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Show HN: LearnStreet - The Best Place to Learn How to Code

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Re: Show HN: LearnStreet - The Best Place to Learn How to Code

#31

Post by tsunamifury »

allsystemsgo wrote: post #22
pendext wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This might be an obvious suggestion, but have you tried building something useful? I have found myself in that strange in between space before when learning a new language, and by starting to build something I am able to quickly move past that middle ground.

I think that's part of the problem though. These courses really don't give me the confidence or the framework to develop projects around. That said, I'm just doing a bunch of different courses until I get that AHA moment.

You won't progress to the next stage until you marry your practice knowledge with real world requirements.

Just start building it and learn along the way. Seriously -- you wont reach some magical point where you are officially good enough to make software.

The only thing you need to do (for now) build something is get it to work.

Re: Show HN: LearnStreet - The Best Place to Learn How to Code

#32

Post by lowglow »

teamls wrote: post #2

Hey HN - We’ve built a site where you can learn Python, Ruby, and JavaScript in a fun, engaging and interactive way. How is LearnStreet different from other learn-to-code sites you ask? UI/UX: A key aspect of LearnStreet’s courses is its distinct UI/UX. In order to see this, simply sign up! Multi-modal: Our courses are designed for beginners, and we have multiple ways to help you learn, including live chat, Twitter,…

On your javascript tutorial, it kept giving me an error when I typed in the string "Javascript" as it instructed.

Re: Show HN: LearnStreet - The Best Place to Learn How to Code

#33

Post by skyhook_mockups »

kyro wrote: post #11

Although these types of sites (Codecademy, etc) are great and teach absolute beginners all the basics of programming, they've left me lost as to how to continue developing my skill set. I've hit a wall for some time and am stuck in this strange better-than-a-beginner-but-still-terribly-amateur middleground where the resources I keep coming across are either tailored for fresh beginners or more advanced programmers. D…

Everyone is different. Speaking for myself, I never found books or tutorials useful. My mind simply balks at the prospect of doing exercises for the sake of it.

Instead what worked really well for me is to find a practical problem that I wanted to solve (maybe with the goal of making money from it). It turns out that just about any interesting project that you dream up for yourself will have aspects that are outside of your current knowledge/ability. Then as soon as you hit these parts start looking for reference materials, documentation or tutorials specifically related to this problem. Before you know it you're learning new stuff.

And the upshot of this approach is, that if you stick with it you may end up with a functional product at the end, which you can sell.

Also read other people's code. I find it really humbling to read well crafted code. It also motivates me to continue refining my own code.

Re: Show HN: LearnStreet - The Best Place to Learn How to Code

#34

Post by msarchet »

swanson wrote: post #5

I'll be "that guy". You should change your Github OAuth permissions. I'm never giving you access to private repos - and would only give you access to public repos if you were creating a repo for me to do the Code Garage stuff (it isn't clear if you do that or not). I'm happy to auth with Github if you just request my public profile.

Same here, it was a instant nope.

Re: Show HN: LearnStreet - The Best Place to Learn How to Code

#35

Post by hluska »

justjimmy wrote: post #30

Still waiting for a code teaching site that actually explains how everything fits together. What's HTML used for? What's CSS? What's the bigger picture? What's the difference between java and javascript? Why are there so many languages. What are all these terms you are spitting out? Can we get some real world analogies so we can grasp some concepts? But every single lesson from all these startups starts with type 'th…

I see what you're saying and there are some sites that do a pretty decent job of what you're saying. For example, Opera has some amazing documents on their site. The much maligned w3schools even does a pretty decent job of showing how everything fits together (in the context of web development).

The problem that I see with your approach is that it is really hard to explain certain concepts to people without any experience. For example, if I wanted to explain the difference between Java and Python, I would likely have to get into the difference between static and dynamic typing. I can't think of a way to explain a type system to someone who can't write a basic program.

Another concern I have is that too comprehensive a resource could actually teach bad habits. If I would have learned from one source, I wouldn't have learned how to debug via Google. I can't tell you how many times knowing how to answer questions with a search engine has saved me!

Great comment though - I bet the developers love reading feedback like this!!

