Then come standards, and doing things the 'right way', because obviously there are always multiple ways to achieve the same goal, and no two people will code the same, and that's a good thing.

 

Some people find online tools like treehouse and tutorials useful, some people prefer to just go for it and use google and stack overflow to learn as they go. Either way, don't be down heartened when you spend hours on an issue only to find it's a missing semicolon, we have ALL been there!

 

Good luck and happy coding