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Learn to code?

2 points by ZivanaZ ↗ HN
I’m a lawyer and an entrepreneur, working a lot in marketing in the last few years. Because I would like to understand the core of our products, I have decided to learn how to code. For the beginning I would like understand the basics of programming, so when we're doing apps, I will know what all these lines mean. Where to start? What do you suggest? Should I start with HTML or go directly to HTML5? And after that CSS?

11 comments

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SilentStump
it depends on what you want/need to learn. Since it seems like there is a team developing these apps, I think it would be godo to ask them this question. At least to understand what to learn; then ask how to learn it.

A general area you could start with the "Learn code the Hard Way" series http://learncodethehardway.org/

JoshMilo
While there are plenty of online resources for self learning, what will give you an edge is to find a mentor that can provide feedback for your questions, steer you away from bad practices, and give you a roadmap/advice. You can start with HTML and CSS yourself because they're the easiest. I would recommend going to a coding bootcamp or taking a course at your local community college. They cost money but provide structure that can speed up your learning.

Online self-learning resources: http://www.codecademy.com (Free) http://www.codeschool.com ($25/monthly) http://www.lynda.com ($25/monthly) http://www.learnable.com ($29/montly) http://www.teamtreehouse.com ($25-$49/monthly)

Coding Bootcamps: http://www.thinkful.com (Online) http://devbootcamp.com/ (San Fran) http://codefellows.com/ (Seattle) http://www.starterleague.com/ (Chicago) https://www.hackerschool.com/ (New York)

There are several more, google is your friend :)

ZivanaZ
By so many offers of online self-learning resources, it’s always nice to hear a second opinion – so thanks. I’m already learning HTML @ codecademy (after that CSS) and I will try to go to a Boot-camp or something similar, to get the whole picture. Hope to discuss about some coding problems on Hacker News soon ;)
TechpinesMary
I understand exactly where you are coming from. I learned a lot of basics from codecademy.com, and their modules have come a long way.

However, no matter which way you try to learn, the best piece of advice I was given is to have an idea of something you want to build in the first place. Even if it's dumb, or too complicated for a beginner, it's good to have the ability to see what direction you want to go in as you are learning more and more about the different languages and how they work. Otherwise, you will get bored and frustrated pretty quickly, and you won't be likely to stick to the learning process.

ZivanaZ
Great advise – thanks ;)
dlf
While I think learning to code is a great thing, I don't know that it will necessarily be the fastest/best path to understanding the core of your products. I'm also non-technical (coming from a legal background as well), and while the process of starting to learn to code I think has been helpful, I think what was most helpful was just asking my technical cofounders a ridiculous number of questions. Stupid questions... ones you might feel embarrassed to ask.

If you are going to learn to code, I think a high level computer science course is a great place to start. I recommend Udacity's CS101 course. It really takes the mystery out of what's happening behind the screen. If you want a good book that will also help lift the veil, I'd suggest "Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware & Software" by Charles Petzold.

Learning to code can be a long process if you aren't able to give your undivided attention to it, so I think actually dedicating the time to a bootcamp as others have suggested is a very good idea and something I think I'd like to do myself.

Good luck!

ZivanaZ
Thanks. ;) I’m already asking and bothering people with all these “stupid” questions, especially when we are adding something new, but still it just tells me what we are doing, but I still doesn’t how to do it. It’s like selling the best cake in the world – you know it tastes perfect, but you don’t know how to bake it. I want to understand the recipe ;)
dlf
Ha! That's an awesome analogy, and I've definitely felt that way as well. I would say just the online courses I took (Udacity, Code Academy, Zed Shaw's Learn Python the Hard Way) gave me the context to understand better, and even chime in on topics. Learning how the pieces fit together helps a lot, even if you can't do much of it yourself. That CS101 course will help a lot. Have fun!