Re: Show HN: LearnStreet - The Best Place to Learn How to Code

#36

Post by rickdale »

hluska wrote: post #35
justjimmy wrote: post #30

Still waiting for a code teaching site that actually explains how everything fits together. What's HTML used for? What's CSS? What's the bigger picture? What's the difference between java and javascript? Why are there so many languages. What are all these terms you are spitting out? Can we get some real world analogies so we can grasp some concepts? But every single lesson from all these startups starts with type 'th…

I see what you're saying and there are some sites that do a pretty decent job of what you're saying. For example, Opera has some amazing documents on their site. The much maligned w3schools even does a pretty decent job of showing how everything fits together (in the context of web development). The problem that I see with your approach is that it is really hard to explain certain concepts to people without any exper…

You know, the problem is you are smart and you are not aware of how people are approaching computer programming topics. IMHO, sorta like a startup pitch, if you can't explain the difference (to a beginner) between two languages in less than 4 sentences, you probably lost them.

Re: Show HN: LearnStreet - The Best Place to Learn How to Code

#37

Post by AlexBlom »

justjimmy wrote: post #30

Still waiting for a code teaching site that actually explains how everything fits together. What's HTML used for? What's CSS? What's the bigger picture? What's the difference between java and javascript? Why are there so many languages. What are all these terms you are spitting out? Can we get some real world analogies so we can grasp some concepts? But every single lesson from all these startups starts with type 'th…

On top of this, once the coding starts, too many languages focus on command / effect (note: not cause / effect). This is arguably fine for basic looping and data structures.

The problem is I see this knowledge break when 1) it is applied to a more difficult problem that 2) is outside of the scope of the provided loop.

Spending time understanding the conceptual elements (when, where, why) before the how doesn't give immediate results, but it saves many headaches down the road and makes future tools / languages much easier to learn.

Re: Show HN: LearnStreet - The Best Place to Learn How to Code

#38

Post by intellegacy »

lutusp wrote: post #28
intellegacy wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why we cant skip around the lessons in the python tutorial. I don't need to start at lesson 1; i want to skip around to different lessons.

> I don't need to start at lesson 1; i want to skip around to different lessons. There's a good reason for this, which I will explain with an analogy: Lesson 1: Write the Great American Novel. Lesson 2: Learn how to write engaging, readable short stories. Lesson 3: Learn how to write internally consistent essays. Lesson 4: Learn how to write coherent paragraphs. Lesson 5: Learn how to structure grammatically correct…

I get it. It's just that I'm not a beginning programmer. I mean, unless the site is only for novices with zero programming skill, you're requiring all intermediate programmers to relearn stuff they've already mastered.

Also, I wanted to browse around the lessons in order to evaluate the quality of the site so that I could decide whether to recommend the site to non-programmer friends.

Re: Show HN: LearnStreet - The Best Place to Learn How to Code

#40

Post by russelluresti »

justjimmy wrote: post #30

Still waiting for a code teaching site that actually explains how everything fits together. What's HTML used for? What's CSS? What's the bigger picture? What's the difference between java and javascript? Why are there so many languages. What are all these terms you are spitting out? Can we get some real world analogies so we can grasp some concepts? But every single lesson from all these startups starts with type 'th…

Actually, most of that information is unnecessary to start coding. In fact, it actually works as a barrier to entry. People who don't understand a programming language aren't going to understand the different nuances between Python and Ruby.

Instead, you teach development by having people start coding as soon as possible. You get them playing with the code, manipulating values, and seeing the outcome. Once they see that they're creating something and they enjoy doing it, that's when you explain it to them. Khan Academy has taken this approach and it has proven extremely effective in getting children to start coding.

It's really basic game theory - you don't have to explain the entire backstory or all the controls to get someone playing a game. You drop them in a situation and go "OH SHIT YOU'RE UNDER ATTACK - PRESS X TO ATTACK." You give them one instruction and get them hooked. After that, you can then go through the basic tutorials that explain the menu system and or what numbers mean or how you level up or whatever. But the point is to explain things to them as they need to know them and not before.

The point is to get people coding as quickly as possible. If someone has to read 60 pages of introductory text, they're not going to do it. It's asking for too much up front.

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