Ask HN: A total beginner asking for advice

Hello there!

I'm looking to get into technology (I'm a marketer) because I started working for tech-heavy company, and I need to get acquainted with concepts like git, continuous integration delivery, cloud compute, and other tech stuff.

I've been mostly reading guides here and there about git, CI/CD, etc., but those are only light stuff.

I feel like there is so much material to be absorbed that I don't know where to start.

What computer science courses would you recommend? And are there any helpful blogs for beginners?

3 comments

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conductr 5y ago ↗

Do you know for sure those topics are best first step? I'd argue they likely are not. Pick a language and buy the $10-20 udemy course. Javascript is popular, but I think it gets confusing fast and something like Python, Ruby/Rails, or even PHP is best place to start.

Spend any time on HN, or around entrepreneurial developers, and you'll learn we all realize programming is a skill but it doesn't create a business. If you're trying to do that, put your marketing chops to use first. Learning technology could take weeks or likely months. It's not a productive first step if you are serious. Topics like CI/CD are not necessary at all.

akudha 5y ago ↗

Golang is a good option too. It is very small and he/she doesn’t even need to learn advanced concepts in the beginning. Much better than banging head with JavaScript

user0x1d 5y ago ↗

There's no better resource than Harvard's CS50. Start with CS50's regular lessons (Professor David Malan). Later on, you can do CS50 web development, with Brian Yu. The later has entire lessons on Git and CI/CD.

It's really Harvard's ELI5 Computer Science course.