Learning to program

DEL 707 · 5 Oct 2015 at 19:27

Rather broad question.

I want to take an interest in programming. I tried programming back in school, but didn't like it, can't remember the language, but that was about 18 years ago. I'd like to have another go, mainly to open up some new avenues for possible job hunting in the future.

The big question is where to start, there are so many languages out there.
Can anyone recommend a good starting language? Then the required reading material for it, or some kind of app, I commute a good 2-3 hours a day on the train, so I have time to kill.

I just want something to try, to see if it's possible, or whether I hate it.

AHarvey · 5 Oct 2015 at 19:38

Look at Python. Easy to pick up so you'll not get disheartened like with some languages.

Lots of free resources.

Learn Python the Hard Way
Codecademy

will give you a basic understanding.

Hobbsie · 5 Oct 2015 at 20:38

iv been using udemy i think its a great place for a learner like myself i have signed up for a few courses and i think they are perfect for what im after.

Chaos · 5 Oct 2015 at 21:09

Could try this free beginner course -

https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-computer-science-harvardx-cs50x

over_gamed · 6 Oct 2015 at 09:26

If your interest in website development try this.
Within 5-6 Months i learn the basics for:
PHP
HTML
CSS
MYSQL
Javasctip

Very simple to learn the basics and with the use of internet all will be easy to get help. Im very slow learner!

Go to youtube and search for php lessons, you find nice series and easy to follow.

meandu229 · 6 Oct 2015 at 10:17

Think of a little project to do and try and do it.
Python + a pi can lead to lots of fun projects.

Moothead2 · 6 Oct 2015 at 14:27

Handy little resource

TubbyGreg · 8 Oct 2015 at 21:25

I suggest python; it's used IRL (spotify for example) and it's quite easy to pick up at the same time as being very capable

dowie · 12 Oct 2015 at 17:52

Moothead2 said:
Handy little resource

very handy resource!

@OP - the stanford engineering everywhere computer science lectures are good for a solid introduction

https://see.stanford.edu/Course

for a slightly watered down one look at the two intro courses on udacity

DEL 707 · 13 Oct 2015 at 21:46

Thanks for all the replies.
Crappy day at work has got me looking into this again.

AHarvey said:
Look at Python. Easy to pick up so you'll not get disheartened like with some languages.

Lots of free resources.

Learn Python the Hard Way
Codecademy

will give you a basic understanding.

I'm looking into Python as a good place to start.
Is that "Learn Python the Hard Way" worth paying for the video's?

Throrik · 13 Oct 2015 at 22:36

If you want to go the Microsoft route then the MVA has a load of great courses.

http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/

They also have Javascript and some Python stuff on there - but their C# and .NET stuff is great.

AHarvey · 13 Oct 2015 at 23:49

DEL 707 said:
I'm looking into Python as a good place to start.
Is that "Learn Python the Hard Way" worth paying for the video's?

I honestly wouldn't know about the videos but the free online course is more than enough to give you an understanding of the basics

mid_gen · 14 Oct 2015 at 09:16

Don't spend money learning to program whatever you do, I doubt there are many other skills with such a wealth of free resources to help you learn.

JonJ678 · 14 Oct 2015 at 21:54

I suggest SICP. It's hard, but that's fair, because programming is hard. I wish I'd discovered it earlier.

Throrik · 14 Oct 2015 at 21:56

JonJ678 said:
I suggest SICP. It's hard, but that's fair, because programming is hard. I wish I'd discovered it earlier.

It is truly a book that every programmer should read, it's just that it's written in Scheme, which I understand why they used Scheme, but it's Scheme for crying out loud.

Read this, and then apply all the knowledge to another language. Unless you find a Scheme position in some strange underground Russian facility.

D3K · 14 Oct 2015 at 22:50

JonJ678 said:
I suggest SICP. It's hard, but that's fair, because programming is hard. I wish I'd discovered it earlier.

Throrik said:
It is truly a book that every programmer should read, it's just that it's written in Scheme, which I understand why they used Scheme, but it's Scheme for crying out loud.

Read this, and then apply all the knowledge to another language. Unless you find a Scheme position in some strange underground Russian facility.

As someone who, according to this graph, is rolling back and forth between the desert of despair and the upswing of awesome, do you think that book will help?

The major issue I've had so far is taking the knowledge I've learned and applying it to unknown functions/methods/objects. Samples/examples of use on MSDN make no sense to me. Any entries I find by myself in object browsers never seem to work as I expect them to.

I've regressed to a state of frankensteining other people's code to get what I want and this doesn't feel empowering. I'd really like to be at a stage where I can write the majority of the code from scratch through deduction and iterative testing. How much memorisation is needed as opposed to working out what's needed each time?

Throrik · 15 Oct 2015 at 09:30

I find that it's the sort of book you would read studying Computer Science, it's useful but it's quite Math's heavy from what I recall.

The best way I found to move passed that stage was to make something, build it on paper explaining in English what each part of the program does and then translate it into code. Even if you have to Google every step of the way you'll have still built something.

I never memorise everything, there are too many functions, too many different ways of doing things. If I were to do string manipulation I always have to go and re-read it on MSDN or SO because there's too much to remember.

D3K · 15 Oct 2015 at 10:54

Yeah I'm halfway through a simple backup app for data management software and it's been a good learning project.
But my boss wanted to monetise it and by throwing in his licensing code, and asking for an exe rather than scripts/task scheduler, I've hit a brick wall.
But I really do see the value in creating a nice self-contained project with a start and finish.

Would you say the purpose of that book is the conversion of mathematics for programmers, or the theory of programming in general? I come from an engineering background so have no issues with maths. I'd hate to add a technically heavy piece of text to an already mounting stack of study material

Throrik · 15 Oct 2015 at 11:16

The Wiki explains it better than I would be able:

aiming to teach the principles of computer programming, such as abstraction in programming, metalinguistic abstraction, recursion, interpreters, and modular programming.

The program also introduces a practical implementation of the register machine concept, defining and developing an assembler for such a construct, which is used as a virtual machine for the implementation of interpreters and compilers in the book, and as a testbed for illustrating the implementation and effect of modifications to the evaluation mechanism. Working Scheme systems based on the design described in this book are quite common student projects.