I can't code.

CIA_chatbot, 10 months ago

I got you fam

www.codecademy.com/catalog/language/c-sharp?g_net…

Free course, C# is a genuine pleasure to work in/learn. Runs in all OS environments, and is probably the most modern “general” language

Only way to learn is to start learning

Holodeck_Moriarty, 10 months ago

Don’t mind me, just saving this comment too.

Molecular0079, 10 months ago

Lemmy allows you to save a comment without commenting btw. Just click on the three dot menu and then click the star.

Wailzy, 10 months ago

Do you know how to do this on Memmy?

damnson, 10 months ago

Also on Memmy and don’t see an option for this yet. Would be a great addition

Holodeck_Moriarty, 10 months ago

Oh, I know. I was just saying that to tell them that their post helped another person.

Molecular0079, 10 months ago

Oh my bad then, ignore me hahaha.

CIA_chatbot, 10 months ago

We could never ignore you bro!

Xylight, 10 months ago

Smh, you’re not even dumping them into Linux from scratch to learn C++ yet!

CIA_chatbot, 10 months ago

Hehe baby steps!

BaroqueInMind, 10 months ago

Fuck it, let's go deeper: How to create an OS from scratch {using assembly language}

favrion, 10 months ago

Okay, C# is a music note which links with my fondness of music theory. Kewl.

Pyroglyph, 10 months ago

The first language I learned is C# and it sparked that interest that got me the job I’m in now!

I see other people recommending Python for beginners because of the simpler syntax (the way you write the code) but I’d still recommend C# because although the learning curve is a little steeper you’ll find it MUCH easier to learn pretty much any other language you choose. And even if you don’t choose to learn another language, you’ll still know a good (and fast) general-purpose language!

CIA_chatbot, 10 months ago

This. I love me some python, but it’s so unstructured (and by that I mean more how the structure is based off spacing), I actually think it makes it harder to learn vs. easier.

“Bracket” languages let the learner get a feel for when a piece of logic ends, which I think is important to learn at first. Also, C type languages, ESPECIALLY C#) are everywhere, depending on the field you end up specializing in you probably have a 90+% chance of needing to know one of these languages.

Seriously, there is nothing wrong with python, but I think the easiness of it actually works against learning to code (imho)

voidf1sh, 10 months ago

Is C# really that nice to work in? I’m looking to expand my horizons past JS now that I feel fairly comfortable with one language.

loutr, 10 months ago

I’d go with Kotlin. It’s a really nice language, easy to learn if you already know JS (or even better, TS), and with KMM and Compose Multiplatform you can write apps which run natively on smartphones, browsers and PC/Mac.

ale, 10 months ago

Yes, it’s nice and worth learning, especially if you try at both highly abstracted code and performance sensitive projects. Don’t get stuck thinking in c# though. Its brand of strict oop seems to be getting less popular these days.

CIA_chatbot, 10 months ago

You can write fully functional code in C#! I pretty much made the switch over and it works great

Mr_Buscemi, 10 months ago

I absolutely loved learning C# a few years ago. I haven’t touched programming since my last C# class and I’m probably going to relearn it later this week.

CIA_chatbot, 10 months ago

It’s a genuinely nice language with tons of syntactic sugar. It’s fast, flexible and runs everywhere. Honestly my favorite language.

Other nice things about it is you can write object oriented code as well as functional style with it, so it even handles the style of code you prefer which is a lot harder to do with other languages. Finally it’s open source but also has deep pockets behind it so the language is constantly being pushed forward.

TitanLaGrange, 10 months ago

C# is my primary language, so I’d certainly recommend it. It can be a little daunting to get into because it is a large ecosystem of tools, so you might want to watch some videos and keep things simple for a while.

