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@metapianycist
hey mastofriends, i need to find an introduction to programming concepts for absolute beginners, because I'm struggling to understand various concepts that the "beginner" guide I'm reading seem to think I already understand (stuff like like: for loops, objects, strings, arrays, variables)
anyone know of any book, website, youtube video, anything that can teach me these concepts that were apparently too basic to be in a beginner guide to a language i want to learn?
@metapianycist feel free to ask me anytime! I'll do my best to help!
(do we count as "anything"?)
@metapianycist (I have no teaching experience tho, even if I do know this stuff...)
lowkey ableism Show more
@metapianycist I legitimately got a job that included programming in ruby after reading http://poignant.guide/book/chapter-1.html cover-to-cover in a panic before the interview.
That was 10 years ago, more or less to the day.
Why's poignant guide! Show more
Why's poignant guide! Show more
Why's poignant guide! Show more
@metapianycist I learned with this https://greenteapress.com/wp/think-python-2e/
(free)
@metapianycist i learned through the Python For Everyone Coursera course. Coursera is free, but you can access all the same course materials (including the textbook) here: http://py4e.com/
the instructor really started at a truly basic level, including how to install a text editor, and how to run a script once you wrote and saved it.
originally i tried codecademy but what i really needed was for someone to tell me how to save and run a program on my own computer, not a web interface.
@metapianycist Larry Gonick's /Cartoon Guide to the Computer/. First published in 1983, and amazingly still relevant.
Noëlle the 8-Bit🏳️🌈🎄
@metapianycist Which language are you using? The "Learn X the Hard Way" series is a good starter course - at least, your first time through; it's less useful the more experience you have - and includes those basic programming elements.
@noelle there are a few that i want to learn. i understand html and css. i want to learn javascript. i'm also interested in learning python (because it seems really versatile?) and Java (for Android app hecking around). ruby also looks cool.
the book i started just before making this post was a guide to using html, css and javascript to develop for android. it was supposed to be introductory for those three languages. the javascript intro completely went over my head.
@metapianycist Oof, yeah, I can see that. Hm, it looks like Learn Python the Hard Way is paid-only now, but if you're willing to learn Ruby instead (it's fairly easy to move between them), LRTHW is free online and will teach you the basics you need: https://learnrubythehardway.org/book/
@noelle @metapianycist i really like freecodebootcamp.com for html/css/javascript. It is all small exercise based and very project oriented. Javascript love it or hate it is probably the most versatile language in the world right now.
@metapianycist
I think https://eloquentjavascript.net/ is a good beginner book if you want to learn the basics of programming concepts and javascript
@metapianycist i think this covered a lot of that, although its specific to c# , although the principles are the same, and i'm not a total beginner so i may have not noticed explanations that are missing thingshttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPV2KyIb3jR6ZkG8gZwJYSjnXxmfPAl51
@metapianycist Have you looked at glitch.com? They're very much about being a community and helping each other learn (or so saith their CEO, Anil Dash, and he's generally pretty good about these sorts of things).
(I have to admit that it's been <mumblety>five years since I learned programming so I'm not a great judge of beginner stuff, though.)
@metapianycist https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/LispBook/book.pdf
This book teaches the language Common Lisp, which I'm proficient in, and also programming in general. It's meant for people who did not have any contact with programming before, or very little.
@phoe @metapianycist Second the recommendation for Touretzky's book. Barski's http://landoflisp.com/ is also very approachable. Best intro to JavaScript is Haverbeke's https://eloquentjavascript.net/
@metapianycist I seem to remember the JavaScript section for free code camp (freecodecanp.com) introducing these things through little exercises.
Something that can be frustrating sometimes with intro to programming stuff is that they will show you something, give you a really simple explanation and kind of expect you to trudge forward, try to apply it, make mistakes, and refine your understanding through trial and error.
@metapianycist one more thought on this: find a teacher/coach/mentor. There's a buttload of little things you have to learn to get good at coding and having someone you can turn to that can consistently answer your questions and dive into the specific issues with you is invaluable. It will save you huge amounts of struggles.
@vector I'm luckily married to @lunasspecto who knows python, c, c++, and probably more programming languages than that
@metapianycist I've heard good things about the Knuth computer books. Only read his books on TeX and I'm not sure they are a good fit. Though, the thing is, it can be a matter that things just are not explained well for you?
@metapianycist
Algorithms and Data Structures, my first book on Pascal, did a good job. Still it may be Impossible to find
@metapianycist did you try codecademy?