Learning to code

BIG-JG · Aug 24, 2020

I have been learning Swift for about 6 weeks now, I have done a lot of feeling out instructors to see how I fit with their teaching styles. My favorite is the Stanford CS193p course. Followed by 100 Days of Swift, Paul Hudson is really good. There are so many resources for any coding, the hard part is finding what works for you. I have no experience coding and it will be a long road but I have been enjoying it.

Chubnasty · Aug 24, 2020

I've been enjoying https://www.mooc.fi/en/ for learning Java. Had to find a workaround to talk to their code checking server but after that it's been amazing. It might be fixed now.

Red · Aug 24, 2020

SinkFla said:
I'm 33 and in dire need of an actual career and education. I kinda want to get into this type of field but I don't even know where to begin. I have seen some jobs posted locally looking for people experienced with javascript. But yeah I'm literally needing to learn from square one. I'm decent with hardware but programming and code? Eh.

This old dog needs help learning any trick :(.

There are countless resources. I'm not saying that as if it's an absolutely good thing. The amount of choice and possible paths forward for someone new to the field is paralyzing.

I'd suggest checking out 2-3 resources weekly, and as soon as you find one you enjoy, stick with it, and don't check out anything else until it's outlived its usefulness. Coursera, edX, and Udacity are great resources that come with some reputable backing. Udemy is a kind of paid YouTube that can also be quite good (but never pay more than $13 for a course). YouTube itself has a huge amount of valuable content. Avoid pricey options like egghead.io. Some of their content is very good, but the price is better suited for businesses who need to train employees.

The most important thing is to stick with what works. Find a course or resource you enjoy, and engage with it as long as it is useful. Only then move on to something else. After you've done this with one or two complete resources, you can begin to interleave multiple resources to pick things up more quickly, with a good foundation to build from.

shenden · Aug 24, 2020

PorcoLighto said:
I am not a front end guy, and it has been years since I look at Youtube tutorials, but as far as I know these channels are generally pretty good.

Learn React JS - Full Course for Beginners - Tutorial 2019

React.js is a JavaScript library for building dynamic web applications. Upon completion of this course, you'll know everything you need in order to build web...

www.youtube.com

React JS Crash Course

In this crash course you will learn what React JS is and the fundamentals such as components, state, props, JSX, events, etc. Modern React Front To Back - 13...

www.youtube.com

Thanks! I'm somewhat versed and can create basic components etc, but need little bit deep diving. Will look into these.

JaseC64 · Aug 24, 2020

Adding to my list to do. Thanks.

K' Dash · Aug 24, 2020

Midnight Lunch said:
My best advice is once you feel you have enough of a base knowledge and an idea, start working on a project you want to work on and aim for completion. So much learning with coding comes from solving problems that you simply have to overcome to proceed, and when it's your own project the drive to figure it out is much stronger.

Best advice.

xeroborn55 · Aug 24, 2020

SinkFla said:
I'm 33 and in dire need of an actual career and education. I kinda want to get into this type of field but I don't even know where to begin. I have seen some jobs posted locally looking for people experienced with javascript. But yeah I'm literally needing to learn from square one. I'm decent with hardware but programming and code? Eh.

This old dog needs help learning any trick :(.

I was in a similar situation about 3-4 years ago. I taught myself to program from nothing. I've worked my way up in business intelligence and 2 weeks ago got promoted to a senior BI analyst position. I use python/SQL. Python is not a requirement at my job, but i have it when i need it, and it gives me an advantage over my peers, many of whom do not know how to program.

When i was learning i tried many different courses/books.

I would recommend starting here: http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/cs101/

The course is still available on udacity. It is excellent. I kind of fumbled around with different courses until i found this one, which convinced me that i could learn to program, that i enjoyed it, and that i should continue learning.

I would recommend udacity in general above other online courses (udemy, springboard, etc). Bootcamps are a little different from these types of courses.

Its hard work, learning data analysis/programming was basically my 2nd full time job for 2 years, but the work paid off. I have a career now.

One thing to keep in mind... in my experience these courses arent enough to get a job. I started at the very bottom, basically excel data entry. Then i went to business analyst, platform analyst, and now sr. BI analyst. by learning to program, and learning tableau/SQL, i gave myself a chance to succeed when opportunities presented themselves.