For work I mostly use it for APIs for web sites, that might be a good place to start if you’re familiar with JS/TS front-end work. From there you might want to try Razor or Blazor for handling web UI work in C#. I’m not very experienced with that aspect of it, but it’s mostly been a positive experience (TBH I kind of prefer React, but I’d need to spend more time on the Razor/Blazor side to have a strong opinion).

The desktop development side in C# is kind of a mess at the moment. Maybe stick with web until you’re feeling pretty comfortable with the language.

rambaroo, 10 months ago

It’s basically a cleaner, more concise version of java. It’s a good choice to study if you want to learn something very different from JS but with some familiar syntax. These days you can also run C# anywhere, so it’s very useful for app development.

If you learn C# you’ll be able to learn java very quickly as well.

KRAW, 10 months ago (edited 9 months ago)

I always prescribe learning Python over basically any other language (unless you’re gonna start doing some real low-level computing). It’s a much more relevant and popular language. C# isn’t irrelevant, you’ll just see Python used way more often. Python will also compliment JS much more.

mrpibb, 10 months ago

This is a good place to start if you’re already using the computer for several tasks.

automatetheboringstuff.com

gornius, 10 months ago

Software engineering nowadays is really complex. There is no way you’re going to know what’s going on, nobody is.

It’s just the more experience you have, the easier it is to figure out what’s going on. If you want to learn coding, just start coding.

I will start from something no one mentioned - start with Linux. Windows has its own very “special” ways of compiling stuff, while Linux is very simple. If you start on Windows, you’ll probably use IDE which will set up everything for you (cause setting up thing in Windows is messed up), and it will still be a black magic for you how the code transforms into binary.

Many people recommend python, but I would start with C (not C++, C++ sucks). It will give you the understanding of basic concepts like memory management.

Then start using something like javascript, which will get you wide range of libraries, which you can use to build anything.

Then at the end learn how infrastructure works, how are services communicating with each other, how to put your server to the public, learn Docker, set up reverse proxy, run stuff in cloud.

beigeoat, 10 months ago

I will tell you there is no need to be worried about coding. You don’t have to be worried about not knowing how to code. The coding part of coding is the simplest and the easiest part, the much much more important part is the thinking part, basically what you want to achieve and how you should go about it.

A lot of so called professional “coders” don’t know what it is that they are doing. A few days ago i looked at my sister’s very impressive code. That was truly a hard day, the ways in which I controlled myself by not beating the shit out of her for being a piece of garbage who is incapable of thinking. She would not understand even when explained in simple words why her code was incredibly shit and what to do to fix it, finally she didn’t fix it and left ruining more than just my day, she sent me into a trance worrying about the future of mankind as a whole, which I have still not been able to come out of.

Also as far as coding is concerned I would suggest you get started with python. It is easy and simple. Learn the basics in python, for majority of the things you will have achieved your desire.

I suggest that you use the book automate the boring stuff as a starting point, it will not only help you with your desire for coding, but may also come out to help you in your day-to-day things as well. You can easily find the pdf for free.

automatetheboringstuff.com

mozzarellamommy, 10 months ago

You sound like a lovely sibling…

beigeoat, 10 months ago

You don’t understand, if she wasn’t my sibling, it may as well have resulted in a fight.

This code was for a company, not a I’m learning and am just a beginner kind of thing. Let me share a few details about the code:

The program involved reading a csv file and doing some operations from the data it provided. It was a python program in a jupyter notebook (this is very relevant).

• She had to create an array of the column names of the table. Her “solution” was to first print the table, then copy paste the column names into an array. When I told her to fix i pointing out the incredibly basic reasons for why not to do that, she refused. Also the table had like 10-15 columns.
• She was using pandas dataframes, even having a variable called df in her code, also using the functions it provided. Now it will come as a surprise to you, as it came to me she doesn’t know what a dataframe is.
• The reason she showed me her code was because she was getting an error which she didn’t know how to solve. The issue was that the array of column names she created and the column names in the table didn’t match. This was because when she printed the table the column names were missing _ which were present in the CSV file. One of the reasons for not not doing the first point. When told of the issue she added the _ manually. She will die on that hill.
• So in jupyter notebooks you have cells in which you add a small slice of code and you run the cell. This is really amazing. Small issue though if you close the notebook and open it again you need to rerun the cells in the correct sequence again, barely an inconvenience . To overcome this great issue, my sister just didn’t do something stupid like having all her code in one cell, she was one step ahead, she had all the things she needed per cell copy-pasted. That God forsaken array of column names? You guessed it there were atleast 10 of them.

