Ask HN: Learning 2 Hack - For the very first time. With a deadline. • Hacker News Board

Ask HN: Learning 2 Hack - For the very first time. With a deadline.

#1

Post by biz2hack » Mon, Nov 16, 2009, 8:52 PM UTC

Dear HN, This is a plea for advice. I've recently decided to take the plunge and learn how to code. I have my own startup that I foolishly outsourced, and I've decided that there really is no other way around it then sitting down and learning to hack myself, and then iterating the product once I have a better handle on things.

Items I submit for consideration:

1. I have a site already running (more or less, it will be at least within the week) on rails. I have no idea what is going on, but I'd like to figure it out and be able to change functionalities as I learn about my customers.

2. I have never coded before. Not even once. I still don't understand what a hash is, really. Aside from taking a class, I really don't know the best way to learn. I've been reading books, but reading hasn't been doing much for me, since I'm not really absorbing the material. I want to try 'testing' things out...I don't know if that makes sense, but I feel like if I have exercises to do, I will understand concepts much faster then simply reading.

3. I have availability to take courses. But, I do not know what courses to take. I am based out of the bay area, and am open to suggestions for classes for beginners.

4. I have a self-imposed deadline of four months. Is this enough time to be able to handle simple, workable functions on rails? (The common answer, my guess is, is that it's completely up to me. But I'm just looking for perspective. what can I possibly get accomplished, if I am starting from scratch?)

Also, supplemental 5: Would there be anyone out there who would be willing to learn with me? I think having a partner would help tremendously, but I don't know where to find people in such a situation.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Re: Ask HN: Learning 2 Hack - For the very first time. With a deadline.

#2

Post by ihumanable » Mon, Nov 16, 2009, 9:01 PM UTC

If you want to get a handle on the basics, especially ruby basics, try out ruby koans.

http://github.com/edgecase/ruby_koans

They are simple exercises that you can work through without prior knowledge, its a fast and fun way to get your feet wet. Then its important to read some books and get a good foundation under those wet feet, but we all know books can be boring, try to find one that has an actual project you work on throughout, seeing concepts come to life in front of you can be really helpful.

Then try to look at some code, since you are using rails I would highly suggest railscasts ( http://railscasts.com/ ) they are short videos, but there are 188 as of this writing that show some cool stuff about rails and get you in the hacker mindset.

Re: Ask HN: Learning 2 Hack - For the very first time. With a deadline.

#3

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Nov 16, 2009, 9:05 PM UTC

ihumanable wrote: post #2

If you want to get a handle on the basics, especially ruby basics, try out ruby koans. http://github.com/edgecase/ruby_koans They are simple exercises that you can work through without prior knowledge, its a fast and fun way to get your feet wet. Then its important to read some books and get a good foundation under those wet feet, but we all know books can be boring, try to find one that has an actual project you wor…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Learning 2 Hack - For the very first time. With a deadline.

#4

Post by biz2hack » Mon, Nov 16, 2009, 9:06 PM UTC

ihumanable wrote: post #2

If you want to get a handle on the basics, especially ruby basics, try out ruby koans. http://github.com/edgecase/ruby_koans They are simple exercises that you can work through without prior knowledge, its a fast and fun way to get your feet wet. Then its important to read some books and get a good foundation under those wet feet, but we all know books can be boring, try to find one that has an actual project you wor…

Thanks for the reply. Do you have any resources you can recommend where I can learn more about programming in general? There seem to be a lot of things that people talk about that just go completely over my head.

Re: Ask HN: Learning 2 Hack - For the very first time. With a deadline.

#5

Post by icey » Mon, Nov 16, 2009, 9:14 PM UTC

I would start with these books:

http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Ruby-Novice-Professional/dp/...

http://pragprog.com/titles/rails3/agile-web-development-with...

With your deadlines, you're going to have to skip over some CS basics just to get everything going. That's okay though, there is enough to learn to keep you busy for a lifetime. The most important skill set that you need to learn right now is how to determine what's important this second and what can wait until later. Deadlines are a fantastic way to learn that skill :D

Re: Ask HN: Learning 2 Hack - For the very first time. With a deadline.

#6

Post by ihumanable » Mon, Nov 16, 2009, 9:15 PM UTC

biz2hack wrote: post #4

ihumanable wrote: post #2

If you want to get a handle on the basics, especially ruby basics, try out ruby koans. http://github.com/edgecase/ruby_koans They are simple exercises that you can work through without prior knowledge, its a fast and fun way to get your feet wet. Then its important to read some books and get a good foundation under those wet feet, but we all know books can be boring, try to find one that has an actual project you wor…

Thanks for the reply. Do you have any resources you can recommend where I can learn more about programming in general? There seem to be a lot of things that people talk about that just go completely over my head.

The ruby koans do a pretty good job giving you a quick overview of programming concepts in ruby. If you have any trouble getting up and running feel free to send me an email ihumanable at gmail dot com

Re: Ask HN: Learning 2 Hack - For the very first time. With a deadline.

#7

Post by coderdude » Mon, Nov 16, 2009, 9:26 PM UTC

Just a general bit of advice: You will learn more iterating through "change the code, save the file, execute the code, repeat" than any amount of plain reading. When I learned Python, I sat down with Dive Into Python and the command line.

Re: Ask HN: Learning 2 Hack - For the very first time. With a deadline.

#8

Post by Quiark » Mon, Nov 16, 2009, 9:30 PM UTC

> I've been reading books, but reading hasn't been doing much for me, since I'm not really absorbing the material. I want to try 'testing' things out...I don't know if that makes sense, but I feel like if I have exercises to do, I will understand concepts much faster then simply reading.

OMG of course, this is how everyone does it and you leave me amazed at why didn't you try to code something yourself?

Re: Ask HN: Learning 2 Hack - For the very first time. With a deadline.

#9

Post by christonog » Mon, Nov 16, 2009, 9:36 PM UTC

Hey there, Though I am a little ahead in building a Rails app, I'm essentially in the same position you are in and (more importantly) have the same mindset of building it myself. Shoot me an email and hopefully we can help each other with our projects.

Re: Ask HN: Learning 2 Hack - For the very first time. With a deadline.

#10

Post by shelfoo » Mon, Nov 16, 2009, 9:38 PM UTC

biz2hack wrote: post #4

ihumanable wrote: post #2

If you want to get a handle on the basics, especially ruby basics, try out ruby koans. http://github.com/edgecase/ruby_koans They are simple exercises that you can work through without prior knowledge, its a fast and fun way to get your feet wet. Then its important to read some books and get a good foundation under those wet feet, but we all know books can be boring, try to find one that has an actual project you wor…

Thanks for the reply. Do you have any resources you can recommend where I can learn more about programming in general? There seem to be a lot of things that people talk about that just go completely over my head.

Keep in mind that this will continue to be the case for a while. Sometimes you have to worry less about understanding what's happening to start off with, don't let not knowing how to do something stop you from doing it. Sometimes it all becomes clear once you see how things are used.

One thing I would suggest, it really provided the "aha" moment for me, is finding something that will dump out or print our your datastructures. If you don't understand what a hash is, and there's a tool in language (x) that will spew out what's in there, you will probably very quickly "get" what it is.