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Show HN: Learn to Code for Free

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Re: Show HN: Learn to Code for Free

#21

Post by NicoJuicy »

avg_dev wrote: post #11
hatsix wrote: post #4

I'm looking for courses that seem to be the opposite of this... no language or programming at all, but instead looking at the process of breaking down problems. We've hired several devs out of bootcamp, and they're all taught how to code, but not how to solve problems using code... Anyone have material that might be good for this? Books, videos, courses?

Can you give an example of solving a problem using code vs coding?

Current database:

- When you have multiple layers of "companies" ( in a single table: Company) and every company has employees (table: Employee).

Request:

- List all company employees that have a random company as mother company, including their childs, all layers deep.

So you create a optional integer parentCompanyId on the Company for the inheritance ( that's easy)

How would you go further?

- You may not use a recursion of sql Queries (or in code) to procedurally get the parentCompany or "child companies" of all layers deep.

- You may change the database ( and you may use joins also)

Re: Show HN: Learn to Code for Free

#22

Post by robtherobot »

JorgeGT wrote: post #16

I see you make heavy use of Cloud9, glad to see that I'm not the only one using it as a learning sandbox environment. It is truly a great platform, I use it to introduce people to Linux (terminal, editing files, etc.) without the hassle of setting a virtualbox, installing any software in their computers, or risking my machines.

I agree - I especially love that it allows students to bypass many of the headaches of installing the right dependencies (something beginners struggle with for hours or days). Cloud9 let's you get straight to coding.

Not sure if you're into Javascript development, but check out HyperDev.com - it's awesome! It takes things to a whole new level of fast.

I think we have Docker to thank for progress on this front.

Re: Show HN: Learn to Code for Free

#23

Post by busterarm »

aikah wrote: post #15
hatsix wrote: post #4

I'm looking for courses that seem to be the opposite of this... no language or programming at all, but instead looking at the process of breaking down problems. We've hired several devs out of bootcamp, and they're all taught how to code, but not how to solve problems using code... Anyone have material that might be good for this? Books, videos, courses?

> We've hired several devs out of bootcamp, and they're all taught how to code, but not how to solve problems using code... Frankly any Algorithms & Data structures book should do the trick. Choosing the right data structure is often half the solution when solving a problem. That plus SICP and a book about Discrete Math should be enough for 90% of the daily problems.

Pretty much this. I show/tell people all the time that most of solving the problem is how you structure the input data. `Rock, Scissors, Paper` is perhaps the best simple demonstration of this.

That said, I don't think it's something that correlates to being a bootcamp grad. I'm usually the one `solving problems with code` and the closest thing that I have to an education in this industry is the boot camp I attended (lifelong programmer regardless). I know other boot camp grads who are the same way.

I encounter developers from all backgrounds who know how to code but can't solve problems. There's just _a lot_ of bootcamp grads right now.

Re: Show HN: Learn to Code for Free

#24

Post by robtherobot »

JorgeGT wrote: post #16

I see you make heavy use of Cloud9, glad to see that I'm not the only one using it as a learning sandbox environment. It is truly a great platform, I use it to introduce people to Linux (terminal, editing files, etc.) without the hassle of setting a virtualbox, installing any software in their computers, or risking my machines.

Do you have a website for your course? I'd love to check it out.

Re: Show HN: Learn to Code for Free

#25

Post by BigChiefSmokem »

hatsix wrote: post #4

I'm looking for courses that seem to be the opposite of this... no language or programming at all, but instead looking at the process of breaking down problems. We've hired several devs out of bootcamp, and they're all taught how to code, but not how to solve problems using code... Anyone have material that might be good for this? Books, videos, courses?

Put the newbie gumshoes to work by tracking down simple bugs and designing simple patches to fix them. They need to be able to read other people's code to decipher and debug the coding style they are seeing before they are allowed to build any new module themselves. They need to understand other styles so they can form their own. They should be able to detect any code "smells" and reason with pros/cons why their implementation could work better and provide proof (like execution timing or better readability).

Playing a lot of puzzle games help as well, especially games where the thing to do is very abstract like in a point-n-click adventure game.