Now if she was just starting out, these could probably be forgiven, but she has been “coding” for atleast a few years now. Also she refuses to learn her mistakes.

Another interesting thing I noticed was, if she didn’t know something she would not search Google but rather YouTube. I originally thought she pasted some of the code from stackoverflow which has error, but no she looked at a YouTube video copied the code by hand and that code still resulted in an error because char and int are different, she doesn’t understand why it works in the video (same type), and why it doesn’t work for her.I am clearly still in a shock about the whole situation and to think someone would hire her only if it is for an internship still, I pray for the world.

0ops, 10 months ago

Seriously, what the fuck?

mhz, 10 months ago

Good news for you, I’m 33 years old and I canxt code yet. I just finisged a book about shell scripting (in Linux) so I can understands the scripts I see in github and made some simple ones to automate some of my needs. Now I want to up it up a bit with python and I’m starting a new book with Havard cx50 course. You are never too old to learn. My regret is that i did not start sooner, like when I was your age.

favrion, 10 months ago

Good luck.

mhz, 10 months ago

To you as well.

nixfreak, 10 months ago

Honestly , why do you want to code? Simple question not offensive or sarcastic. I code because I’m in the security industry and a big geek. You are never to old to code , if you have the discipline to sit down and read and then practice over and over again then you will be fine to learn. its fun to code and learn new things. It also keeps your brain in better shape. I can help you find resources to get you started if you want. Everyone and I mean everyone starts in the beginning.

fluxion, 10 months ago

Think of something simple you want to make, pick a language, and start reading/watching tutorials and doing smaller coding exercises until you feel like you can start making it. This is the easiest period in human history to learn new languages, easily and for free.

MossBear, 10 months ago

Has anyone mentioned the free Harvard CS50 course? Start there and learn the very basics of computer science and programming. By the time you finish you’ll have a solid idea of where to go next.

JGrffn, 10 months ago

X2! David Malan is an excellent teacher, OP! I hate academia and prefer learning through YouTube, but CS50 is an EXCELLENT way to get started with learning about computers and programming!

selawdivad, 10 months ago

What are your hobbies? Most people struggle to learn programming until they find a project that they are interested in. You mentioned an interest in music. Perhaps you could try Sonic Pi, which is a live coding environment where you can create music from code. It comes with a built-in tutorial, and a bunch of pre-written example code-music. It’s built with the ruby language.

loudWaterEnjoyer, 10 months ago

You should start here directly in the future:

https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/pictrs/image/ef804429-67e2-4f4e-acd3-457e31cbdf50.jpeg

You may not have seen this before because it is so new.

SubArcticTundra, 10 months ago

Actually, if you are a Boomer this should be your starting point.

YourHuckleberry, 10 months ago

So you were born in 1996, but the part of your brain that handles coding was born in 1966? How is that possible? Do you even know what a boomer is?

RedWizard, 10 months ago

Boomer is slowly evolving into Luddite in it’s usage if you were not aware.

YourHuckleberry, 10 months ago

That’s a lazy answer for being wrong. Seems like you knew the correct word all along, but decided to use an ageist pejorative instead, and now you’re upset for being called out on it.

emeralddawn45, 10 months ago

Wow it must be incredibly irritating being so pedantic. At least for everyone you interact with. But you’d think someone so hyper fixated on accurate language would know what a metaphor is.

