Noob in Coding and Programming

Hi Campers,

My name is Steve, I’m 37, and I decided to finally start learning how to be a progammer and start learning code last week. I was browsing through YouTube and came accross a guy named Qazi with Clever Programmer. So I went there first and started learning Python. Yesterday was when I seen a video from Engineered Truth promoting freeCodeCamp and decided to check it out. It seems much less confusing than Python but I’ve been reading that Python is becoming more popular. So now I’m at a crossroads, so to speak. Do I keep learning Python and come back to this or vice versa?

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the Quince, who started this whole thang, has many articles on the merits of learning in javascript… one of which I’ve linked here

but ultimately, it’s up to you how you want to proceed. Some people find python easy to learn. Javascript has the advantage that you can just code in your browser… some people say playing around in scratch is an easy way to figure out the concepts…

But really, learning one language well is the way to go… and you are in the right place… this forum has toooons of good info and links

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There are a lot of differences between programming languages, but let’s boil it down to functionality and syntax. Syntax is the way you write on that language (in Python you don’t have brackets, in Javascript you do, for example).
Functionality is what that language offers the programmer to work with, many languages will have a different set of advantages and disadvantages to it.

What i’m getting at is that you won’t learn any programming language when you begin to learn programming. Programming is a subject in itself, when you learn programming the language you use is just a means to an end, at the end you will know basic programming and the basic syntax of whatever language you used, but you won’t know the language, where this language shines and where it’s best not to use it. For example, i learned programming with C, i can certainly make programs in C, but i would never apply for a job saying that i know C, because i just know C syntax and basic principles. Any programmer ends up picking up on the syntax of a LOT of languages, but that doesn’t really mean he knows the language, just the syntax.
It’s just like a game, you can know the rules but that doesn’t make you a professional player until you practice a lot.

So don’t worry, you can learn programming in Python, Scheme, Rust, C, C++, Javascript, it doesn’t make a difference, dude. Because the important thing is to learn the very basic principles of what programming is and how you can use it, when you’re done with that, then you can worry about languages.

Also, i would recommend you the CS50 course before Freecodecamp, it’s a free online course from harvard, it’s much more structured than FCC, specially for beginners. After that you will be much more ready for FCC.

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Some programming fundamental are universal, languages have different quirks and features, but the fundamentals are all the same. It all really comes down to solving problems with loops, conditions, functions, and variables, you build up complexity by using those things in different ways.

To me, Python is probably the most natural languages to reach for when I do algorithm challenges on sites like Hackerrank, for some reason the syntax just clicks for me. I know the data-structure and their helper functions, and going from pseudo-code to actual code is a quick process.

However, to make something tangible, I’ve always use JavaScript, because there are just so many tools available in JavaScript.

I am by no means masters of either, since I’ve pretty much always code with a tablet on the side open to the reference and documentations, but I know what I need to look up to help me solve the problem.

If you’re just coming into coding, then pick whichever language makes the most sense to you, because what you want to learn isn’t really the language, it’s how to program. You can go over those basics in any language.

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Hi Steve,
There’s a place and need for Python and Javascript. I would check in your area what employers are looking for more, then go from there. Javascript is considered the “language of the web”. As others have said programming fundamentals apply to both languages but the syntax and tools are different. Once you understand the fundamentals then it’s not as hard to learn the syntax for each.

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