31–40 of 56 posts
That opens up both server and front end web programming [jQuery/DOM and Node.js on the backend]
For books, try Crockfords 'Javascript the Good Parts' and mimic some of the nicer idioms as you see more jQuery code.
Python. Do not do the official guide. Do not read the documentation. Do something that forces you to program examples of increasing difficulty. In short, do this course: http://cs.northwestern.edu/~akuzma/classes/EECS110-s10/index... All the labs and assignments are online. You get to make maze solvers, generate fractals, implement Conway's Game of Life, lots of genuinely fun stuff. Just work through it and tell your…
You know CSS, so it seems logical to learn Javascript. That opens up both server and front end web programming [jQuery/DOM and Node.js on the backend] For books, try Crockfords 'Javascript the Good Parts' and mimic some of the nicer idioms as you see more jQuery code.
You asked about breaking down the options. Something which I've only fairly recently realised, is that languages differ in more ways than just syntax and built-in modules.
As I see it, the three main 'types' of language are:
Object Oriented ("OO"/"OOP")
Functional
Procedural
Functional languages are based on a more mathematical model, and if you've studied maths they'll probably make a lot of sense to you. They're still seen as largely academic languages, but they are used in some real-world scenarios, and they have devout followers. It's a powerful paradigm.
Object-Oriented purports to allow you to model the real world more closely, but the degree of success is debatable. Personally it's my favoured approach; to me you can lay out your model really simply with an OO approach, which in turn lends itself well to separation of concerns, reusability and modularisation (i.e. you don't want to build your login system and have that also handle thumbnail uploads, they're different concerns, they should be handled in different parts of your code)
Procedural, to me, is really a necessary evil en route to OO.
So, yeah, I thought a broader view of language types might help, rather than a specific view of particular languages.
Python. Do not do the official guide. Do not read the documentation. Do something that forces you to program examples of increasing difficulty. In short, do this course: http://cs.northwestern.edu/~akuzma/classes/EECS110-s10/index... All the labs and assignments are online. You get to make maze solvers, generate fractals, implement Conway's Game of Life, lots of genuinely fun stuff. Just work through it and tell your…
When talking about python I found http://diveintopython.org/ to be an excellent book for beginners.
I would recommend http://diveintopython3.org/ instead.
http://norvig.com/21-days.html
PS. I'm not sarcastic. Actually, the article contains the best advices for a programmer I ever read. Maybe you just don't have to rush things..
If you're looking to do a web startup, ditch your Windows computer. Get a Mac or a Linux machine.
You didn't even give a reason why OS X or Linux are better, which tells everybody you are just a zealot (and the people who upvoted you are as well).
If you're looking to do a web startup, ditch your Windows computer. Get a Mac or a Linux machine.
You need to decide what you want to build, or at least what you want to build first. From CSS, an obvious way to go is Javascript or PHP, or better yet both. If you think that you don't want to build a specific thing, but instead want a birds-eye armchair view of the essence of what programming is about, don't waste time; try SICP: http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/classes/6.001/abelson-sussma... But odds are that you'…
Someone told me to try SICP when I was first trying to learn how to program and it was an incredibly frustrating and deflating experience. The process goes something like this: Okay, SICP sounds good. They're using LISP. How do I make a LISP program? The internet says SLIME is THE way to go and I'd be an idiot to try any other development environment. Ok, I guess I'll just install that... (3 weeks later)... okay that…
Learn PHP. You know more than you are letting on, because you evidently understand exactly why PHP is a big success. Get some stuff done. I assure you that the websites you build with PHP are real websites, and the money you earn with them is real money.
Given that I work at a Drupal company, I would be remiss if I didn't suggest that learning to build sites with Drupal is a great way to learn to work with PHP, Javascript, a web stack, et cetera. The community has lots of people who are coming from just the same place that you are.
You know CSS, so it seems logical to learn Javascript. That opens up both server and front end web programming [jQuery/DOM and Node.js on the backend] For books, try Crockfords 'Javascript the Good Parts' and mimic some of the nicer idioms as you see more jQuery code.
I found "JQuery For Absolute Beginners" to be quite helpful for getting familiar with JQuery: http://net.tutsplus.com/articles/web-roundups/jquery-for-abs...