Re: Show HN: Learn to Code for Free

#26

Post by wodenokoto »

hatsix wrote: post #4

I'm looking for courses that seem to be the opposite of this... no language or programming at all, but instead looking at the process of breaking down problems. We've hired several devs out of bootcamp, and they're all taught how to code, but not how to solve problems using code... Anyone have material that might be good for this? Books, videos, courses?

I haven't had time to take this course, though I'd like to. It sounds like it is exactly what you are looking for.

https://www.coursera.org/learn/algorithmic-thinking-1

Re: Show HN: Learn to Code for Free

#27

Post by jakobegger »

aikah wrote: post #15
hatsix wrote: post #4

I'm looking for courses that seem to be the opposite of this... no language or programming at all, but instead looking at the process of breaking down problems. We've hired several devs out of bootcamp, and they're all taught how to code, but not how to solve problems using code... Anyone have material that might be good for this? Books, videos, courses?

> We've hired several devs out of bootcamp, and they're all taught how to code, but not how to solve problems using code... Frankly any Algorithms & Data structures book should do the trick. Choosing the right data structure is often half the solution when solving a problem. That plus SICP and a book about Discrete Math should be enough for 90% of the daily problems.

I'm not sure Algorithms & Data Structures will help you all that much in the real world. In most modern languages, all the algorithms and data structures are already implemented in the standard library, and while having heard of them is beneficial, you won't get a lot of value out of knowing how to do a binary search.

The problems that I see most junior devs struggling with are at a much higher level. How do you organize large scale programs? How do you make sure that different parts interact flawlessly? A book about design patterns could help here, but without experience you won't appreciate what the patterns are good for.

But by far the most difficult part to wrap your head around is concurrency. How do you make sure your assumptions all hold up when multiple threads / processes / users are all doing stuff in parallel? That's really hard to understand, and you need a combination of theory and experience to master this.

I'm not sure what my point is. Software development is hard, a bootcamp and an Algorithms book is probably a good start, but after that you need to still put in a lot of effort to reach your full potential.

Re: Show HN: Learn to Code for Free

#28

Post by gerdesj »

hatsix wrote: post #4

I'm looking for courses that seem to be the opposite of this... no language or programming at all, but instead looking at the process of breaking down problems. We've hired several devs out of bootcamp, and they're all taught how to code, but not how to solve problems using code... Anyone have material that might be good for this? Books, videos, courses?

Problem solving .... hmmm

It's not solely a programmer thing. You might like to consider people who have been trained to solve problems eg Engineers or Mathematicians int al - they will probably give you more bang for your buck. They will probably have some rudimentary or rather better programming skills as well.

Bugger bootcamps ...

You pays your money and takes your choice.

Cheers Jon

Re: Show HN: Learn to Code for Free

#29

Post by freehunter »

robtherobot wrote: post #2

I've decided to make my course on complete full-stack web development free, forever! It's a massive amount of content. Please let me know what you think of the course!

I'm going through it as a tech professional who is a non-developer. I know how to code, I just don't do it professionally (and I don't know Ruby, let alone Rails).

I'm loving it. Obviously the "here are some commands" and "go find Google Chrome" made me laugh a little but I understand the audience they're for. I love how quickly we get into actually creating something, it keeps my interest when I see progress. It's been 15 minutes and I already have a Rails blog set up, yay!

Seriously, I haven't gotten that far in, but right now I'm fully believing there is a success story with your teaching method. Congrats, that's not an easy feat.

Re: Show HN: Learn to Code for Free

#30

Post by robtherobot »

freehunter wrote: post #29
robtherobot wrote: post #2

I've decided to make my course on complete full-stack web development free, forever! It's a massive amount of content. Please let me know what you think of the course!

I'm going through it as a tech professional who is a non-developer. I know how to code, I just don't do it professionally (and I don't know Ruby, let alone Rails). I'm loving it. Obviously the "here are some commands" and "go find Google Chrome" made me laugh a little but I understand the audience they're for. I love how quickly we get into actually creating something, it keeps my interest when I see progress. It's b…

Thank you! Your words mean a lot. I agree that learning by doing is especially useful for coding and it's always great when non-developers pick up developer skills (it makes you better at what you do, and developers love you more too)!

Message me if you have any questions along the way. I'm here to help.

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