SinkFla · Aug 25, 2020

xeroborn55 said:
I was in a similar situation about 3-4 years ago. I taught myself to program from nothing. I've worked my way up in business intelligence and 2 weeks ago got promoted to a senior BI analyst position. I use python/SQL. Python is not a requirement at my job, but i have it when i need it, and it gives me an advantage over my peers, many of whom do not know how to program.

When i was learning i tried many different courses/books.

I would recommend starting here: http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/cs101/

The course is still available on udacity. It is excellent. I kind of fumbled around with different courses until i found this one, which convinced me that i could learn to program, that i enjoyed it, and that i should continue learning.

I would recommend udacity in general above other online courses (udemy, springboard, etc). Bootcamps are a little different from these types of courses.

Its hard work, learning data analysis/programming was basically my 2nd full time job for 2 years, but the work paid off. I have a career now.

One thing to keep in mind... in my experience these courses arent enough to get a job. I started at the very bottom, basically excel data entry. Then i went to business analyst, platform analyst, and now sr. BI analyst. by learning to program, and learning tableau/SQL, i gave myself a chance to succeed when opportunities presented themselves.

Wow I'm really happy for you and congrats on the promotion! And thanks for the information and suggestions there. Right now my longest employment is currently ongoing with 9 years as a hotel night auditor. TBH though I feel like I've let my brain idle on autopilot at this job and there's no future in it for me. I've known this for awhile but I have severe anxiety about starting anew (I know I'm not alone in this). I also know I'm not getting any younger and I am also anxious about the door to a brighter future ever closing inch by inch every new day. Can't be neutral on a movie train I suppose :/. I'm going to check out udacity for sure. Good thing is at my current job I actually would have the time to study and work on coding. So much downtime and like I said, it's rotting my brain lol.

Thanks Red for your advice and input as well! I really appreciate all the advice

PorcoLighto · Aug 26, 2020

shenden said:
Thanks! I'm somewhat versed and can create basic components etc, but need little bit deep diving. Will look into these.

Yeah, sorry I assumed you are a total beginner. Engineers in my firm have subscriptions for FrontEnd Master(?) I believe, but that's paid.
One other route to go is Linked Learning, which often offers 1 month free trial, there should be some advanced course there? Worth a try.

Red · Aug 26, 2020

PorcoLighto said:
Yeah, sorry I assumed you are a total beginner. Engineers in my firm have subscriptions for FrontEnd Master(?) I believe, but that's paid.
One other route to go is Linked Learning, which often offers 1 month free trial, there should be some advanced course there? Worth a try.

React docs are pretty good on their own. You can learn a lot just by completing their tutorials.

shenden is there a particular aspect of React you're looking for help with? What is your experience level?

shenden · Aug 27, 2020

PorcoLighto said:
Yeah, sorry I assumed you are a total beginner. Engineers in my firm have subscriptions for FrontEnd Master(?) I believe, but that's paid.
One other route to go is Linked Learning, which often offers 1 month free trial, there should be some advanced course there? Worth a try.

No worries, It was a while ago so I need some rehash and there's always something to pick up from any tutorial really :)

Red said:
React docs are pretty good on their own. You can learn a lot just by completing their tutorials.

shenden is there a particular aspect of React you're looking for help with? What is your experience level?

Hey! Well my experience is not too high, I can create a component/add props/states in a light manner. I'm more of a hardcore CSS guy normally who dwells a little bit in our company code base which is React, but I would love to grasp little bit more about Redux for example.

Red · Aug 27, 2020

shenden said:
Hey! Well my experience is not too high, I can create a component/add props/states in a light manner. I'm more of a hardcore CSS guy normally who dwells a little bit in our company code base which is React, but I would love to grasp little bit more about Redux for example.

Redux seems to be falling out of favor in the React community. It's a little complicated to get started with—especially if it was implemented pre-react hooks. I think it's good to learn but is not itself a part of React. It's a different library.

React has its own state-sharing mechanism called Context. Facebook is also working on a product called Recoil, which is an alternative to Redux. There are many other state-management libraries out there as well.

Do you have specific questions about Redux? I may not be able to answer but I might point you in the right direction.

ConanEdogawa · Aug 27, 2020

I had taught myself some programming over the years and taken some online classes, but I went the bootcamp route to break into the industry, and I'm very happy I did. It's led to a great job that I love. It's possible eventually I could have taught myself most of what I learned, but the networking and connections that came from it were equally as valuable, if not more so.

Some are definitely better than others. I'm not sure if it's been mentioned, but here's a site with reviews and statistics: https://www.coursereport.com/

Learning to code

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