You Need To Learn How To Program

Slate ^ | Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012, at 4:48 PM ET | Farhad Manjoo

[Sonny M]

If you’re looking for a New Year’s resolution, let me suggest an idea that you might not have considered: You should learn computer programming. Specifically, you should sign up for Code Year, a new project that aims to teach neophytes the basics of programming over the course of 2012. Code Year was put together by Codecademy,* a startup that designs clever, interactive online tutorials. Codecademy’s founders, Zach Sims and Ryan Bubinski, argue that everyone should know how to program—that learning to code is becoming as important as knowing how to read and write. I concur. So if you don’t know how to program, why not get started this week? Come on, it’ll be fun!

Code Year’s minimum commitment is one new lesson every week. The company says that it will take a person of average technical skill about five hours to complete a lesson, so you’re looking at about an hour of training every weekday. That’s not so bad, considering that the lessons are free, and the reward could be huge: If you’re looking to make yourself more employable (or more immune from getting sacked), if you’d like to become more creative at work and in the rest of your life, and if you can’t resist a good intellectual challenge, there are few endeavors that will pay off as handsomely as learning to code.

[Sonny M]

I'm actually going to try and learn a little bit about coding this year. My plan so far is to start with "codeaccademy", move on to "treehouse" and then try "code school". I do want to learn, and figure this might as well be the year. I just don't know really where to learn, and have heard these places mentioned a few times.

[Sonny M]

correct my error, I meant “code academy” not to be confused with “codeacademy” (2 different places, one is online, the other is brick and mortar and based in chicago).

[NewHampshireDuo]

geek ping for am reading

[mowowie]

for tomorrows read.

[jonrick46]

The question is, what code to learn? C++? Visual Basic? Fortran? COBAL? JavaScript?

[djf]

5 LET S = 0
10 MAT INPUT V
20 LET N = NUM
30 IF N = 0 THEN 99
40 FOR I = 1 TO N
45 LET S = S + V(I)
50 NEXT I
60 PRINT S/N
70 GO TO 5
99 END

Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code!!

[Sonny M]

I don’t know anything about coding, but my guess, either start with the easiest ones to learn, and move up, or learn the most popular ones first, or something like that (I’m kind of hoping the easy ones are the popular ones, lol).

[Sonny M]

I have no idea what any of that means, LOL.

[VicVega]

Thanks for posting. WIll take a look.

[Pontiac]

Bump for later

[djf]

It’s a program I copied and pasted but looking at it I’m not sure it does anything useful at all!

Basic is a good language to start with because you can easily learn the principles of programming like program flow, input output, if-then-else statements, etc.

[Bobalu]

I sure love to code!

I’m usually working in C or assembly writing code for micro-controllers.

It’s not hard to write software at all. It would make you a fun and low-cost hobby. :-)

[re_nortex]

It’s not hard to write software at all. It would make you a fun and low-cost hobby.

That gets a hearty amen from this corner! I'm an old guy (about to turn 70) but being able to push the bits around and have the computer at my command does keep me youthful. It's really great to be in absolute control of the computer as opposed to a user at the mercy of pre-packaged software.

It's not necessarily for everyone -- but in a way it's not too different from hunting and then cooking your own food instead of relying on a prepared meal.

By the way, the very first language I learned (when it was still quote new) was C from the original, pre-ANSI book by K&R, may the latter RIP.

[cotton]

First I learned Basic/machine language. Then 1 2 3 Logo, then started pascal then gave up.

[cartan]

Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years

[lbryce]

You’ve done us all a great service by posting this. Thanks very much!

[LibWhacker]

"Glorified typing!!! That's all this is. What am I doing here?"

Heard an irritable pure math professor (an algebraist) shout that out a couple of times during a packed seminar given by a distinguished British AI expert. Seems he and everyone else in the math dept. was required or strongly encouraged to attend and he took exception. It was kind of embarrassing actually. It was almost as if we had an unhappy two-year-old in the room. Knowing how to write computer programs is a good thing. Plus it's fun.

[Bobalu]

C from the original, pre-ANSI book by K&R, may the latter RIP.

I still have my original copy of K&R :-)

It does feel different now that Dennis Ritchie is gone :-(

Presently I'm writing some morse code software in C to run on the Tiny85 controller. It's fun writing code for a one dollar computer-on-a-chip like the Tiny85 ... and even though it's very limited compared to something like a desktop PC it's still many times more raw power than the old Apple2.

This is just a fun freeware hobby project.

[raygun]

That used to be the way to get started in "computers", i.e., IT.

Nowadays if that's all you know: you're hosed.

I know, because my 20 year career in IT ended 12 years ago when the green-screen, green-bar paper printout disappeared.

NOW a coder needs to know OOP, i.e., everything is a class, and all things belong within their class. It is when the objects of a particular class become instantiated with values that they take on the essence of becoming. Once they are no longer necessary, they no longer are; everything is ethereal.

It is so strange to discover that procedures can be defined inherently as objects within a "class", e.g., "making coffee". What's really and truly bizarre are "overloading" of procedures (let alone operators). In object oriented programmimg the procedure of such fundamental conecpt as addition can be "overloaded". What's so cool 'bout that is that you don't have to worry 'bout the sequence of code; just define WHAT needs to be done and the compiler and CPU determines how and when it gets done when what needs to get done is actually needed. Isn't that that rat's ass?

[Freedom4US]

My parents apparently knew how to code? Remember hearing “Or Else!” quite a bit growing up. Hm.