how to learn to code

[かうぼーい]

this is the million dollar question gorllions of youtube tutorials but im not able ot code its the same shitty hello world program my brother and techlead nailed it when they said you need to make something cool not a boring hello world program so kiwis provide resources and legit advice on how to learn to code

 

[Another Char Clone]

That depends what are you trying to code. Making a PHP webpage is very different than writing regular apps that run on a PC. There's also low level close to the hardware programming for microcontrollers and the like.

I do recommend starting from low level like C if is possible for you, then work your way up to more modern and newer languages just to understand what they are doing underneath. If you do plan to be writing regular applications that run locally, I always recommend people who are new the Linkers and Loaders book just so they don't get the wrong idea or think everything is magical underneath the hood.

Edit: tldr; The PDF is an explanation of "How does program run, what happens when I double click .exe".

 

[Tren Shapiro]

The issue with starting with C is that it requires a lot of setup and a lot of syntax to just get some text on the screen. And then to do more interesting stuff, you have to deal with libraries. A lot of stuff that scares people away from programming. With JavaScript you can get straight into learning to program and doing cool graphical stuff.

I'd find a beginner interactive JavaScript tutorial website like https://learnjavascript.online/ and then once you get a hang of the basics make a simple Pong game or something. It's perfectly doable for a beginner but difficult and visual enough to not be boring.

 

[Another Char Clone]

The issue with starting with C is that it requires a lot of setup and a lot of syntax to just get some text on the screen. And then to do more interesting stuff, you have to deal with libraries. A lot of stuff that scares people away from programming. With JavaScript you can get straight into learning to program and doing cool graphical stuff.

I'd find a beginner interactive JavaScript tutorial website like https://learnjavascript.online/ and then once you get a hang of the basics make a simple Pong game or something. It's perfectly doable for a beginner but difficult and visual enough to not be boring.

Like I said, depends on what you're trying to do, you could jump right in to the flashy parts but you'll get lost understanding more complex background bits, especially when in comes to algorithms and choosing the right one for your applications or understanding why certain algorithms do better in certain cases. Starting low allows you to appreciate the higher level programming language features once you do get to them.

If you wanted a quick setup, I did Java for awhile without using an IDE, and found it a breeze to setup and actually pleasant to learn the programming language features, just download a JDK from https://adoptopenjdk.net/releases.html, all the standard "libraries" are already part of the development kit. You don't really need additional libraries if you're just trying to learn the programming features.

There's also python, its even on Windows these days. It already comes with lots of stuff as part of its standard library implementation, and there's no compile process involved, but good luck trying to understand just what happened underneath the hood or why things are done certain ways.

 

[Ultrapenguin]

Strangely enough the best coders I've known (and I haven't known a lot of coders, the tech sector is a fucked up thing that has a unique degenerative effect on the human mind and spirit so I've deliberately distanced myself from it) didn't so much start out wanting to code, they had other things they had to do, and had to figure out what they had to know to make it happen, and once they started it naturally progressed from there.

So a person knowing what they want is going to be pretty helpful; "coding" can involve a huge number of different avenues, and depending on which understanding principles of how information is stored or processed or how applications interact is a lot of times more important than the physically typing up code part.

On the other hand if a person is just learning to code because idk what to do in life but mom's going to be mad if I don't act like I'm progressing, that doesn't tend to work out as well.

If you wanted a quick setup, I did Java for awhile without using an IDE, and found it a breeze to setup and actually pleasant to learn the programming language features, just download a JDK from https://adoptopenjdk.net/releases.html, all the standard "libraries" are already part of the development kit. You don't really need additional libraries if you're just trying to learn the programming features.

Hey, if you really wanted to code Javascript getting into it is as easy as:
- Press ctrl + shift + k, right now
- Type kiwifarms = "Stochastic" + " " + "terrorists";
- Type kiwifarms again, and now the console knows the true nature of the site.

Coding achieved, grab your striped socks and hormones and apply for a cushy job as a software developer.

 

[Distended Gunt]

OP are you 10 years old or something? How about you learn how to use the English language before worrying about programming? You won't get far writing the same shitty Hello World and to-do list applications that every other pajeet nigger is doing, so you need to find some motivation and find an actual genuine problem that you can fix with programming.