RedWizard, 10 months ago

Ok Boomer 😎

balance_sheet, 10 months ago

I am a Boomer when it comes to coding and I am only 27

Do you realize that boomers are the ones who literally made the Internet?

No one is a boomer when it comes to coding.

Toribor, 10 months ago

Do you realize that boomers are the ones who literally made the Internet?

Not the ones that I work with.

RedWizard, 10 months ago

Hey, language evolves with time, Boomer is becoming synonymous with Luddite.

EhList, 10 months ago

Hey some of them were older Gen Z

favrion, 10 months ago

Now all they do is fart and complain about the TV being too loud.

vestigial, 10 months ago

Growing up post-internet shortens the generational memory, thoughts are limited to 160 cognition units. Everything relevant to modern life has been SEOed to the foreground, actual history can be safely ignored.

Now I’m a boomer in my mid-30s.

Schal330, 10 months ago

No one has mentioned it from what I can see but I highly recommend the courses provided by www.mooc.fi/en/. It’s the university of Helsinki and it’s completely free. They offer both Java and Python courses. I believe they have an introduction to programming course that is done in Python.

zombie_kong, 10 months ago

My biggest problem is figuring out what I want to do with any coding skills. I have none, by the way, and I don’t even know where to start.

Some of the usual responses when I state this:

“Automate your work” - I work in Salesforce. Have you seen Salesforce? I’m not a multi faceted systems administrator constantly updating DNS records or working in Active Directory.

“Write a cool app” - What cool app? What is “cool”?

“Open dev tools and look around” - Why? Specifically, why?

Also, learning programming is BORING. Most of the courses I’ve tried are so so stale and they aaallll end up explaining concepts in the same way.

“This is a fleeble and it holds the sping, the sping tells the plus plus that it must do what the herbug says”.

k.

Pleonasm, 10 months ago

So, don’t learn to code? If you don’t have any reason to and can’t find any motivation, maybe it’s just not for you.

starman, 10 months ago

When I was learning from the courses or videos, it was boring too. I prefer just reading docs and “fucking around” with the technology I’m interested in than listening to Indian guy on YouTube. Each person has their own preferences, I’m just telling ya what worked for me. Don’t give up, instead try a different approach.

Also, there is no shame in admitting that programming just isn’t for you.

Speaking of cool projects; build a lemmy app. It can be console app for simplicity.

zombie_kong, 10 months ago

Speaking of cool projects; build a lemmy app. It can be console app for simplicity.

Not a bad shout. I see wefwef is a webapp. That could be worth exploring.

Thanks.

Kolanaki, 10 months ago

I learned more by just taking the Doom source code and messing with it than I did from reading books. The main thing every language shares is the logic. Once you figure out how to translate your problem and solution into logical terms, using any language is rather easy; only the function names and syntax changes.

I’ve never written anything in Python, for example, but I am pretty confident that if I spent a day or so reading up on the syntax and functions and looking at some example snippets, I could port anything I’ve written in C, Java or Basic to Python.

I agree that books are dry as fuck and hard to keep up with as they tend to make a person fall asleep. But so much more learning can be done by examining others’ code that does the things you’re trying to do.

I did laugh at the Salesforce quip. I have seen it. It’s a fucking mess lol

FiskFisk33, 10 months ago

Write a stupid little app if you have no cool ideas! The journey is the goal here. like, write a fart button app, make a clone of flappy bird, or whatever

TitanLaGrange, 10 months ago

My biggest problem is figuring out what I want to do with any coding skills

Maybe some dumb little games? If you aren’t interested in 3D gaming you can do 2D platformers, top-down Rogue-likes, or Zork-style interactive fiction (text) games (from scratch instead of with a Z-Machine).

As a self-taught developer, when I was learning I found it a lot more useful to just go code stuff, and then when I found something that seemed hard or ugly, I could go look for solutions to that kind of problem, which was much more interesting than just reading about various techniques. (Well, I was learning well before normal people had internet, so mostly I invented some shit to fix my own problem, but it got easier/faster after the internet became available).

