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Show HN: Learn to Code for Free

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Re: Show HN: Learn to Code for Free

#31

Post by digler999 »

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?

coding: "write a socket listener that reads from a buffer and converts it into a null-terminated string".

solving a problem: write a program that does (some open-ended business problem). Or generalize the socket listener so that it works on any platform, OS, hardware, network configuration, etc.

A coder might do great on confined problem space, but when you ask them to write a larger program they dont normally know how to design it. This isn't just true of bootcamp coders though. Tons of CS grads wouldn't do any better. Otherwise FizzBuzz would have never been a thing.

Re: Show HN: Learn to Code for Free

#35

Post by AtheistOfFail »

jakobegger wrote: post #27
aikah wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 orga…

I'll disagree with this.

Algorithms and data structures can actually be great not because you implement your own but because you can find out why your N^3 algorithm is slow (give you three guses) and why iterating through your data is slow (since you used the wrong data structure)

I like Bootcamps for what they are, a tool to fill Junior level positions for people to begin working their way into a career and I love teaching the people who graduate and are interested in continuing their career, but there is more to programming than paying for a Bootcamp and spinning up a Rails/React app.

PS: Forget anyone who says "I already know how to code, I don't need to learn this". Those people are fucking boat anchors, they just sink.

Re: Show HN: Learn to Code for Free

#36

Post by AtheistOfFail »

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…

Actually, that's the main selling point for Rails.

Start looking into gems (devise for logins, paperclip for file attachments, and many more). You'll quickly see how things can be put together easily.

Rails' biggest downside isn't getting something working, it's customizing it for what you want.

Re: Show HN: Learn to Code for Free

#39

Post by qwertyuiop924 »

BigChiefSmokem wrote: post #25
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 impl…

I agree on the puzzle games: also, get them on Zachtronics games: Spacechem, namely.

Re: Show HN: Learn to Code for Free

#40

Post by hatsix »

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?

Parse this file and tell me the total of all $ amounts, and the line where we've reached 50% of the total $.

How do you approach this problem and break it down.

I've seen problems like this solved by looping through the file twice, because they answer one question at a time...

But I'm hoping there is something out there that can teach the general process of breaking down the problem, identifying loops, identifying generalizable code, and anything else that needs to happen before your code can work.

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