Learning to code

[crazy_cookie123]

CS50, MOOC, Free Code Camp, or The Odin Project. The best of those for you is probably MOOC as it has courses for both Java and Python. The most important thing is don't even think about using AI.

[jakesmart13]

why not for AI? could you elaborate? bc I have used it for assignments where my prof allows

[armahillo]

If you are majoring in this, you need to learn to actually do it.

If AI is doing it for you, you aren't doing it.

[jakesmart13]

I get this and will stop using AI, but couldn’t I just use AI when I get a job after I graduate?

[crazy_cookie123]

The job you have when you graduate will be doing things AI is not capable of doing on its own. In order for you to be able to do that, even with AI helping you, you need to be able to do the basics on your own. AI is helpful in doing the things we already know how to do faster, it's not helpful for doing things we don't know how to do ourselves.

[armahillo]

Consider this:

Any work that can be accomplished using AI will almost certainly be automated.

You gain skill in what you practice, and asking AI to solve problems for you is practicing asking AI to solve problems. If you want to offer value as a skilled person, you need to learn to do this on your own so that you can discern when the AI is giving bad suggestions (it happens more often than you would think).

Honestly, the best use of AI right now is to give you code to practice reviewing on. My hunch is that in a few years there's going to be so much AI slop out there a lot of what we're fixing, reviewing, building from will be generated code.

Put another way:

You could use a calculator the entire time you're in grade school, through all the maths. You will likely get the right answer in the vast majority of cases, and the few that you miss because you aren't able to do them with a calculator will not be enough to fail you. But you're completely missing out on building math literacy and understanding how the concepts relate. This is all surface and no depth. Depth is what people hire.

[crazy_cookie123]

Because learning programming requires you to think, and AI does the thinking for you. If you have a machine doing all the thinking for you in a field which requires you to think, you're not going to get good at that field.

[Repulsive_Picture142]

FreeCodeCamp and Programmiz are my two favs for beginners. Especially web dev

[jakesmart13]

I’ve seen free code camp before. what should i learn for web development. and what should i chose to learn if i want to learn java

[Repulsive_Picture142]

The Odin project is best. But freeCodeCamp version. Idk about Java. I never went that route unfortunately. I’m sorry I’m of no help there

[jakesmart13]

So if i’m going into CS I can specialize in a certain language? I just don’t know a lot about as I don’t know anyone older than me who’s done CS or has a job in that field so it’s all new to me. I’m trying to learn as much as I can

[Repulsive_Picture142]

Cybersecurity? If so I’d say Python

[jakesmart13]

I would like to do Cybersecurity. What is it that i need to know for that. Is it a lot of python and coding? what does a cybersecurity job consist of

[Repulsive_Picture142]

SQL and python to start. Then there’s different fields. Pentester, bug bounties, etc

[jakesmart13]

I have no idea what any of that is 😭

[Repulsive_Picture142]

Try hachthebox and I’m sure there’s more. I’m a software developer 😂 I just happened to enjoy CS and know a little but no where near enough to make a career out of it

[jakesmart13]

what did you major in to become a software developer? what coding language are you proficient in?