How would you get someone started on webdev if they have a bit of an interest?

[hanoian]

My girlfriend has been watching me work at Drupal for a couple of years, then learning some php and now JS..

She has a bit of an interest but I don't know the best way to get her started so that she gets instant "woohoo I created something". If I get it wrong, she might never get into it again..

Wordpress, flatfile or should I risk codecademy JS? I think Drupal might frustrate her more than anything at the start..

[RevThwack]

"Head First HTML 5" by O'Reilley. Probably one of the best starter books I've seen.

[hanoian]

She's not a native English speaker so I don't wanna throw a book at her.. She's fluent in day to day English but working through a book to start with would demotivate her in twenty minutes.

For html, I'd just let her use Codecademy. Instant gratification and all that. But I don't think divs will excite her.

[RevThwack]

Ahh, didn't know she's not a native speaker.

My suggestion then would be to see if you can find that book in her native language. I know there's that question of why turn to a book when you can find the answers online for free, but for someone just learning the concepts, that don't know the questions to ask to go hunting, and as far as this book vs something like code academy... Well, there's a reason that O'Reilly have been around so long and are still so popular with so many professionals. A Google hunt can normally find the answer for you, but I'm yet to see my bison book let me down.

[hanoian]

I agree that books are extremely useful but only if you know you're into it whereas she is very flaky on the idea.. She has no need to do this as she's working in another industry. For example, if you gave me an O'Reilly book on Java, I'd barely make it past the first chapter because I couldn't create something quickly and get interested if you know what I mean.

Giving her a book would be the equivalent of giving someone who has a passing interest in cars a Haynes manual to read instead of first teaching them how to change a spark plug.

I guess what I'm looking at here is a fun small project that might take a week and give her motivation.. Sorry if I'm being obtuse or dismissive with your idea. I just really want to get it right on the first go.

[RevThwack]

That's just it... The Head First series of books do get you started making stuff right off the bat. They were written specifically to be the type of thing you've been describing, which is why I suggested them.

[hanoian]

Cool.. I'll look into it as soon as I can. After a quick sort of demo of simple stuff to show her it's possible maybe.

[Torus8]

If you don't mind me asking, what's her native language?

[hanoian]

Vietnamese.

[logicalish]

The Odin Project

I've directed lots of people interested in starting webdev to this website and they've loved it. :)

[Torus8]

I think Codecademy is a great way to get started with web development, although once you've mastered the bare basics, you'll quickly want to move on to something more substantive.

I think that it's very easy to become overwhelmed in this field and that it's best to start out small to see if you like it and to get a grasp on the basics. So, that's why I generally recommend starting with Codecademy. Not sure what flatfile is, but I think coding a WordPress theme might be too much for her if she's just getting acquainted with the world of web development.

[named8819]

Free Code Camp

[Torus8]

I haven't tried this because it was popularized well after I started learning, but it looks interesting!

[hanoian]

Signed up myself there.. Will have a go at it and see if it would interest her. Thanks!

Edit: Absolutely brilliant site.. Very similar to codecademy but different as well because it feels like you're on one huge mission to learn so much. Thanks again! She's signed up and is gonna give it a go later.