Can anyone give me advice on learning coding please!

Hi I recently got interested in coding. I just want to learn this as a hobby and I know it will take many years and I am alright with that.

But so many websites are giving different directions on which programme language to learn. Can anyone give me a detailed approach on what to learn first - the basic and then how to improve the knowledge. Thank you. :smile:

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Reply 1

INTit

Original post by m93100

Which programming languages to learn depends on what you want to create.
Do you want to create desktop/business applications, 3D games, websites ? They all have languages best suited to them.

Heres an approach you can take. Using free software to learn web development, which is the easiest coding to get into.

Download and install:
http://www.easyphp.org/easyphp-devserver.php
This is a free and very easy web server setup I've seen.

Text editor with syntax highlighting for writing code.
http://www.pspad.com/en/

Follow the tutorials on here in this order:
http://www.w3schools.com/

•

HTML,

•

CSS,

•

JAVASCRIPT,

•

PHP

•

SQL.

The first 2 in the list are the basics the other 3 are more advanced. You will likely need to use google to supplement those tutorials especially if you get stuck. Or post questions on here.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 2

Andy98

Original post by m93100

To get started in coding I would recommend making an account at http://www.codecademy.com - there you can learn the basics of Python, Ruby, Javascript, PHP, HTML and CSS - it'll tell you what each one is used for - and you actually learn quite quickly through that - from there you can decide what sort of coding you want to do - once you've decided follow the advice of the comment above mine

Reply 3

JWoodsie

Another good option for learning initially is to download visual studio express, (a free compiler, google it :biggrin:

) and read through this very good intro book, (also free)
http://static.squarespace.com/static/5019271be4b0807297e8f404/t/52ca85ebe4b04a45ef2c9c97/1389004267685/Rob%20Miles%20CSharp%20Yellow%20Book%202014.pdf

If you do this you can learn the fundamentals of C# pretty quickly, and this will provide a good base to go on and learn pretty much any other language (similar syntax)

Good luck! :biggrin:

Reply 4

Cal97g

Just go with codeacademy and start with either HTML or Python.

Reply 5

b0tt13

Once you figure out what language you want to learn, find learning resources that let you learn by doing, one that walks you through the process of writing and compiling a program, and you follow along with your computer completing the exercises. For instance, if you were learning python, a good book would be learn python the hard way, because students complete exercises and learn by doing, rather than by just learning by reading, and then trying to apply knowledge.

Reply 6

Andy98

And rare

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Reply 7

Push_More_Button

Original post by Andy98

And rare

And that attitude is exactly what's wrong with the wider IT industry... :rolleyes:

Original post by m93100

Coding is an excellent skill to have and can be quite rewarding so it's great you've picked up an interest in it.

The first (and biggest) question about which language you should learn is "What do you want to do with it?".

Do you want to make websites? Build web apps? Create mobile apps? Make a desktop program? Make a command line application to automate something?

If you want to make websites you should look into HTML (for the page structure) and CSS (for the page styling). If you'd like it to be complex you should look into using some JavaScript and jQuery, if you want to with a database you should learn PHP (allows dynamic websites) and SQL (ability to interact with a database).

If you want to build web apps you should look at PHP, Python or Ruby.

If you want to build mobile apps you can use HTML/CSS and Javascript to create a website stored on the mobile and then have a very simple app that displays it (like a dedicated browser) though these type of apps are almost never as good as native ones (apps coded in the language the operating system uses) so for iOS apps you've want to learn Objective-C and for Android apps it's Java.

If you want to make a desktop program you could use Java or C# or even Python.

If you want to make a command line application you could use Python.

PHP is a relatively easy language to pick up, but it's rather relaxed with the way it works so it's incredibly easy to use bad practises which can make the knowledge transfer to transition to another language much more difficult down the line...
Python is usually a good choice that's recommended to beginners but I've only dabbled in it so I can't speak much about it.

Reply 8

Andy98

Original post by Push_More_Button

And that attitude is exactly what's wrong with the wider IT industry... :rolleyes:

Are we not correct though?

Reply 9

Push_More_Button

Original post by Andy98

Are we not correct though?

You're correct that there are more males than females in the industry.

Perhaps it's because not many women are interested in coding? Or perhaps it's because of attitudes like this?

Reply 10

Andy98

Original post by Push_More_Button

You're correct that there are more males than females in the industry.

Perhaps it's because not many women are interested in coding? Or perhaps it's because of attitudes like this?

I reckon it's the primary option

Reply 11

donkey388

Maybe have a look at Corona ... it uses lua and is very easy to use. Furthermore, it creates apps which are used on most platforms

Reply 12

Planto

Original post by JWoodsie

Another good option for learning initially is to download visual studio express, (a free compiler, google it :biggrin:

)

Visual Studio is not a compiler.

Reply 13

JWoodsie

Original post by Planto

Visual Studio is not a compiler.

Compiler, IDE, meh, sue me :P

Reply 14

Juichiro

Original post by m93100

What do you like about coding? This is the million dollar question that will define your learning path.

Reply 15

donkey388

Original post by m93100

I am coming to the end of my computer science degree... you are more than welcome to inbox me if you ever need help with your code :smile:

Reply 16

Cal97g

Just to point out, I'm 90% sure this guy is a guy with a girl for a picture.

Reply 17

m93100

Original post by Cal97g

Just to point out, I'm 90% sure this guy is a guy with a girl for a picture.

Because I like coding?

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Reply 18

m93100

Thank you for everyone that replied! :smile:

the information was very useful and if I need help I'll post in this thread.

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Reply 19

m93100

Oh I really want to make websites, those cool tumblr videos they make and designing a software - are my main interests to learn coding

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