Good book on coding in general for beginners?

[Guest]

Hi, I looked through Amazon and could only find a Computer Science book that might be related to coding, for like, 171 dollars brand new.  I don't know if that will address my need for a book that tells you about bits and bytes, binary, how to actually start programming, the basics of programming, and writing simple programs, and that prepares you for more advanced books.  

 

I'm even okay with a series of books if they have a first book that can do all of this.

 

On the side, are there any books that teach you about gate logic that let you practice your own experiments and recommended experiments from the book on your own bread board?  I have no idea how to use resistors and all, or what board to get, or what wires and materials and all.  I could really use one; I want to see if I can get a bread board to tell me the temperature of the air inside my house successfully.  Are there any books on this (bread boards and circuits and gate logic) for beginners?  That maybe aren't terribly expensive?  Thanks!

[Enderman]

This is 2016 man, all of that stuff is online for free, no need for any kind of books.

Youtube, wikipedia, codecademy, etc...

There are millions of websites that will give you waant you need.

[CatFishery]

I do and its free online  its Beginning programming with java for dummies 4th edioitoin  my programing class used this as its text book if you go to a link cant remember what it is you can download the pdf for free!

[Uptivuptiz]

Just now, Enderman said:

This is 2016 man, all of that stuff is online for free, no need for any kind of books.

Youtube, wikipedia, codecademy, etc...

There are millions of websites that will give you waant you need.

Thats right! Just google after a ebook that contain the info about what you want to learn.

[PixelHat]

Don't buy a book.

I'm speaking from experience as a well versed programmer - books suck. I would recommend using online resources (i.e W3Schools, or simply googling "<language> beginner tutorial").

 

As for low level stuff like logic gates and binary, you might want to familiarize yourself with binary code and assembly.

 

I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND ASSEMBLY AS A FIRST LANGUAGE.

 

Assembly is extremely hard to pick up and requires a vast knowledge of how computers process data. If you're specifically trying to learn assembly, then I don't want to crush your dreams though - go for it. Just heed my warning when I say (and I speak for all programmers out there), assembly sucks and should not be learned as a first language.

 

If you'd like to learn some basic stuff for robotics (sounds like what you're trying to do), then I recommend learning python (a fantastic first language) and buying an arduino board.

 

Good luck ;3

[Guest]

Just now, simonbyrial said:

Thats right! Just google after a ebook that contain the info about what you want to learn.

But what about assembly language?  How the heck do developers know how to make those bits do what they want on many different processors under a licensed architecture?

[Zjurc]

Just now, Enderman said:

This is 2016 man, all of that stuff is online for free, no need for any kind of books.

Youtube, wikipedia, codecademy, etc...

There are millions of websites that will give you waant you need.

I'm afraid it is very difficult to learn online how individual bits and bytes work and how they actually exist in our physical world, and how we can command them what we want them to do via programming, which is what OP wants. Not to mention the sheer amount of background knowledge required to even begin understanding the fundamentals.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Zjurc said:

I'm afraid it is very difficult to learn online how individual bits and bytes work and how they actually exist in our physical world, and how we can command them what we want them to do via programming, which is what OP wants. Not to mention the sheer amount of background knowledge required to even begin understanding the fundamentals.

Lol it sounds like I need a B.S. in computer science, maybe one in computer engineering as well   Maybe I'm over my head.  I guess I'm really just interested in a good resource to learn gate logic for circuit boards so that I can build simple robots and stuff.

 

 

So like, I wish I had adaptive aptitude (like Gabriel from Heroes), but I don't have such abilities

Edited September 6, 2016 by VPrime
Added one more thing

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, VPrime said:

Lol it sounds like I need a B.S. in computer science, maybe one in computer engineering as well   Maybe I'm over my head.  I guess I'm really just interested in a good resource to learn gate logic for circuit boards so that I can build simple robots and stuff.

 

 

So like, I wish I had adaptive aptitude (like Gabriel from Heroes), but I don't have such abilities

Oh yeah and I really don't feel like being pressured to do well on written tests, I like to make a hell of a lot of mistakes and then correcting myself over and over.

[PixelHat]

3 minutes ago, VPrime said:

Lol it sounds like I need a B.S. in computer science, maybe one in computer engineering as well   Maybe I'm over my head.  I guess I'm really just interested in a good resource to learn gate logic for circuit boards so that I can build simple robots and stuff.

