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I'm learning how to code right now too and it's been frustrating to find resources that truly start at the beginning without assuming you know things from other
by M_Sanger 16y ago
I'm learning how to code right now too and it's been frustrating to find resources that truly start at the beginning without assuming you know things from other languages. Right now I'm looking into using Google App Engine and python and these are the best resources I have found:
-MIT open courseware offers a FANTASTIC introductory course using python with video lectures which are nice since I get tired of reading 600+ page books.
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-00-introduction-to-computer-science-and-programming-fall-2008/ http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-comput...
-Another resource that I found very helpful is a book called Head First Java, I'm not really into Java but the first few chapters give a great overview of Object Oriented programming. I wasn't sure what the difference between a class and object were, and I was unsure about other very basic questions. This book answered all of those questions, and it's written in a very entertaining style.
-I'm also reading a book called "using Google app engine" also starts from the beginning, and introduces all the technologies that go into Google App Engine. I found that book on gigapedia.org btw.
-I tried zed shaw's learn python the hard way book. I've only done the first few examples so I don't have an opinion on it yet. But so far I think it's a good resource for short little exercises to learn your way around python syntax, but I definitely needed more of a programming background which is where all the other resources I mentioned above fill in the gap.
by the way i would definitely recommend python over other languages I've looked into because at least as a beginner, python syntax isn't complicated to learn. But if you are interested in learning say Java, there is a Stanford online course that might be good, so just look at their online course offerings.
A final python resource which I found was Guido Van Robot where you basically control a robot in a maze using python. I haven't looked at it too closely yet but it seems entertaining and helpful for the beginner. If you're familiar with Karel the Robot, Guido Van Robot is the exact same thing, except using python.
http://gvr.sourceforge.net/ http://gvr.sourceforge.net/
- SRSimko 16y agoFor some reason it didn't occur to me to look at some of the resources avail. through Universities. I will be sure to check out your suggestions. For those interested in Ruby I did find a free book on Ruby and after glancing through a few pages it seems to be written in an interesting way with funny references. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why%27s_%28poignant%29_Guide_to_Ruby http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why%27s_%28poignant%29_Guide_to...