Need to Learn To Code? Here’s A Tip and a Tool:
A lot of people want to learn to code, but don’t know how/where to start. I think it’s harder for someone who isn’t already in the tech industry to break into it than people realize.
I remember when I was a recent college grad, I had no clue where to start. I tried teaching myself a little C++, but I had no idea what I was doing and didn’t know anyone who could help me out. It was frustrating, so I just gave up.
If you’re trying to break into the tech industry, I have some advice for you: go work in a call center. This might sound weird, but stay with me here. The vast majority of call centers have phone systems that are programmed using scripting languages like Ruby or Python. It will be your job to write scripts that control how the system handles calls from customers and make changes to how the company uses their phone system. You will be working with these scripting languages every day, and there will be someone there who can answer your questions about them as you get started.
I often hear people say that they want to learn to code. That’s great! But what should you do if you have no idea where to start?
I believe that everyone needs to learn to code, so I wrote a guide for people who are completely new to programming, and I also created a video lecture series for beginners.
In the article, “Need To Learn To Code? Here’s A Tip and a Tool,” I suggest that you try the Brackets text editor, which is an open source tool from Adobe. It is available for Mac, Windows and Linux.
If you want to get started with coding right away, then check out my free video series on web development basics called Web Development Fundamentals.
There are a lot of people out there that are looking for a job in the tech industry. Most jobs require a basic level of coding skills and you can’t get the job without them. I believe most people can learn to code, given time and opportunity. This is why many companies have started programs to help people learn to code, with the goal of hiring them. It’s a win-win situation. The company gets skilled employees and the employee gets a job they wouldn’t have been able to get otherwise.
The problem is that many of these programs cost money and don’t take into account people who may not be able to afford it. The good news is that there are free resources out there that can help you learn to code, if you know where to look. A great place for beginners is [Harvard’s CS50x](https://cs50.harvard.edu/x/2020/) class that is taught every year at Yale University.
I’ve been hearing from a lot of people that they want to start coding.
A common misconception is that you have to go through a 4-year degree in order to get the skills needed for coding. This isn’t true. A lot of companies are open to hiring programmers who don’t have an official degree in computer science (a popular example is Mark Zuckerberg.)
It is also not necessary to pay for classes or courses. You can learn with free resources, such as Code Academy. There are also several books that can help you kickstart your programming career. I wrote a blog post on this topic if you want more information and recommendations.
In addition, I recently came across a set of lectures by Harvard professor David Malan called CS50x, which is designed to be an introduction to computer science for college students. Even if you aren’t a student, these tutorials are very helpful in learning how to code, as well as providing useful tips along the way. The first few days of the course focus on Scratch, which is an online program used to teach kids how to code (there’s both a desktop and web version). After learning about the basics of programming, it gets into C and JavaScript before del
This post is for you.
I’ll make a little confession. I’m frustrated with the way that we, as a society, talk about learning to code.
In particular, the idea that you need to learn it from a book. The idea that if only you can get your hands on the right book, then you’ll be able to do it. That if only you read enough books, you’ll be able to build something amazing.
The thing is… this just isn’t true.
If it was true, I could go into a library and pick up any book off the shelf and start building products that people would love. But I can’t.
Instead of talking about books, let’s talk about some of the other stuff that you need in order to learn — things like time, energy and motivation.
That’s where the MIT Open Courseware site comes in. The site offers classes from a variety of different fields of study, but for you interested in getting into the programming game, you’ll want to check out Introduction to Computer Science and Programming.
The class is hosted by two professors from MIT, John Guttag and Eric Grimson, who are both experienced in the field and present their lectures in an easy-to-understand format. The videos are available on YouTube for free (after all, it is MIT Open Courseware), and are also embedded on the Open Courseware site so that you can easily access them without having to go elsewhere.
The course is made up of 8 lectures that cover a variety of topics including computational thinking, problem solving, binary numbers and fixed point representation, loops, functions and events. It’s a great course that serves as an excellent introduction to those who have never been exposed to programming before.
The proliferation of programming languages and platforms is both a curse and a blessing. There’s no shortage of choices when it comes to deciding what to learn, but having too many choices can be paralyzing. That’s why I’m going to give you some advice that may seem counter-intuitive: Don’t pick a language or platform. Instead, pick an area of interest.
Let me give you a concrete example. Suppose you want to learn how to write applications for the iPhone or iPad. You could learn Objective C, but that would be a mistake, because Apple may well change its mind about which language it wants developers to use. It already has once, from Objective C to Swift.
When it comes down to it, the programming language is just syntax. The important thing is the underlying concepts and techniques used in developing applications for iOS devices. If Apple changes its mind again tomorrow, so long as they keep the same basic platform, you’ll be able to adapt by learning the new syntax without much trouble.
The other way of looking at this is that if you want to develop for the iPhone or iPad, then you should learn Swift. But if Apple switches to another language next year (or next week) and you