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Just found Codecademy.com

Flumme

Flumme

Android Enthusiast
I just want to recommend this site!

I have been wanting to learn some basic programming skills for quite some time, but have not known where to do it. A friend recommended Codecademy.com, and I really like it! It's a free, web based learning (and teaching) interface, where you are able to learn Java, Python, HTML, CSS and Ruby.

Everything is really user friendly, and the first lessons are dead simple, but they make stuff harder as you go along, without overdoing it. I really recommend it.

I'm trying to learn Python (and some Java), to be able to take Tasker to another level. Or let Tasker take me to another level..? I actually enjoy the process!

Are there any other, good and preferably free, resources out there for me to check out?
 
Flumme said:
I just want to recommend this site!

I have been wanting to learn some basic programming skills for quite some time, but have not known where to do it. A friend recommended Codecademy.com, and I really like it! It's a free, web based learning (and teaching) interface, where you are able to learn Java, Python, HTML, CSS and Ruby.

Everything is really user friendly, and the first lessons are dead simple, but they make stuff harder as you go along, without overdoing it. I really recommend it.

I'm trying to learn Python (and some Java), to be able to take Tasker to another level. Or let Tasker take me to another level..? I actually enjoy the process!

Are there any other, good and preferably free, resources out there for me to check out?
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I'll take a look at that, it looks useful :)
 
Loving codecademy! Basic Java really reminds me of when I was learning C++ in high school. I've been meaning to get into Java, and now it looks like it will be a lot easier to grasp. I don't need to get into any server stuff, so basic Java should be enough for me.
 
I think I would quite to like develop Android apps or do something in IT programming... What would be best to learn? Is it Java?
 
Savage Shadows said:
Loving codecademy! Basic Java really reminds me of when I was learning C++ in high school. I've been meaning to get into Java, and now it looks like it will be a lot easier to grasp. I don't need to get into any server stuff, so basic Java should be enough for me.
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Thanks for making me feel old. :p

In high school I learned BASIC on a mainframe over phone lines, using a big, heavy WE tty and paper tape.
tty.jpg


In college I learned FORTRAN on a UNIX
 
Mehta23 said:
I think I would quite to like develop Android apps or do something in IT programming... What would be best to learn? Is it Java?
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It looks that way. According to Wikipedia, most of the Android development environments use Java and/or Java-related classes. The Android Applications area will give you better answers.

The last time I checked, many colleges were teaching Java to their CS students. But for general purpose programming you may want to learn C++ and how to allocate and clean up memory, something that Java does for you.
 
I think this code academy teaches java script.... Shall I leave that then, and focus more on C? Dunno if it makes a difference but I'm 16 atm, at school so I won't be needing this skills urgently or anything. Just thought it'd be good start soon.
 
Mehta23 said:
I think this code academy teaches java script.... Shall I leave that then, and focus more on C? Dunno if it makes a difference but I'm 16 atm, at school so I won't be needing this skills urgently or anything. Just thought it'd be good start soon.
Click to expand...
I should have put a disclaimer somewhere that you should take my raving and drooling for entertainment purposes only. ;) Just because I refuse to learn OOP doesn't mean that you should take that as advice. That would be bad...

Seriously, JavaScript comes from Java and is IMHO a great way to ease your way into full-blown applications programming. JavaScript is running in just about every browser on earth, so it's a must-know for web developers. C, C++, Java and JavaScript are all related, so once you've mastered one, you should be able to learn another quickly. I would advise against learning C first, though. Although versions of C have OOP capabilities, C has a lot of old-fashioned programming style.

So if you want to learn how to write code, you'll find out sooner or later that you'll need to be able to write OOP code for modern applications. Learning Java is the easiest way to develop the right habits for OOP. (Don't worry, it will make more sense as you start doing it.) You can move on to C and C++ easily after you master Java.

Does your school offer any programming classes? If you're interested in learning programming you might as well have it count towards graduation if you can.

The codeacademy.com website lists these:

  • JavaScript
  • HTML/CSS
  • Python
  • Ruby
HTML and CSS is for making web pages and isn't really a programming language. But if I had my way, every serious computer user would know enough about HTML to be able to write a simple web page by hand.

The rest are interpreted languages. Although JavaScript is used mostly for web scripting (runs inside a web browser) it can be used for other things, such as certain "office" suites. Python and Ruby are popular scripting languages that are usually seen on UNIX/Linux machines, and that's what most web servers run on. But they're used for other things.

Start off with JavaScript and see where that leads you. You really can't go wrong with that.

Have fun!
 
Personally, I learned C++ first and don't really have much experience with java. C++ isn't too bad IMO but it depends on what you ultimately want to do as to what you may want to learn first
 
Speed Daemon said:
I should have put a disclaimer somewhere that you should take my raving and drooling for entertainment purposes only. ;) Just because I refuse to learn OOP doesn't mean that you should take that as advice. That would be bad...

Seriously, JavaScript comes from Java and is IMHO a great way to ease your way into full-blown applications programming. JavaScript is running in just about every browser on earth, so it's a must-know for web developers. C, C++, Java and JavaScript are all related, so once you've mastered one, you should be able to learn another quickly. I would advise against learning C first, though. Although versions of C have OOP capabilities, C has a lot of old-fashioned programming style.

