What would be the best way to start learning a new language?

Coaxialgamer · December 4, 2016

Over the past few years, I've tried to get into programming ( through online courses, books etc) , but usually list interest fairly early on ( tried Javascript, python, c++). I usually stopped due to lack of motivation on my part, but over the past few months there have been quite a few projects i have wanted to undertake involving arduino's and/or raspberry pi's.

So because of the time i spent in the past, I have a general knowledge of how variables, data types and syntax work, and everytime i tried to learn something new, i would usually end up going through the same stuff over and over again, probably contributing to me losing interest.

My question is : are there any general key points that i should look at instead if going through courses?

A more compact way to learn this stuff?

Which ties nicely into my next question :

I often see people referencing other scripts written in other languages within projects. I am under the impression that learning a programming language is a big undertaking, just like learning an actual language. Is that true, or can you get away with learning the syntax and key functions you plan on using and migrating easily to the next language?

Or should everything be done from scratch everytime?

I guess basically what I'm asking is if there is a fast and efficient way to learn programming languages and incorporate that knowledge when needing to experiment with different ones (seeing as the pi mostly uses python, arduino uses a mostly custom language etc)

Himommies · December 4, 2016

Codecademy?or pay for lessons

Coaxialgamer · December 4, 2016

Just now, Himommies said:

Codecademy?or pay for lessons

Tried codeacademy.

And I'm mostly broke.

I'm mainly asking for an efficient way to learn this stuff, seeing as there is plenty of research material available online.

Sauron · December 4, 2016

If you already know how programming works, just try making some simple programs and google what you don't know. You'll look for stuff like conditional and loop syntax, variable declaration etc, the rest will follow.

patrickjp93 · December 4, 2016

Pick a problem you WANT to tackle. Then, pick a language you want to learn. Then, "find" a copy of a well-rated BEGINNER'S book AND a programming tutorial series on YouTube/iTunes/Coursera/{University} Open CourseWare for that language (a ton of cost-free options).

That's how I've learned C# and JavaScript for my job.

And if you want to turn programming into a marketable skill, make sure you have a solid foundation in one of the C family (C/C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Scala, GoSu, Objective C, Swift, etc..), and then pick a popular language for web development (html, php, Ruby) since every damn company needs people who can understand both front end and back end jargon to manage their numerous web projects.

madknight3 · December 5, 2016

2 hours ago, Coaxialgamer said:

Over the past few years, I've tried to get into programming ( through online courses, books etc) , but usually list interest fairly early on ( tried Javascript, python, c++). I usually stopped due to lack of motivation on my part, but over the past few months there have been quite a few projects i have wanted to undertake involving arduino's and/or raspberry pi's.

This could mean that programming just isn't for you or perhaps you just haven't found the right stuff to be working on. Something to keep in mind. Programming isn't for everyone, so there's no harm in finding a different career/hobby.

2 hours ago, Coaxialgamer said:

My question is : are there any general key points that i should look at instead if going through courses?

A more compact way to learn this stuff?

If you are already familiar with some programming, you may be able to jump right into what you want to do without learning the basics of the language first (assuming it involves a new language). You may be able to pick it up as you go.

If you have an interest in raspberry pi and arduino stuff, and you think you can handle it, then just jump right into working with them. Dive in while the interest is there. There should be plenty of tutorials online that show you how to work with these things. Supplement your learning with language specific resources as necessary.

2 hours ago, Coaxialgamer said:

Which ties nicely into my next question :

I often see people referencing other scripts written in other languages within projects. I am under the impression that learning a programming language is a big undertaking, just like learning an actual language. Is that true, or can you get away with learning the syntax and key functions you plan on using and migrating easily to the next language?

Or should everything be done from scratch everytime?

Once you've already got some programming experience, learning the syntax of a new language can be a much simpler task since many languages share similarities and many programming concepts apply regardless of the language being used.

Knowing the syntax doesn't necessarily mean you will automatically write good code in that language, but you can often understand/be able to figure out what's going on with pieces of code you look up. You may pick up some of the commonly used functions/libraries while learning the syntax, otherwise you can look them up.

Just keep in mind that not all code is easy to understand, even when you are familiar with a language. Some code can be naturally complex, poorly written, etc. So you aren't always able to understand everything right away without additional work.