Programming

As someone with very little computing knowledge, is it realistic for me to try and learn programming through self-directed study?

If not 'kek don't be an idiot', what sites give good intros?

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learnpythonthehardway.org/book/
twitter.com/SFWRedditGifs

mit mooc
edx
youtube

Find a PDF of k&r "C programming language" and don't come back to Cred Forums til you've read it AND comprehended it.

Depends on how much technologically retarded you are, you can either use block programming to initiate with kid sites like scratch or code.org, but reading a book like said is a much better idea.

>through self-directed study
kind of, thats what i did 8 years ago


basically push yourself

when i started out i would try and make really fucking dumb programs, but things that would make me think outside the box.

one of my most complicated first apps would a little desktop app that could send a single message out on 10 different twitter accounts.

>had to teach myself how to talk to the internet
>had to teach myself the magic of JSON
>had to teach myself how to properly deal with pointers/objects so the program ran smoother
>had to teach myself threading so all accounts could post at the same time
>had to teach myself how to save a configuration file


once you do enough of these bullshit little exercises you eventually get the hang of it.

then you can make anything your heart desires.


Just work on it for like a year before even attempting to find an entry level position, unless you know a guy who knows a guy who needs some work done.


The biggest thing that helped me starting out was to think of everything like a puzzle.

if you say to yourself that you "want to make a fancy twitter app" then your brain overloads because you have no idea what you're doing.

But if you instead say "an app that talks to the internet", and slowly build up from there it becomes a lot eaiser, then you can merge all your book learnins together.

train that mindset now, as it helps when you get dropped into a project that's been modified by spaghetti code for the last 4 years by a guy who doesn't program.


learn C for embedded programming
C++ for desktop applications
PHP for web

don't let the haters tell you otherwise

>php

I learned BASIC just by myself when I was under 10.

It's a nice language to learn the basics before you go on to more difficult stuff. No pun intended. That's exactly why they chose the name.

I wouldn't recommend it, basically everyone in east europe and india is self taught, without networking in college and a degree you be fucked when you reach the endgame.

learnpythonthehardway.org/book/

MIT OCW has some pretty good stuff too

I wouldn't go to KnR straight away. Spend two hours learning C, write a few programs, learn how pointers work, write a few more, then fully go through that book.

After that, learn Java, Python, web development, and Haskell

Go fuck around on codecademy. That's where I started when I first got interested and now I'm a front end developer.

self-learning isn't even half as efficient as instructor-led training (even if it's just a programmer friend explaining things)

that book is shit for C as well as for general programming

And those people are the ones getting jobs too. Funny how that works.

Jokes aside, self taught has always been viable and will continue to be viable until you get professional licensing like the regular engineering professions.

It's never been easy and it won't get easier as technology advances but it can be done and there are nontechical people who have done it. Like someone said above its about persistence and making yourself do work and study. That is what college was and should be about too but if you have the drive you don't absolutely need either the setting or connections you get from there.

I'm a self taught C# dev and I have been working for three years, previously I worked with Java and made little android apps to get noticed. The whole process from being NEET to employed took me about two and a half years but I wasn't good at staying motivated in my first year.

There isn't anything efficient about an instructor other than knowing who to ask questions of. Having a cirriculum is easy to get by yourself. The benefit of college is legitimacy and networking. Nothing more.

>There isn't anything efficient about an instructor other than knowing who to ask questions of.
t. someone who never had a competent person help him

codeacademy is literal shit. it's all just copying code and remembering what it does, not actually understanding how it works. search youtube for tutorials or find a short book or written guide for the language you want.

I'm a Virginia Tech alumni so no.

It's entirely possible. I'm doing it atm and getting on ok. You do need to search around for resources that suit your level and style of learning, which isn't hard as there are tons of resources out there. I literally looked for a bunch of the top reviewed programming books on Amazon and got the pdfs to see if they're alright.

I'd recommend getting a college/introductory computer science book, and possibly a basic maths book. I used the same method to find these on amazon.

was Cred Forums just helpful

how are the shootings there?

Better than our CS professors.