Sicklad, 10 months ago

I’m somewhat of a programmer, but there’s ideas everywhere in life. My bank came out with an API so I built an app that pulls it all down, stores it in a database, and makes some pretty graphs. Had no experience in fullstack or backend development before (I’m a sysadmin/cloud engineer), so it took me a really long time and I was following a course but adapting it to my project for a lot of it.

The other day I picked up an old game (Mu online) that is soooo grindy it even gives you an in-game bot to play for you, but if you die you just respawn in a safe zone. So I’ve started writing a script that reads the screen (character position is shown in x, y coordinates on screen), and those coordinates are within a given area (the safe zone) it will alert me. Again, had no experience with any of the window controls or image to text conversion (tesseract), but got chatgpt to help me a bit. Will it save me time? Maybe a little. Will I stop playing this game in a month? More than likely. Did I learn something? Absolutely.

I’m self taught but working in tech there’s obviously more work related use cases to actually start learning, but there’s every-day stuff you can do too.

russjr08, 10 months ago

Damn, a bank with an accessible API? I would be so happy if mine did this, they don’t even have a way to export transactions into a sane format like CSV…

kklusz, 10 months ago

My biggest problem is figuring out what I want to do with any coding skills.

Honestly, why learn programming then?

I’m asking this as a programmer myself. I’m not trying to discourage you from learning it by any means, if that’s what you want to do. I’m just asking because it doesn’t sound as if you actually want to do it.

You’ve already tried learning it, and it’s a slog (whereas for me, I was immediately fascinated by it when I was introduced to it as a teenager, even though I was horrible at it). You don’t have any burning desires to create apps (whereas for me, there are so many ideas I want to explore, so many things I want to create that don’t exist yet, but alas I don’t have enough time or energy to work on it all). You don’t even have the desire to do it for purely career-related purposes, which is what I’d imagine drives most of the rest of people learning programming without enjoying it at all.

So why bother with learning something you neither enjoy nor have strong motivations to do?

Dnn, 10 months ago

learning programming is BORING

Then it’s not for you. No shame in that. I don’t understand the notion that everyone is supposed to be a coder now.

If anything, the low-level coding part is something AI models may well make obsolete relatively soon. Unlike any craftsmanship - why not learn masonry or carpentry instead?

zombie_kong, 10 months ago

I’m not giving up a 20+ year career in IT just because I haven’t yet found a way to learn how to code.

There’s more than one way to teach a subject and it would be nice to have even a basic understanding of the mess I am supposed to be supporting,

jdaxe, 10 months ago

Why do you want to learn how to code?

Is it purely to get a better understanding of how salesforce works “under the hood”?

(I’m looking for context because I don’t know anything about salesforce but I do know how to code)

zombie_kong, 10 months ago

Oh god no, not Salesforce. No no no.

All of our other products.

jdaxe, 10 months ago

Gotcha, maybe you don’t necessarily have to be a coder to understand those products better.

Simply being curious and having conversations with devs will probably get you far.

davetansley, 10 months ago

I’ve been coding for 40 years, it’s both my job and my hobby, and I still feel old and out of touch when reading or taking part in coding conversations outside of my sphere :)

This is not meant to be discouraging - even the smallest amount of coding you could learn will be immensely rewarding - more to say that coding is vast arena with a breadth of complexity that can often feel overwhelming. So don’t be put off when you teach yourself some JavaScript and then still feel adrift in a conversation about C#.

I don’t have any specifics to recommend, but I would say that you should start small. Don’t aim to write the next Flappy Bird as your first project, or the next Mastodon. Just concentrate on making a web page say “Hello world!” or changing the colour of some text. Back in the 80s, most kids got their first taste of programming by having a computer shop C64 print “Dave is rad!” on an infinite loop! :)

Good luck!