2 coding schools, learning to code

[Beat5beat]

I'm looking into learning some coding, was wondering if anyone experienced in it has any thoughts on these 2 schools.

https://www.epicodus.com/

https://devmounta.in/

I don't have any previous experience, I'm interested in any type of programming (that will be useful) I hope to program apps, games, and websites mainly.

I think I put this in the correct forum, if not, feel free to move it.


Any insight or alternative routes are appreciated.

Thanks!

[Kujako]

Frankly, I would learn a bit before trying any schools. You also should narrow your scope a bit. Apps, I would start with Android as it is a more approachable development system then iOS or Windows Mobile. Games, I would put that on hold for awhile... websites, not sure what you mean by that, but lets assume HTML5 & JavaScript.

[vindicatorx]

I would recommend Java if interested in making apps. You can download the SDK and a program like Eclipse to do your coding and testing in. All the stuff to make android apps are free as they want you to make stuff so they can make money off you. There are plenty of web resources available to learn the basics I would start there before taking classes at some online place that may or may not actually get you a job.

[Kujako]

I would recommend Java if interested in making apps. You can download the SDK and a program like Eclipse to do your coding and testing in.

Or just download Android Studio... includes the IDE, SDK and Android emulator.

[Blueobelisk]

I had a programming master, but I also learned in language online tutorials. Not programming online websites, but cplusplus.com. But really, I had a programming master reinforce some big concepts. I wouldn't say he taught me a lot...but it helped.

Website coding you can prob just look at what some other people did and get the gist of what does what.

App coding is goddamn annoying if you want to do anything big.

Be more specific and I can say more.

[Lollis]

Coursera has a Python class starting in February.

https://www.coursera.org/course/pythonlearn

[Beat5beat]

Thanks for the information, The reason I liked those two schools is that they cram over 600 hours of learning to code in 3-4 months.

one of the programs offers two courses
one covering PHP, JavaScript, and Drupal,
and one covering Ruby, JavaScript, and Rails.

The other says they will teach you during the 600 hours
HTML 5 & CSS 3, Javascript, Git & GitHub, jQuery, AngularJS, Node.JS, React, Databases

Of those 3 options, which do you think would be most useful for being able to expand my skills in the future?

[Kuntantee]

HTML, CSS and git & gitHub are not programming. You need to study hard to not get overwhelmed.

Programming website, apps and games are three different things. You won't be able to expertise in all of those. Expertise will get you a job, not basic knowledge on a subject.

[Aliessil]

I'd imagine a school course like those would cost a fair bit and since you've no previous experience, you might discover you hate it. I'd try an online course first - have a look on http://www.udemy.com

[Thermor]

Thanks for the information, The reason I liked those two schools is that they cram over 600 hours of learning to code in 3-4 months.

one of the programs offers two courses
one covering PHP, JavaScript, and Drupal,
and one covering Ruby, JavaScript, and Rails.

The other says they will teach you during the 600 hours
HTML 5 & CSS 3, Javascript, Git & GitHub, jQuery, AngularJS, Node.JS, React, Databases

Of those 3 options, which do you think would be most useful for being able to expand my skills in the future?

Just so you know, basically all of this stuff is website development.

The first program surely teaches HTML and CSS as well, since those are web development languages.

The second program teaches node.js and angular.js, which are by no means entry level programming libraries. Node.js is used for server side programming so you can use JavaScript server side. So the onlyprogramming language this program is offering is JavaScript, whereas the first program offers 3 (ruby, php, javascrip).

The first course also teaches something about CMS (drupal), which are widely used.

- - - Updated - - -

Just realized it's 3 options.

Everything I said still holds. The last option ONLY teaches JavaScript. The other 2 options have 2 languages.

In terms of what is most useful for expanding your knowledge in the future, I think you should cast as wide a net as possible at the start. Putting all your eggs in the JavaScript basket might not be the best idea.

On a side note, you should be able to learn about git/github on your own without too much difficulty.

Also, all of the options SHOULD teach something about databses, not just the last one. I can't think of a way the other options could work without a database.

