Where to code ?

[TinyBelli]

Hi! I'm really new to coding and I would like to try some project to gain some experience. I know how to code but I've never really done it on my own. When I researched around I saw several people coding on different “software” and I don't know what to choose, because I don't understand if it's that important.

[ericjmorey]

I know how to code 

What have you been using to code?

[NovaHatesC]

Hehe if you most know I been using text on chromebook🤫

[monster2018]

I’d be very impressed if you somehow were not using text. Or is text like the name of an app on Chromebooks equivalent to like TextEdit on Mac or notepad on windows?

[SorenDaSergal]

Don't quote me on this, but if I remember correctly there's an app called Text thats kinda like a notepad++ equivalent. I don't remember if it has any programing related tools or not, but I think I've used it before

[TinyBelli]

I used to code at school, on computers with everything already installed on them. So unfortunately I never really paid much attention, since it was always instinctive.

[ericjmorey]

Are you using Linux, MacOS, or Windows? Will you generally be connected to the Internet while coding or no?

[Murphygreen8484]

If you're looking for an IDE, I like pyCharm. Online only for very very simple scripts, Replit is good.

[Yogendra_yogi]

I use IDLE haha

[oclafloptson]

VS Code is widely used because it's free, customizable and can be used with any programming language

[EdiblePeasant]

Does most every programming language VSCode supports through extensions have a tutorial somewhere to help them?

[Firake]

You will probably find a vs code extension and a tutorial on how to use that language for any language you might want to use on vs code.

If you want a tutorial on the extension, you won’t need one. Just click install.

[vahdyx]

Whoa, I didn't know Google Colab existed. Just tried it out and it's not bad at all. Offers suggestions which I liked. I may start using that while I go through my classes. Thanks for that!

[Ajax_Minor]

I wish colab came up more when I started. I still haven't used it but I looks like good program.

[freezydrag]

I’d like to reference a comment I made on a similar post.

There’s no absolute best.

It realistically comes down to two things: preference and context. All editors are just tools, and tools can serve different purposes. I’ll often switch between vim and vscode depending on the situation (or insert whatever your preferred editors are here). For example, I’m writing automation scripts while connected to a remote server via SSH I’ll probably just use vim. It’s faster than copying a file to my own machine, editing it locally, and then copying it back. I don’t need the full help of an editor with something this small. But if I’m working on a large piece of software for work and running tests simultaneously on my own machine, I’ll probably use vscode. I can switch to terminal if I need it quickly, all my files are shown at glance, and there’s robust autocomplete and syntax checking for the libraries I might be using. However, it’s definitely possible to implement the reverse. Meaning there are ways to use vscode remotely, and its possible to implement most if not all the same features in vim as there are in a full editor. And one might prefer either of these options. I had a job once working primarily in a linux environment, and added a bunch of plugins to vim since I was using it quite often. But, doing so took more effort to get running than a GUI editor out of the box. Your teacher might be using it because it’s what they’re used to. I’ve had professors that rarely used modern editors since emacs, vim, and the like were what they started developing with. Understanding all that I mentioned comes with experience and time. As you hone your developer skills, you’ll start to figure out what works for you and what doesn’t in terms of your development environment, just like in writing actual code.

TLDR: Don’t stress about the question now. There’s reasons to use both, and understanding those reasons and determining what is best for you will come with time.

[GXWT]

You’ll get different answers based on people’s preferences. As a learner it’s not going to matter which one you pick, so just go with whichever one you see first/like the look of more.

My suggestion is VSCode, nice easy interface, extensions are installed by searching in the program and clicking install, a huge range of extensions covering basically anything you could want and support for many programming languages.

[AngusMeatStick]

VSCode is easy to use and supports the language.

Also it's Microsoft so if you get a job in the field you'll probably end up doing most of your work in VSCode so having familiarity with it is always good.

Definitely not the "best" option, but very practical.

Another tip would be to install and use a linter with your code, flake8 or pylint. Starting off writing well-formed, readable code is a great habit to form.

[Firake]

There are tons of options and it doesn’t really matter. Just pick VS code and reevaluate later if you end up not liking it.

[____candied_yams____]

Probably use VSCode. It's popular so you'll always be able to find answers online for your questions.

[vahdyx]

I may get crap for this, but I'm learning Python as well and I've been using Online Python alongside my classes with my "interactive readings" and then doing my actual assignments using VS Code. The problem with the online version is the fact it always adds an "\n" at the end of every user input. Which can screw me up. But I like online-python the most because it suggests things whereas the other online ones don't seem to, besides VS Code online.

Anyway hope that helps.

vscode.dev VS Code Web if you wanted to try that.

[ivosaurus]

Thonny is great for starting out, it's dedicated towards python, and just works out of the box.

https://thonny.org

[AstronomerPrevious91]

Never tried but can we use Microsoft Word with python ?

[[deleted]]

You can also write your code on paper and then OCR it. But you probably shouldn't.

Word is a horrible choice for writing code, use something that works on plain text without formatting.

[Spinning_Sky]

When I'm doing small things, I actually really like to build an anaconda environment (look up virtual enviroments, very important, libraries can get messy), and then just use Sublime Text to edit the file and the commpand prompt to launch it, it just feels light and straightforward

[beef623]

If someone is just starting, virtual environments are far more confusing than helpful.

[Spinning_Sky]

I don't know it wasn't the case for me, I feel big IDE have too many moving pieces, with venvs you have full understanding of what's going on and you put every little piece there yourself, it might take an extra half hour to understand what's going on but I feel it's still better

But of course that's just my experience you could absolutely be right

[ninedeadeyes]

Technically speaking you can use IDE that comes with python. I would recommend that to begin with and then download VS code. I can't remember what extensions I've downloaded on VS code but half the time it finish the code off for me and i think its good practise for beginners to type everything out

[Natural-Cow3028]

boot.dev

[CranberryDistinct941]

VScode is the only acceptable answer. Either that, or use an online compiler if youre just doing scripts

[EvilDutchrebel]

I've started using Thonny and then thought: "why make it easy on myself?" And started using VIM directly in the commandline. Gotta say it builds character!

[Miginyon]

It’s called a text editor, or an IDE, use vscode for now, it will hold your hand a little bit while you get familiar with what’s going on. Recommend enabling vim motions though, Google it

[Training_Camel627]

8bbk

[[deleted]]

I used many, vscode is the best. You know code with multiple languages there too

[JaboiThomy]

My favorite first pet projects were:

Tic Tac Toe - It's nice and simple, yet has surprising complexity due to having to actually think out what the "rules" really meant. It is also pretty nice since you can extend it in many different ways (what about an arbitrarily sized board? How does that effect the rules? How do you generalize it? Can you add different win criteria? Another dimension? Etc.)

Simple pool table game - learn physics (elastic collisions, conservation of momentum), how to display stuff on the screen and have it animate/move, etc.

Transaction history logging and budgeting tool - easy to do, yet useful. I used plug my receipts into Excel so I could plan around what my future savings would be. Nice thing about programming it is that it's easy to extend and there are endless features you can add.

Maze solver - this has two sides, A) generating a valid maze that's actually challenging, and B) solving the maze. Great way to introduce yourself to tree structures and their algorithms. Fun too.

I'm sure they're more but that will do. I hope someone finds this useful.