One of the first Python scripts I wrote used feedparser to grab an RSS feed and e-mail me if a new show appeared. My only recommendation would be to use a language that's relatively simple with tonnes of libraries like Python and ignore the fags that want you to use tranny languages like Rust.

 

[Another Char Clone]

Strangely enough the best coders I've known (and I haven't known a lot of coders, the tech sector is a fucked up thing that has a unique degenerative effect on the human mind and spirit so I've deliberately distanced myself from it) didn't so much start out wanting to code, they had other things they had to do, and had to figure out what they had to know to make it happen, and once they started it naturally progressed from there.

OP are you 10 years old or something? How about you learn how to use the English language before worrying about programming? You won't get far writing the same shitty Hello World and to-do list applications that every other pajeet nigger is doing, so you need to find some motivation and find an actual genuine problem that you can fix with programming.

So much this.

You won't get far trying to learn hello world, you'll get to the point where you know all the features but then "What am I even supposed to do with this?". I learned C# quickly by looking into and fixing up other people's game mods. Most modders can't code for shit and their code looks like a tranny bedroom with the amount of assumption and conclusion jumping they do.

My only recommendation would be to use a language that's relatively simple with tonnes of libraries like Python and ignore the fags that want you to use tranny languages like Rust.

Avoid Rust, they put in all effort into advocacy when in practice, it has problems being compatible with itself, not very productive if your biggest concern is "is my code still valid the next compiler update?". I still respect Null for fixing up Xenforo in Rust.

 

[Judge Dredd]

There are a few basic things about "coding" that people lie about, or don't say out loud.

First is that no one really knows how to code. Unless it's something you've done before, everything is a problem to be figured out. Like @Uberpenguin said, most people I know who "code" have a thing they want to do and will make the worst spaghetti code to make it happen.

Second major thing is that once you know the basics like If, Else, maybe even While and Arrays if you want to be fancy, you're basically just applying those over and over.

I'm also going to disagree with @Another Char Clone He's not wrong, but these days you can't even access hardware directly most of the time, and even when you can it's not really nessessary. I recommend starting with something that works with the fewest hurdles.

 

[uber goober]

Pretty much what Uberpenguin said. When you have a solid reason to start programming then the learning process becomes obvious. I had an idea for a website that I wished existed but realistically no one would make, and in order for me to make myself it I had to learn to make a full stack webapp. This forced me to learn some backend and frontend webdev and weigh the pros and cons of different languages/frameworks given the goals I had for my app. I'm now almost done with it and I've learned shitloads in a fairly small amount of time (I'm still pretty shit all things considered lol). If I never had a vision for something I actually wanted to make I'd still be where you're at piddling around with hello worlds in a dozen languages.
tldr think of a cool thing you wish existed and try your best to make it yourself. If you can't, programming may not be for you

 

[Fomo Hoire]

- Press ctrl + shift + k, right now
- Type kiwifarms = "Stochastic" + " " + "terrorists";
- Type kiwifarms again, and now the console knows the true nature of the site.

Here's a one liner, but I don't recommend anyone runs it until they have an idea of what it does.

setInterval( function(){ alert("Kiwifarms = Stochastic terrorists"); }, 1000 );

Anyways, don't get too attached to any language in particular, it's more important that you learn to think like a computer. Once you think the right way, translating it is the easy part.

Start with a small goal and work your way up. Maybe make an auto clicker for a cookie clicker style game, and by the time you have the game playing itself (including catching the golden cookies and automatic prestige progression) you'll already know how to do loops and logic control and debugging.

 

[Another Char Clone]

I'm also going to disagree with @Another Char Clone He's not wrong, but these days you can't even access hardware directly most of the time, and even when you can it's not really nessessary. I recommend starting with something that works with the fewest hurdles.

It's not so much the hardware, but more the "why is array faster than a dictionary? Should I sort my input? How do I make my code faster? What's a reference, what's a copy?". It's not even language dependent, its just more obvious and explicit with low level languages. It's like driving stick shift there. That's before we get into the programming pattern business.

 

[Scale Smerch]

To chime in and parrot earlier posts, yeah it comes down hard to what you want to learn coding for. Gaming? Website creation? Machine learning? At high level all use the same coding structure, but differ in the details so it helps having something you want to use coding for so you want to learn and have reason to use it - and doing so IMO is the only way to truly keep you motivated and make the knowledge stick.

