FYI: I got a 403 error when I tried to sign up (CSRF verification failed). You should probably override the default template for that error page, too. Nice to see you're using Django, though!
Show HN: A sequence of online courses to learn web development from scratch
91–100 of 110 posts
Re: Show HN: A sequence of online courses to learn web development from scratch
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
To be honest, I pretty much lost interest in OOP. I found the ML/Racket parts of the course much more interesting (and less confusing) - even though I barely knew any FP and had actually studied some OOP. Perhaps I was biased, either against OOP or Ruby, which was used to teach it. Hmm...
Same here, in terms of the practical elements of the course. I still found Dan Grossman's lectures entirely engrossing, and I'm not just saying that because I noticed he was a HN user.
I think those are different Dan Grossmans. (Dans Grossman?)
Re: Show HN: A sequence of online courses to learn web development from scratch
#93Is Chrome Dev Tools really that much better than Firefox dev tools? What about firebug?
Not necessarily.. depends on your choice of browser. I prefer Chrome, but I know a lot of web-devs, esp those are on Linux or those who have been coding from pre-Chrome days, prefer FF/Firebug. Also, when developing for compatibility with multiple OS/browsers - you sometimes end up using many. Ee have even used "IE DevTools" to debug some of the IE specific issues :-)
Re: Show HN: A sequence of online courses to learn web development from scratch
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
I enjoyed that course a lot; I took it in its first run soon after I started teaching myself programming. My only complaint with the course was that, for me anyway, it left a lot of mystery in terms of answering how it's all actually working. There were a lot of pieces, such as Django boilerplate code and using Google App Engine, where they showed you how to use them in a specific manner, but never really explained h…
Steve, the Udacity instructor, here. I actually deliberately didn't use Django specifically because it's so complicated for beginners (and for pros, IMHO). I was trying to avoid magic. Webapp2, which is the web framework GAE users, and what we used in the course, is about as simple as you can get without starting from scratch.
Hi Steve, thanks for teaching! I really enjoyed it. I'm not sure I misremembered it as Django; maybe I had confused it at the time with Jinja? I was quite a newcomer then (still am in some respects, but much less so). Which of course means that to a certain degree, my confusion was simply par for the course. I know it's difficult to write a curriculum that completely caters to thousands of students, and I want to emphasize that you guys did a great job. There were a few topics that I would have liked to have covered that I didn't come to understand until later. I guess you can always go deeper on a subject, though.
Re: Show HN: A sequence of online courses to learn web development from scratch
#95This is great. I have been looking for a service like this. A pain point when navigating through tutorials and courses online is finding the proper material for your skill level. Hope this service will be able lighten this task, and provide suggestions based upon a users previously enrolled courses. Are you planning on adding a feature like this?
Definitely. Making the tool more intelligent and providing personalized recommendations is on our mind. Priority++ based on your request.
Re: Show HN: A sequence of online courses to learn web development from scratch
#96I would like to learn a different framework, but: Is it really recommended to learn git in the end?
I strongly think so. Even as someone who had used version control before (CVS), I found Git fairly intimidating in the beginning. I feared it much till I fell in love with it. Further, it is hard to make someone appreciate the need for version control without getting them to write enough code first.
Re: Show HN: A sequence of online courses to learn web development from scratch
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
I enjoyed that course a lot; I took it in its first run soon after I started teaching myself programming. My only complaint with the course was that, for me anyway, it left a lot of mystery in terms of answering how it's all actually working. There were a lot of pieces, such as Django boilerplate code and using Google App Engine, where they showed you how to use them in a specific manner, but never really explained h…
Steve, the Udacity instructor, here. I actually deliberately didn't use Django specifically because it's so complicated for beginners (and for pros, IMHO). I was trying to avoid magic. Webapp2, which is the web framework GAE users, and what we used in the course, is about as simple as you can get without starting from scratch.
Hi Steve, I'm the author of the path and a big fan of your course - thanks so much for putting it together! However I would like to echo @rattray's point - when I started learning as a complete newbie to web-dev, I found Django much easier to pick up, less intimidating and more satisfying than Webapp2. The Udemy course I have included later teaches how to put up a simple landing page using Django/bootstrap and in 3-4 hours - you have tried frontend, backend and all. The joy of making something real, even if simple is a big motivator and confidence-booster, which IMO is key to self-learning. I actually started with your course, drifted away in the middle, and then came back after finishing the Django course.
Re: Show HN: A sequence of online courses to learn web development from scratch
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
Same here, in terms of the practical elements of the course. I still found Dan Grossman's lectures entirely engrossing, and I'm not just saying that because I noticed he was a HN user.
I think those are different Dan Grossmans. (Dans Grossman?)
Ah, thanks for letting me know! That could have confused me.
Re: Show HN: A sequence of online courses to learn web development from scratch
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, I found it weird that the book is not on this list, but clearly the author is geared towards python - although web development might be the only area where Ruby outshines Python.
Python, through SciPy/NUMPY is well positioned for the future of web development, which is a numerically driven world. I see Ruby as better PHP,. Lastly phython is more universal, which is good. So I do think Python is a really good choice for introductory programming.
Not joining the debates, but can you give an oversight on why future web will heavily rely on scientific application of the language?
Re: Show HN: A sequence of online courses to learn web development from scratch
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
I disagree. You also need to learn how the web works, about requests and responses, and handling user input through forms, etc. What part of the deployment process are you having difficulty with?
That's all very intuitive to me. I want a tutorial that starts with "You want an app to do X with your friends, like an imitation of Doodle for planning Dungeons and Dragons sessions? The real way? Set aside $X money/month, book a domain name, and we're going to set up a real website, incrementally, and publicly available at every step along the way." Stuff like Heroku people make sound like it's a one stop shop but…
Thanks for the detailed answer. I'm actually planning on creating a course and this is very valuable information. I can let you know when it's done.