where to learn a language, codecademy is trash

[Gclaw]

so codecademy just teaches you the basics but doesn't give you any real life use, it tells you what to do and thats about it, it doesn't explain or anything and at the end you really only know what you learned you dont learn how to just code on your own its basically just copying more then learning.

 

but now i must ask what launage do you think i should learn? what languages are used for what?  i want to learn to code (i know HTML/CSS and a tiny bit it python 3) but the thing is im not a very creative mind so i cant just think like I want to code to make a software that does this. i just want to code to lean and then from learning be able to see what I can do and what I can make.

 

so if you could please answer these questions id be greatful.

 

1: whats a good free site to learn from, and actually lean, not just telling me what do to,

2: what are good starter languages and what are the languages used for, like expanses of projects i could make just to test my skill or to learn my skill.

 

if i enjoy coding or am good at it ill probably go to college for it to learn it in depth that way, as im 2 years out of school and just lost a job due to injury and i cant work in the construction field any longer.

 

i really just need ideas of hobbies that can occupy my time while still learning and gaining knowledge. so if anyone can suggest anything, any hobby i can do on the computer that would be helpful. im trying to weigh my options right now to see what i can do with the rest of my life. i want to find stuff im interested in and im having a hard time. gaming isn't even fun to me anymore. i feel like i need to be doing more with my time. 

[dcgreen2k]

You should try the sololearn app, it has many courses and I think it's one of the best apps for learning programming. As for languages, I really like c++. However, I've heard that it isn't very beginner-friendly.

[Gclaw]

1 hour ago, thegreengamers said:

You should try the sololearn app, it has many courses and I think it's one of the best apps for learning programming. As for languages, I really like c++. However, I've heard that it isn't very beginner-friendly.

is it 100% free? it looks good from the main page on their website 

[dcgreen2k]

Just now, Gclaw said:

is it 100% free? it looks good from the main page on their website 

From my experience, it's completely free. Just download it from the app store.

[Techicolors]

here's a couple of links you can check out

https://github.com/sdmg15/Best-websites-a-programmer-should-visit

https://github.com/EbookFoundation/free-programming-books/blob/master/free-programming-books.md

https://github.com/ossu/computer-science

 

the odin project or freecodecamp for full-stack (web)

 

I highly recommend edX CS50 by harvard if you like a MOOC

 

but the only way you'll apply yourself (especially from codeacademy where they teach you syntax) is projects. or contribute to open-source like on GitHub 

be aware of this as well http://www.vikingcodeschool.com/posts/why-learning-to-code-is-so-damn-hard

 

an alternative if you're willing to pay and have lots of time are coding bootcamps

Edited December 5, 2017 by Technicolors
more stuff

[Geekie]

I have personally Loved FreeCodeCamp (https://www.freecodecamp.org/) since the first day I started. Their classes are GREAT but most of all the community is also great.

They have an youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8butISFwT-Wl7EV0hUK0BQ) wich is a great place to learn new stuff, and they have a stream series called Live Code with Jesse where Jesse takes upon different subjects / issues related to his day to day work.

 

Communitywise you have their forums and their chat, everyone there is very welcoming and very willing to help you out if you have any issues. There are also something called Coffee and Code where people from the community meet up at for example a starbucks and chat for a few hours. This I really recomend to get into if anyone in a city / place near you have a facebook page where they post about these events, building a network and getting relations is a great way to succeed and learn when it comes to coding.

 

The fact that you also get free certificates is a great add on.

 

EDIT:

They offer HTML5, CSS3, JS, Databases, Git & GitHub, Node.js,React.js and D3.js so you will not run out of stuff to do anytime soon.

[Gclaw]

does anyone I know what javascript is used for? from googling all im seeing it is made to be used in a HTML script but i stuff have no idea what it does. im trying to find what launage i should start to learn 

[Geekie]

1 minute ago, Gclaw said:

does anyone I know what javascript is used for? from googling all im seeing it is made to be used in a HTML script but i stuff have no idea what it does. im trying to find what launage i should start to learn 

JS makes users able to interact with your website wihout having to load a new page everytime. Lets say for example you are filling out a form but then you do a type, well JS then gives you the opportunity to alert the user about this error / typo before they submit the form. Bootstrap for example have some JS libraries that lets you for example open / close a dropdown menu from your navbar when you hover your mouse above it.

 

Here you have a quick and easy video:

 

[Gclaw]

1 hour ago, Geekie said:

 

 

hmm, seems like it could be helpful as i know HTML and CSS, do you think thats a good spot to start? 

[Geekie]

Just now, Gclaw said:

hmm, seems like it could be helpful as i know HTML and CSS, do you think thats a good spot to start? 