[frumper]

Find a java course, I recommend the stanford one as an entry point. I'd also suggest learning 1 language to start. Once you get good at one language learning a second one is much easier as they all use many of the same concepts and a lot of them share similar structures. The exception would be if you want to make websites, then you'll need to learn a suite of programming and scripting languages, but even then, starting out with java and you can jump to javascript or php fairly easily.

http://see.stanford.edu/see/coursein...a-866adcae1111

[Thermor]

Find a java course, I recommend the stanford one as an entry point. I'd also suggest learning 1 language to start. Once you get good at one language learning a second one is much easier as they all use many of the same concepts and a lot of them share similar structures. The exception would be if you want to make websites, then you'll need to learn a suite of programming and scripting languages, but even then, starting out with java and you can jump to javascript or php fairly easily.

http://see.stanford.edu/see/coursein...a-866adcae1111

It's not really a choice between the two. Modern websites make extensive use of javascript, and not all websites use node.js for server-side programming. So in all likelihood, a web developer needs Javascript AND a server-side language (php, c#, ruby etc...).

[frumper]

You're right, I didn't mean to imply that you wouldn't need both if they want to become a serious web developer. I simply meant that someone decent in java can jump to either javascript or php fairly easily if and when they choose to do so.

[Dawon]

My advice would be to install Visual Studio and learn C# + XAML for development of Windows 8 apps and Windows Phone.. simply because the market is rather young there and odds are you'll be able to get something published with not-so-much-effort.
Besides, C# is a wonderful language (at least imo), plus modern and easy to dive into the whole .NET that will grant you jobs.

If not, I'd also pick Java.. it's rather easy and a good starting point to learn whatever u want to branch into later on... If u wanna focus on websites, might as well learn HTML5 properly first, before doing anything else.

[Bakis]

HTML, CSS and git & gitHub are not programming.

I might agree with you strictly speaking but considering those are always coupled with a mixture of other language such as for example PhP, Javascript it is kind of a moot argument.

OP: if you got no experience you want to start with one powerful language than is adaptable within many areas.
If you want to learn basic programming just to get the hang of it and into the rather famous "programming mindset" I would actually consider C++ (cos its great to learn basics with) and a ton of laguages are based on C/C++ and then swap to something else when you reached that point.
Not that useful for the things you mentiones you want to do though except games and that is one thing that it for sure - you should not aim towrds game programming as a beginner but as I said great to just learn the basics of programming and then move to soemthing you want to focus on.

Start light with something fairly easy to learn and yet powerful.
Java is my recommenation as well.
C# is solid as well but might be a bit trickier since you also need to spend alot of time on paraphernalia to really get anywhere.

[Kuntantee]

I might agree with you strictly speaking but considering those are always coupled with a mixture of other language such as for example PhP, Javascript it is kind of a moot argument.

Yeah you are right but there are people who solely work on design stuff.

[Independent voter]

Pick a language. Python or Lua is where I would start. They are not compiled, they are interpreted and that makes them easier than C, imo. Even if you move on to C or C++ or Java, odds are you'll used a quick and dirty interpreted language like Python or Lua the rest of your career. Another choice is C#. A point about C# is that it's used quite a bit in the business world.

Some say to start with C cause that is like the ancestor of most languages and the language that Python and Lua is written in. Problem is C will require a lot of patience and half is C is compiling, libraries etc.

My 2 cents.

[Brubear]

http://www.codecademy.com/ and https://www.khanacademy.org/computin...er-programming are both good free websites to start learning to code. I'm taking a bunch of programming classes right now as part of my degree (Java, HTML, Javascript, Jquery and C++ so far) and those websites certainly helped me get it down. If you're just learning to code then Java or Python are pretty easy to learn languages that'll help you get the logic and structure down enough to learn most any language.

[Blueobelisk]

Pick a language. Python or Lua is where I would start.

Just FYI the apps I make use Lua as their programming language. To be honest for the apps it's more "know the documentation of the software" than "know programming" though and the language is very limiting to be honest.

Also FYI I don't think web design is that great of a thing to focus on lol.

It really depends on what you want to do but I'd advise either Python or Java.

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For your entertainment:

The guy who made C++:



The guy who made Perl:

[Independent voter]

Both Python and Lua have their purposes. WoW mods and addons are written in Lua. Both Python and Lua will teach you the fundamentals of programming, how to loop, conditional statements, variables, some object oriented stuff etc