This is fucking dumb. People learning how to code don’t know how to start. They don’t know what to start writing or where to start on it. This is akin to telling a depressed person “just don’t be sad”.
Exactly. If you know nothing about a topic, you don’t even know, what exactly to google, except “how to make computer do stuff”.
The initial hurdle of incompetence can be extremely frustrating and almost impossible to climb, if you don’t have guidance.
The initial hurdle of incompetence can be extremely frustrating and almost impossible to climb, if you don’t have guidance.
Can confirm. 15 years in industry, still incompetent.
If you want to learn how to code, can’t you just google “coding tutorial for beginners” or something similar? Probably you would need to pick a language, but that would similarly be solved with “recommended coding language for beginners”. Then it’s very easy to find a resource that starts with hello world and gradually introduces new things. And I’m sure if it moved beyond a browser toolbox, a guide for setting up whatever IDE would be included.
Learning to code is by no means easy, but it’s possibly the best type of thing to learn when it comes to having a wealth of free, easily discoverable guides. The main obstacle is choosing to put in the time, and this comic removes that obstacle by forcing them to not put it off.
No because most tutorials will start from “write print(“Hello World”)” and the like without mentioning compiling or where to write it or with what…
I didn’t really get into coding until someone guided me through the basics of python, which is an easy language that doesn’t even require compiling. One of the reasons was precisely not knowing where to start.
It’s gotten a lot better in recent years tbf in terms of those kinds of resources. Beginner recommended languages like Python are still a pain because it’s super easy for a beginner to bork how they set it up, but on the whole there’s plenty of online code sandboxes and other ways to get started.
Your point is definitely valid though. Why on earth would we want someone who’s just showing an interest in programming to write their own compiler??? Wtf? If someone wants to get into baking you don’t send them out into the fields for 6 months to grow some wheat.
When I was a kid I mucked around with html and css to make some GeoCities sites. I decided I wanted to learn how to code so I got a book from the library called “how to code games for beginners” or something. The thing never told you how to set up an IDE or compile the game. So I was just frustratingly typing out the code examples into notepad without a clue as to what to do. I think this was during the dialup era so it wasn’t like there was a wealth of info online.
I ended up abandoning programming for quite a few years. It just seemed like nonsense because writing graphics libs for C in notepad does feel like nonsense to a child. I wonder what life would be like if I had some better resources at that moment in time and decided you continue pursuing it.
My best motivator is having an issue and a need to solve it (e.g. room is cold after work but I’d like it warm -> automation or “I hate how netflix is taking away my movies” -> Media library). This resulted in me getting a smart home thermostat and jellyfin.
We learned to do it in the 90’s before search engines existed. Could always get a book…
Not everyone learns in the same way. If someone learns better by asking others for guidance and you tell them to just read a book I hope they spank your arse with that brick of paper smh.
Learn to learn, then. People can’t just magically hand you knowledge.
Seriously? A mouse for coding?
If anyone genuinely feels this way and wants to get started in coding, I highly recommend doing one of the mooc.fi courses. Codecademy is fine as a taster/refresh but don’t waste money on the premium when something like mooc is available for free.
Nah, ditch the mouse. Give them a machine with Arch, BSPWM, and Vim.
I just use homemade integrated circuits on a huge self-built circuit board, myself. I guess some of you need a lot of hand holding.
And you have bootstrapped an B compiler on that?
Alright, smart guys. I know how to code. How do I make these variables into a an app?
Honestly I’ve been trying to learn coding for a while, and there’s a huge chasm between knowing a language and doing something with it that I can’t go over. I want to make an app to create ttrpg character sheets… Alright how do I make my code into something with an UI? How do I turn it into an executable? How do I turn these lines into SOMETHING?
this is where branches of coding splitoff, as learning the fundamentals of coding doesn’t stop there, its a field where you have to pick up new skills on the go because not everyone needs it.
some people never touch apps because they might work backend or engineering, some people might not touh databases because they arent the ones dealing with CSV files. some people never touch web development (because its not engineering in some jurisdictions /s)
If i have to make a crude comparison, think of it like driving. basic driving knowlege is knowing how to drive a car. Knowing how to drive a car doesnt imply they know how to drive a boat, formula vehicle, big truck, forklift and such, so you need to go into further training for those, but you never should expect someone to cover all usecases.
This has always been my issue with programming. I can visualize how to build a chair, I know what I need to build it and I know what it needs to do. I know how screws work, and I understand when glue is applied.
But with programming it’s like i know what the word wood is and I know what the word fabric is, but I haven’t the slightest idea how I use any of it to make anything useful. I can’t even start to build a plan because I don’t even know what’s needed for any specific thing.
At least you have an example of what you want to make, I don’t even know what I want to make so it makes “figure it out” even harder lol
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Turning into an executable is compiling as far as C goes. For Python, there probably is something somewhere to wrap a script into a .exe.
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For the UI: what matters is the data you generate, not the fluff around it. As the other commenter said, start with a CLI program. You can easily nest several levels of menus if that’s your thing. This allows you to have user input. Then for outputs you can do it to a .txt or .md file. Use simple text-based formats. Then once you’ve got that down you could build a GUI? But tbh I have never built a GUI and I’ve been programming for 10 years at this point so I can’t help you out. There are simple cross-platform libraries you can use out there
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