Depending on your interest, good starting languages are C# (gaming), Javascript (web design), and Python (data science & ML). Read through some basic tutorials for the selected language to learn the syntax, maybe get a Hello World working so you know how to run programs in that language, and then start figuring out to how to code the problem you want to solve. All coding is problem solving (and learning to search for answers) in the end so this gets you where you want to go faster than following the same tutorials for sanitized and simplistic programs.

 

[Tren Shapiro]

Like I said, depends on what you're trying to do, you could jump right in to the flashy parts but you'll get lost understanding more complex background bits, especially when in comes to algorithms and choosing the right one for your applications or understanding why certain algorithms do better in certain cases. Starting low allows you to appreciate the higher level programming language features once you do get to them.

That stuff is necessary to be a good programmer but the flashy high level stuff makes you actually want to become a good programmer. Nobody got really into programming after learning that bubble sort is slow. Big O notation doesn't spark joy.

 

[Safir]

Nobody got really into programming after learning that bubble sort is slow. Big O notation doesn't spark joy.

I did, and it does. I was playing a videogame and wanted to 100% a challenge. I looked up a surefire way to do it (Dijkstra + traveling salesman), then googled "easiest programming language", because I didn't feel like manually adding 5-digit numbers. Thank god I got Python (google gives me Javascript now, if i got Javasctipt back then I'd probably 41%d.) That was over 12 years ago. Paths in graphs is my job now. I never actually went back to the game.

OP are you 10 years old or something? How about you learn how to use the English language before worrying about programming?

This is true. The first language a programmer must learn is English. When local (Russian) moms ask me how to get into programming, I keep telling them I got in through videogames, but now that avenue is closed and their koreaboo daughters have a much better headstart than their Fork Knife sons, because koreaboos are motivated to learn English and Fork Knife players can get by on cyka blyat.

 

[AmpleApricots]

I'm not gonna say too much but it involves hormone therapy and a language called "rust"

 

[Night Raiders]

I'm not gonna say too much but it involves hormone therapy and a language called "rust"

Someone please explain to me the rust tranny drama.

 

[Grub]

The language you learn doesn't really matter. Just pick one you find understandable. The basic things you need to know to write any program bigger than a few lines are variables, branches(if, else, switch), loops(for,while), functions/subroutines, input/output. If you know and understand those tools offered by the vast majority of programming languages you can write pretty much anything.

Learning how to program isn't very difficult, learning to program is difficult. The best way to learn though is by doing. You need to actually make things. Start small and work your way up to bigger and more complex things. Then once you've made some things, go back and make those things better with things you've learned making more complex things.

 

[Flatline]

Learn to weld instead.

 

[Judex Meus]

Sort of echoing what everyone else has said, but the best way to really get into programming is to find a project. Find something that interests you, set a goal, and learn how to search to find answers to stuff you don't know. I learned more from writing a web scraper in python than almost any of my classes in university. 90% of the time coding is just searching "how do I do X in Y language," so you unironically need to learn English if you want to make your coding experience not a complete hell.

I learned C/C++ first and I still use it often so I'm a little biased, but there is merit in learning or at least understanding the basics before you get into the high level languages. It's not necessary, of course, but there will be a lot fewer gaps in your knowledge of how things work under the hood, basic data structures, why certain things are slow, etc. It's also somewhat of a baptism by fire in terms of learning how to deal with syntax errors and segfaults before you get to languages that hold your hand like Python.

Like everyone else has said, it really depends on what you want to get into. Web design/backend is way different than desktop application programming, for example, so you have to have at least a general idea of what you want to accomplish before you start.

 

[Nick Gars]

Anyone have any recommendations for "courses" or such for learning C#? I gave Sololearn a try but my issue with that is that it doesn't actually teach you how to use anything it 'teaches' you, it's literally just copying and pasting code blocks. Goal is to make a game. I've dabbled in code before, so I understand more than a normie how it works, but I've never been able to find some practical way to  learn it.


Reading through the thread, I get the impression "start a project and just figure it out" may be the most practical way to actually learn, but I'm open to something more guided if it's out there.