Again - arduino ;P

 

Assembly sucks. Use python and a pre-built board. Assembly sucks crack as a first language, and even as a 54th language.

Usually, Assembly is used to write bootloaders - a minuscule (<1kb) program that calls an OS's kernel (which is almost never written in assembly).

[Zjurc]

6 minutes ago, VPrime said:

Lol it sounds like I need a B.S. in computer science, maybe one in computer engineering as well   Maybe I'm over my head.  I guess I'm really just interested in a good resource to learn gate logic for circuit boards so that I can build simple robots and stuff.

Okay I think Google helped me out a bit here. It's been a few years since I last searched for resources like this. Link I HIGHLY SUGGEST reading carefully from the very start. From cover to cover. Start to finish. Only then, after you are done you can go ahead and take a look at some programming languages like C. Not C# or C++, just C. Maybe read some Assembly theory beforehand but dont bother coding in it. Look at some examples of simple AND, NOR, OR, N circuits. Read how does a hard disk or an SSD store data. After that you can go chase Java, Python, Ruby, whatever.

[PixelHat]

Just now, Zjurc said:

Okay I think Google helped me out a bit here. It's been a few years since I last searched for resources like this. Link I HIGHLY SUGGEST reading carefully from the very start. From cover to cover. Start to finish. Only then after you are done you can go ahead and take a look at some programming languages like C. Not C# or C++, just C. Maybe read some Assembly theory beforehand but dont bother coding in it. Look at some exmaples of simply AND,NOR,OR,N circuits. Read how does a hard disk or an SSD store data. After that you can go chase Java, Python, Ruby, whatever.

I agree. Take that route if you want to get down an dirty and go directly into low-level robot programming.

[Guest]

Just now, Zjurc said:

Okay I think Google helped me out a bit here. It's been a few years since I last searched for resources like this. Link I HIGHLY SUGGEST reading carefully from the very start. From cover to cover. Start to finish. Only then after you are done you can go ahead and take a look at some programming languages like C. Not C# or C++, just C. Maybe read some Assembly theory beforehand but dont bother coding in it. Look at some exmaples of simply AND,NOR,OR,N circuits. Read how does a hard disk or an SSD store data. After that you can go chase Java, Python, Ruby, whatever.

That's a bit more helpful.  Also, who decided it was a good idea to have so many languages named like that: Objective-C, C#, C++, C, A, Python, Ruby, Swift?

[Zjurc]

9 minutes ago, VPrime said:

That's a bit more helpful.  Also, who decided it was a good idea to have so many languages named like that: Objective-C, C#, C++, C, A, Python, Ruby, Swift?

There are a lot of programming languages - some useless, some useful - but C is what I like to think is the Mother. The Core of most modern programs and systems. But that's just my personal opinion. Some pledge their lives to Fortran. Some to Ruby. Whatever. Knowing the fundamentals of how a programming language even works... well, it doesn't matter which one you choose, they all do the same thing; just different-worded commands. This one is very interesting and a prime example that it doesn't really matter which programming language you choose.

[Enderman]

19 minutes ago, Zjurc said:

I'm afraid it is very difficult to learn online how individual bits and bytes work and how they actually exist in our physical world, and how we can command them what we want them to do via programming, which is what OP wants. Not to mention the sheer amount of background knowledge required to even begin understanding the fundamentals.

That's a joke, right?

You do realize there are far more resources online than you can fit on a tiny piece of paper with ink?

There are even videos that help you learn far better than words on a page can.

 

[Zjurc]

7 minutes ago, Enderman said:

That's a joke, right?

You do realize there are far more resources online than you can fit on a tiny piece of paper with ink?

There are even videos that help you learn far better than words on a page can.