JaveScript is SO usefull, first of all all modern web browsers supports it, so no extra installations needed and it really helps a website look super SEXY. The possibilities you have with JS is close to endless. But like the video mentioned JS isn't only usefull for web programming, but also great for for example Servers and making them work faster, and a ton of other stuff. So your knowledge will not go to waste anyways.

 

So yes, JS is a great way to start. Would love some other thoughts on this tho

[Mira Yurizaki]

Perhaps the problem with these teaching courses is as you mention, they probably don't teach you anything, they tell you what something does and put that in so you can see it in action. So if you really want to learn, you should find some problems to solve. Something like https://adriann.github.io/programming_problems.html gives a list of problems you can do to use some programming language to solve the problem (It's probably geared towards using Python though). If you really want to get your hands dirty with programming, you could solve problems on CodeFights (https://codefights.com/)

[Gclaw]

1 hour ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Perhaps the problem with these teaching courses is as you mention, they probably don't teach you anything, they tell you what something does and put that in so you can see it in action. So if you really want to learn, you should find some problems to solve. Something like https://adriann.github.io/programming_problems.html gives a list of problems you can do to use some programming language to solve the problem (It's probably geared towards using Python though). If you really want to get your hands dirty with programming, you could solve problems on CodeFights (https://codefights.com/)

but you have to start somewhere to learn the basics before you can move on to stuff like that, but ill definitely be using those websites after i learn 

[vorticalbox]

All this mention of JavaScript and yet no one has stated that node uses JavaScript and therefore by learnijng JavaScript you can be a full stack developer.

 

Time to learn the MEAN stack. Mongoose, express, angular and node. 

[Gclaw]

2 hours ago, vorticalbox said:

All this mention of JavaScript and yet no one has stated that node uses JavaScript and therefore by learnijng JavaScript you can be a full stack developer.

 

Time to learn the MEAN stack. Mongoose, express, angular and node. 

On one of the websites suggests on here called like free coding something seems to be very good.

 

i am staring over with it becase of how their course is, it starts with html and css and slowly pushes you to other things like Jquery and a lot others that go with html, but to get to that section I need to complet the sections in front of it and it’s good for me as it’s a refresher as it’s been awhile since I’ve written any code,

 

i think it it goes into JS and Ruby and stuff too eventually 

[TAHIRMIA]

FreeCodeCamp is very good. I went from knowing very little to pretty much being able to code a fully interactive website. The community is great and helpful and their courses actually make you try to complete challenges after explaining what a certain part of code means. They then have projects which you try to use everything you learned into building a website

[BeefyMeats]

I'm not much of a programmer and still have a lot to learn, but I found that web based programming is fun and useful. You can setup something like Apache or IIS than use languages like PHP, Python, C#, or Java, for "back-end functions" of the web server. Things like making a MySQL database, populate some users into it, and using maybe PHP with HTML forms to have the users authenticate.

 

I'm pretty lowly & "down there" when it comes to programming, but its also fun to tinker with little projects like raspberry PIs in the free time, Maybe try home automation; like turning things on/off via the web with relays or detecting moment with infra sensors and display the status on a webpage or send text alerts based on input. Or get one of those stupid soil sensors and light sensor and store the data in a meaningful way into a database. I just took an intro to programming course in community college (knowing basically nothing going in) at night to grind though the basics. I dont get paid to program, but its fun to do. 

 

The developers where I work mostly deal with big SQL databases, AD authentication for users and tying all that into some kind of web-based app(s) and connecting that with 3rd party vendors.

 

 

[geo3]

Professional programmer here. The way I learn a new language is a real world task and the official language reference + stackoverflow. 

[Gachr]

Basics are the most difficult part. To get them right, official docs are best. I also recommend tutorialspoint.com as well as Derek Banas' videos.

If you want to do anything practical, just think of something and research! That's what you'll do as a professional programmer, don't expect for people to take you by the hand.

If you are interested in webdev, freecodecamp is great.

[Beskamir]

Pick a project and go program it. If you run into issues google is your best friend. Now that said try to keep the projects small (especially at the beginning) and aim at solving something that you could consider yourself needing/wanting or at least think would be fun to have or make. Personal relevance tends to help with motivation.

[JLCarveth]

IMO Textbooks are a great way to learn, and always will be. Here are a few I'd recommend:

• Object-Oriented Software Engineering by Timothy Lethbridge and Robert Laganiere
  • This book has helped me immensely in understanding how almost all software is built, designed, and how it functions. This is a 2nd year textbook.
• Data Structures: Abstraction and Design Using Java by E. Koffman and P. Wolfgang
  • This one might be better if you have less knowledge of programming, so it's a great place to start. It covers many common data structures and their implementations.

Really when it comes to programming, all I can recommend is studying and practice. As long as you have a solid grasp of the fundamentals, the rest always comes easy enough.