So if you want to learn how to write code, you'll find out sooner or later that you'll need to be able to write OOP code for modern applications. Learning Java is the easiest way to develop the right habits for OOP. (Don't worry, it will make more sense as you start doing it.) You can move on to C and C++ easily after you master Java.

Does your school offer any programming classes? If you're interested in learning programming you might as well have it count towards graduation if you can.

The codeacademy.com website lists these:

  • JavaScript
  • HTML/CSS
  • Python
  • Ruby
HTML and CSS is for making web pages and isn't really a programming language. But if I had my way, every serious computer user would know enough about HTML to be able to write a simple web page by hand.

The rest are interpreted languages. Although JavaScript is used mostly for web scripting (runs inside a web browser) it can be used for other things, such as certain "office" suites. Python and Ruby are popular scripting languages that are usually seen on UNIX/Linux machines, and that's what most web servers run on. But they're used for other things.

Start off with JavaScript and see where that leads you. You really can't go wrong with that.

Have fun!
Click to expand...

JavaScript gets my vote as well, for starting out. There's nothing to install, just need a browser. :)
 
Speed Daemon said:
Thanks for making me feel old. :p
Click to expand...

SD thank you for making me feel old as well. :p

Speed Daemon said:
In high school I learned BASIC on a mainframe over phone lines, using a big, heavy WE tty and paper tape.
tty.jpg
Click to expand...

A Model 33 teleprinter.....yeh. That was my first interaction with computers as well in 1980 at college. programming in BASIC. The one we used was dial-up via an acoustic coupler modem to a British ICL1902 minicomputer running Maximop, which was from about 1968.
ICT 1900 series - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Surplus Model 33s were very popular with radio hams as well for a long time, for doing RTTY(Radio Teletype).
 
mikedt said:
SD thank you for making me feel old as well. :p
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Any time... :D

A Model 33 teleprinter.....yeh. That was my first interaction with computers as well in 1980 at college.
Click to expand...
It was 1978 for me. IIRC there was a tape punch on the left side and a tape reader on the right side. There was a 50/50 chance that the reader would shred the paper tape or read it.

...a British ICL1902 minicomputer running Maximop, which was from about 1968.
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LOL...Maximop...sounds like a DEC creation.

Surplus Model 33s were very popular with radio hams as well for a long time, for doing RTTY(Radio Teletype).
Click to expand...
Interesting. All I knew about the things is that they were everywhere, and they were built in a factory just a couple miles down the road from my high school.
 
Speed Daemon said:
LOL...Maximop...sounds like a DEC creation.
Click to expand...

I always thought it sounded like one of those "As Seen On TV" things. Something like "Clean your kitchen floor in double quick time with the new Ronco Maximop!!" :D

Actually it was a time-share system intended for educational and academic uses. MINIMOP - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Think it was part of a project called ICLCES. International Computers Ltd, Computer Education in Schools. There were a few games on the system as well, like Tic-tac-toe, Blackjack, Colossal Cave Adventure, Star Trek, etc.
 
Mehta23 said:
No. It's a secondary school with a sixth form building, and although it's now a "technology academy", there's only two qualified IT teachers and no where to learn code.
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Does that mean they have a certification in basic Microsoft Office skills, that they acquired from the local Job Club or Training for Success scheme?
 
Mehta23 said:
Probably not. My As teacher worked at Experian and other It places. Others have just teaching qualifications etc.
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Thanks. Just that sometimes when I read or hear the term, "Qualified IT teacher". It means that they were able to write out their resume in MS Word. Perhaps I'm thinking of the Chinese state education system. :rolleyes:
 
Mehta23 said:
No. It's a secondary school with a sixth form building, and although it's now a "technology academy", there's only two qualified IT teachers and no where to learn code.
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Bummer. If you're committed to learning coding, you could ask it your school will give you independent study credit. Not all schools do that, but it never hurts to ask. OTOH you're stuck seeing it through, even if you find that it's not for you. Your choice, of course. :)
 
mikedt said:
Thanks. Just that sometimes when I read or hear the term, "Qualified IT teacher". It means that they were able to write out their resume in MS Word. Perhaps I'm thinking of the Chinese state education system. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...


All my teachers can teach. Well, all the IT teachers know how to use a computer, at least.
 
Speed Daemon said:
Seriously, JavaScript comes from Java and is IMHO a great way to ease your way into full-blown applications programming.
Click to expand...

Java and Javascript are unrelated, except for their similar names. They have very little in common. The big differences are that Javascript is weakly-typed and duck-typed while Java is not (Java 7, with its var construct, comes closer to weakly typed though), and that functions in Javascript are first-class objects, while in Java they are not.

I don't think I would agree with the idea that Javascript is a good jumping point into applications programming. I wouldn't even say that Javascript is that good at what it's primarily used for: client side manipulation of HTML rendering (unfortunately it's pretty much the only game in town). There's definitely merit in learning languages on all sides of the strongly/weakly/dynamic/duck typing spectrum, but I think there are better ones to represent the weak side than Javascript.
 
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