 

Okay. That explains very little. How are 1's and 0's even created? How does a machine see them? How can a machine convert bytes to letters for us to understand? Does a machine understand itself? Why are we not programming in bits if that's easier for the machine? Why EIGHT bits= ONE byte? Who commands that? How can a machine find the file we need and actually measure the amount of bytes it has? They are all stored in a magic pool or 1's and 0's we call "storage", right? heheh

 

So many questions, so little time. Sure, you can watch someone make a table from natural wood but you won't know how to recreate that fully unless you put in some hard work and going from step 0. You need to understand what is happening before attempting to make anything, not just in the computer world. This is what is separating a good programmer from a bad one (or just any skill)

[Enderman]

Just now, Zjurc said:

Okay. That explains very little. How are 1's and 0's even created? How does a machine see them? How can a machine convert bytes to letters for us to understand? Does a machine understand itself? Why are we not programming in bits if that's easier for the machine? Why EIGHT bits= ONE byte? Who commands that?

You know google can answer every single one of those questions right?

There is no need to spend any money on a piece of paper when you can get the EXACT SAME THING and more for free.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Zjurc said:

Okay. That explains very little. How are 1's and 0's even created? How does a machine see them? How can a machine convert bytes to letters for us to understand? Does a machine understand itself? Why are we not programming in bits if that's easier for the machine? Why EIGHT bits= ONE byte? Who commands that?

 

So many questions, so little time. Sure, you can watch someone make a table from natural wood but you won't know how to recreate that fully unless you put in some hard work and going from step 0. You need to understand what is happening before attempting to make anything, not just in the computer world. This is what is separating a good programmer from a bad one (or just any skill)

All right, so I registered to AAC.  I guess I'll need to get a big notebook, now, though!  So you say they have courses that would allow me to build a simple robot or make stuff work on a circuit board (not a PCB, man, those are way over my head!)?  Great!

[Zjurc]

Just now, Enderman said:

You know google can answer every single one of those questions right?

There is no need to spend any money on a piece of paper when you can get the EXACT SAME THING and more for free.

Google can answer but the question is will you understand it? Modern knowledge is defined as remembering a certain amount of phrases and just repeating the same. Make a student remember that 100°c is boiling water. Ask the student does he know HOW to do it, to achieve such heat? This is a simple example but the answer is "no" for complex tasks. If you still think Google can replace your teacher I don't think we can hold this conversation for long

[Enderman]

2 minutes ago, Zjurc said:

If you still think Google can replace your teacher I don't think we can hold this conversation for long

And you think a book can?

 

BTW there is this thing called "self study" and "online classes" that do replace teachers.

 

Tbh you sound like you don't even know what you're arguing about. Maybe you're some old person that hates technology and refuses to use the internet? I know some people like that...

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Zjurc said:

Google can answer but the question is will you understand it? Modern knowledge is defined as remembering a certain amount of phrases and just repeating the same. Make a student remember that 100°c is boiling water. Ask the student does he know HOW to do it, to achieve such heat? This is a simple example but the answer is "no" for complex tasks. If you still think Google can replace your teacher I don't think we can hold this conversation for long

Well, hopefully this textbook answers some questions!  I think I might want to be an electrician as well, or at least, enough of one to do some electrical work around the house safely and without getting my crotch stuck in the ceiling fan...

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Enderman said:

And you think a book can?

 

BTW there is this thing called "self study" and "online classes" that do replace teachers.

 

Tbh you sound like you don't even know what you're arguing about. Maybe you're some old person that hates technology and refuses to use the internet? I know some people like that...

Alright, calm down people!  I think this All About Electronics website can at least answer some of my many questions to come.  Now I'm going to buy a notebook, or 5.

[Zjurc]

5 minutes ago, VPrime said:

All right, so I registered to AAC.  I guess I'll need to get a big notebook, now, though!  So you say they have courses that would allow me to build a simple robot or make stuff work on a circuit board (not a PCB, man, those are way over my head!)?  Great!

I don't think a registration is required to read the chapters? My advice is for you to read all the six chapters I linked you and search for some mathematical tasks, practice Ohm's law, RLC, etc. Take notes. And please be aware that this won't be complete in a month. This needs years. Do you accept the challenge? Up to you.

 

I've been in this field of science/engineering for six years, ever since I chose my main education course to be IT. I am loving it and soon to be an engineer myself.

[Zjurc]

3 minutes ago, Enderman said:

And you think a book can?

 

BTW there is this thing called "self study" and "online classes" that do replace teachers.

 

Tbh you sound like you don't even know what you're arguing about. Maybe you're some old person that hates technology and refuses to use the internet? I know some people like that...

 

Okay, good day to you mister Enderman.