Message from @Deleted User

Discord ID: 372942803556106242


2017-10-26 02:54:53 UTC  

I taught myself. But those skills that I taught myself are used literally 10X more than anything I learned in school

2017-10-26 02:55:03 UTC  

I probably could have skipped all that college altogether

2017-10-26 02:56:13 UTC  

similarly the CIO where I work barely has a high-school diploma, and one of our mutual friends is a self-made multimillionaire who taught himself some tech stuff and got into the phone-dialer business.

2017-10-26 02:56:28 UTC  

Incidentally I'll be consulting with him to answer @Procella Eques 's question

2017-10-26 02:56:54 UTC  

I've also met people with CS degrees who can't actually solve problems using code

2017-10-26 02:57:31 UTC  

think about programming this way: different languages have different core philosophies and strengths/weaknesses

2017-10-26 02:57:59 UTC  

what I can do in server-side javascript, I can also do with Python, more or less. But some problems will be easier to solve with Python, others with Javascript.

2017-10-26 02:58:16 UTC  

Once you learn a single language, others come much easier

2017-10-26 02:58:34 UTC  

What does it mean to learn a programming language

2017-10-26 02:58:43 UTC  

I started out with PHP, then went to Perl, then C#, then Python and JavaScript

2017-10-26 02:58:45 UTC  

How similar is it to natural language if at all

2017-10-26 02:59:02 UTC  

It means you can solve problems using the grammar and syntax of that language.

2017-10-26 02:59:08 UTC  

"learning" is a constant process

2017-10-26 02:59:18 UTC  

that's the joy of it, but it takes some getting used to

2017-10-26 02:59:40 UTC  

So there's rules like grammar in the way you put commands in and commands are like vocabulary?

2017-10-26 02:59:46 UTC  

yes

2017-10-26 03:00:09 UTC  

Glad I studied linguistics for once

2017-10-26 03:00:22 UTC  

one thing that frustrates many people starting out (including me) is that the computer will do *exactly what you tell it*

2017-10-26 03:00:44 UTC  

you might not understand what you're telling it at first, but it will always faithfully execute your commands as long as your code is valid 😃

2017-10-26 03:01:05 UTC  

don't think of programming as something exotic or big-brain. it's not

2017-10-26 03:01:33 UTC  

at the same time, don't try to learn by diving into the code of some large project. you'll be asking yourself way too many questions to make any progress

2017-10-26 03:01:52 UTC  

here's my recommendation. First, tell yourself you're going to learn. tell yourself you're not going to quit

2017-10-26 03:02:20 UTC  

there are going to be times you'll want to totally give up, because something you think should be simple just doesn't work.

2017-10-26 03:03:14 UTC  

but the effort you expend solving that problem will be valuable in the end because you will learn a lot of tricks and gain a deeper understanding in the process

2017-10-26 03:03:44 UTC  

there's a LOT to learn, but you don't have to know everything or even a lot to start writing useful things

2017-10-26 03:04:01 UTC  

so back to my recommendation. Steel yourself, and then dive in.

2017-10-26 03:04:20 UTC  

Take your time as you're learning. Do a little a day. Make sure you understand everything.

2017-10-26 03:05:01 UTC  

I recommend starting with "How to Think Like a Computer Scientist" or "Python the Hard Way"

2017-10-26 03:05:14 UTC  

either one will get you the same basic knowledge in the end

2017-10-26 03:05:21 UTC  

again, don't rush through it. do the exercises

2017-10-26 03:05:38 UTC  

if you do a chapter a day you'll have the fundamentals within a week

2017-10-26 03:06:03 UTC  

at that point, start thinking of simple problems to solve using code

2017-10-26 03:06:13 UTC  

one problem I tackled very early on is the Monty Hall problem

2017-10-26 03:06:28 UTC  

it's conceptually simple and a good conversation piece

2017-10-26 03:07:52 UTC  

Once you get through one of those books, you'll have a much greater understanding of programming fundamentals. You'll have the foundation in place to tackle something more specific.

2017-10-26 03:08:16 UTC  

Get back to me once you've done that and we can talk some more. AMA along the way.

2017-10-26 03:08:37 UTC  

Gonna knock out an FtN article before bed 😃

2017-10-26 03:10:59 UTC  

Hmmm. "Learn Python the Hard Way" used to be free