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I want to teach my wife to code...where do I start?
I just got the bright idea of trying to convince my wife to learn coding. Why not, eh?
Here is the rub, it's very foreign to her and she isn't particularly 'tech-savvy'.
I do mostly Ruby and Rails dev, so that's where I am going to start. I have a CS degree, but she doesn't.
Where do I start and how do I progress? There are many things I take for granted, like what an 'int' is, and words are called 'strings' - which are a series of letters, not an actual 'word'.
She has no experience with any of that stuff.
I am thinking of starting with something like TryRuby.org - where she can get immediate gratification, but then supplementing it with some 'theory'.
Thoughts?
- LaaT 15y agoIs she really interested in learning? Or is she just being nice to you accepting this? Anyway, I'd start with HTML and Javascript. More familiar territory for a complete beginner.
- RodgerTheGreat 15y agoHonestly, HTML may not be a bad idea for a total beginner. It's not a programming language, but it allows you to introduce a number of ideas that are the building blocks of programming- the distinction between 'code' and rendered output, nesting, quotations and escapes...
- marcamillion 15y agoInteresting ideas about HTML. Never thought about that.
- marcamillion 15y agoShe is just being nice to me...but she is also investing in our 'couple time' together. The way I pitched it is, "something for us to do together". She loves that idea. Javascript, definitely not. HTML...for sure. Thanks!
- gwillis13 15y agoIf she really is motivated to a degree to learn code. I would start first with theory, and explain it to her as if she was learning a new language. With that said, IMO would start her off with logic and OOP. That's if she really wants to code. If it's just a simple understanding of how the web works, the posters comments about HTML would suffice as a starting point.
- andrewhillman 15y agoI don't think it is necessary to start her off w/ RoR. The web was founded without RoR so no need to start her off with RoR. How about teaching her very basic html first? Creating anchor text/hyperlinks and then having her ftp it online will be gratifying. Stick to the basics. It will probably keep you sane while you teach her. Good luck.
- marcamillion 15y agoNo need to FTP it....can just run it locally.
- andrewhillman 15y agoOf course, but it probably would be more gratifying to her to FTP it, see the process and be able to go online to check it out. Or else she might be like, what do you mean locally? Then a bunch of questions will follow... How do I access it from my computer? What's the web address? I am on the phone with Judy, how can she see what I did?
- hsshah 15y agoSo I have been teaching Computer technology to kids in schools and also to non-techies as a hobby for a while. I urge you to NOT start with technology. From her interests, identify something that can be augmented with programming first. [for example, she wants to share her hobby via a blog]. Just show her what is possible in that instance with knowledge of coding. From there work backwards to show what she needs to learn to achieve this goal. You will find her lot more motivated. I talked about this with Hack Education's Audrey just yesterday. Some more thoughts captured by her here: http://www.hackeducation.com/2012/03/06/harry-shah/ http://www.hackeducation.com/2012/03/06/harry-shah/
- marcamillion 15y agoSounds like an interesting idea, the blog thing won't work - because she doesn't have the time/nor desire to blog about it. But you may be on to something here. Thanks for the link and idea!