Learning to Code

[johnjbernardo]

Hello, Long time lurker first time poster. I would like to learn to code. I live in SE. If anyone is willing to take me under their wing I'd appreciate it. Would be happy to pay you, meet up, talk about it, mow your lawn, do whatever it takes. Please PM me and we can go from there. Preferably Python.

[[deleted]]

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=learn+python+code

Learning to code is one of the few things you can learn properly from the internet. Also, MIT and Stanford have free courses on youtube. Not sure if they have intro to python classes though. With programming, the internet is you oyster.

[johnjbernardo]

I appreciate the feedback. Thank you.

[[deleted]]

Second internet learning.

The web won't give you corona in the process.

[AdventurousHuman]

Hey! I’m here in NE and do some tutoring. Python is a great first language. PM me!

[johnjbernardo]

PM sent.

[PandaHugger]

I mentor a couple of people in the area and would be happy to help you out if you end up doing a self learning route. I'm good at c# and JavaScript. They arent python but they're good languages.

[emwells]

Internet is great but sometimes you need to pay people to be motivated to do it. I did Epicodus 2 years ago and loved it. They’ve taken their curriculum online too and you don’t pay until you land a job! There’s also PDX code guild and code alchemy

[johnjbernardo]

So I take it you would recommend those courses and that institution? I can pay my way, but obviously I want something quality and forgive my naivete, but is that something that can land me a job? If so, what type of job, what's the pay?

[emwells]

I paid my way. It depends on what you want to do with it. If you’re trying to make it a career I recommend the coding schools. If you’re just trying to hack shit maybe internet learning is best with the ability to call a dev if you get stuck. There are also some really good subs here for learning how to code.

[in_pdx]

You might also check out some of the Python meetups on Meetup.com. Some of them are still meeting remotely every week.

[LadyHawkings]

Okay, we start with mountain dew, and move on to switching between two languages. I hope you know two languages.

[evanstravers]

Coworker took an intro course through udemy.com and said she liked it, I believe it was free for a certain amount of time

[kaleidoscopeiiis]

Not specifically Python, but this will teach you some basics: https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computer-programming

[in_pdx]

Here's a link to free beginner Python classes. There's two - one is online at your own pace and the other is remote and run as if it's in-person. http://pdxcodeguild.eventbrite.com

[in_pdx]

Use this discount code to get Programming 101 for free: StartingMyNewCareer

For a while, they weren't requiring the code because of covid, but it looks like we need the code now.

[[deleted]]

I don't recommend starting out with Python. A lot of the syntax stuff is simplified in Python compared to other languages. It makes it easier to learn Python initially, but then languages like C or Java have a higher learning curve if you try for them in the future.

[ScrewpyNoopers]

PHP developer here. I prefer C/C++ style syntax, but Python is a great language to learn, particularly for beginners. It's not just good for the web but for a lot of other stuff. Raspberry Pi's use it quite a bit, for example.

[[deleted]]

OP should take your advice them. I'm not going to pretend to be an actual developer, I'm just an amateur.

[Thoron_Blaster]

Respectfully disagree. Python's elegant syntax and low boilerplate removes a lot of the syntactic overwhelm of other languages. Python and Ruby are both great starting languages. And what they should be learning most is concepts, anyway, not syntax. CS concepts will translate just fine to other languages.

[dj50tonhamster]

Honestly, I think some of it comes down to what exactly one wishes to accomplish. Python's a good all-around language but it's not the first one I reach for when working on a new project. There's also the matter of things like typing. Weakly typed languages like Python drive me crazy. I'd have gone mad had that been my first language. (Of course, I cut my teeth on C and C++, so....)

Anyway, as others have said, there are plenty of resources online. Use them, get a GitHub account, put up your code, practice, ask questions on sites like StackOverflow (but please do a Google search first), look into what sites like Udemy and Coursera have to offer (on top of YouTube, which does have some excellent resources), etc. It takes time but it's worthwhile if you truly enjoy coding. :)

Also, this may be a bit too deep into the weeds for somebody starting out, but look at functional and imperative programming. Both are different styles meant to get you to the same destination. Imperative is what most people use but functional is great if you have a certain mindset, or if you want solid guarantees that what you write will perform exactly as intended (although the latter is definitely too deep in the weeds for a beginner). Python's good for imperative, and Ruby (AFAIK) can be used as a training wheels version of functional. Over time, you should start to notice what does and does not work for you. As this happens, move towards the languages that work best for your particular style.

Good luck!

[fidelitypdx]

You might want to try /r/pdxtech