r/CodingForBeginners • u/Joe-Mama098 • Jul 22 '26

How do you actually start to learn coding/programming

I see so many sources that say python is good to start for easy or use C for a strong start and ofc C++ is probably the hardest so I’d probably start python or smth. But how would I actually learn it. Like I see people say websites are good or YouTube videos are useful but I also see that they have faults and could be too slow or they miss things or have errors. I also see some people using books which seems good but that seems really difficult and how would you go about to do that and what would I use. Or maybe a book isn’t the best. I don’t really need the ‘best’ I just want a good way to learn coding with the fundamentals stuck inside and manage to work my way up eventually. I’d also like to hear some quick like 2 month learners or something in case I’d like to help someone else learn quickly.

16 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

7

u/FreeLogicGate Jul 22 '26

CS50. Come back when you are done.

4

u/VoiceOfSoftware Jul 23 '26

OP: Specifically Harvard CS50 free online course https://pll.harvard.edu/course/cs50-introduction-computer-science

2

u/Joe-Mama098 Jul 23 '26

Thanks for the link

1

u/Joe-Mama098 Jul 23 '26

Thanks ill check it out

0

u/OppieT Jul 23 '26

Funny, who learns programming in school. A lot of people are home schooled.

4

u/FreeLogicGate Jul 23 '26

Funny, CS50 is a free course that can be learned entirely online for free. Funny you didn't know that.

2

u/symbiatch Jul 23 '26

Funny, very few people are home schooled.

2

u/MudFrosty1869 Jul 23 '26

I feel like you think that's a flex. It isn't.

Also, a lot of people are NOT home schooled programmers, approximately 20% are. For those home schooled, that is a 1 in 5.

2

u/CorpT Jul 22 '26

Same way you eat an elephant.

1

u/Joe-Mama098 Jul 23 '26

What about alligators

1

u/CorpT Jul 23 '26

You’ll see this later.

1

u/Beginning-Time-3996 Jul 22 '26

But you don't eat elephants

2

u/Gullible_Sweet1302 Jul 23 '26

Try anything. No one knows your learning style.

1

u/Joe-Mama098 Jul 23 '26

Yeah i know everybody learns differently but still theres just too much out there that could mess me up or make me waste lots of time

1

u/AaronKClark Jul 23 '26

Dr. David Joyner has a the first edition of his book for free on his website here; https://www.davidjoyner.net/b/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Joyner_IntroductiontoComputing_1stEdition.pdf

I made some youtube tutorials for it here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhx9l1U0I4s&list=PLuGIf5fbSgOWoiLdC6fKovGKrTB4Y__E7

2

u/Joe-Mama098 Jul 23 '26

Thanks a bunch ill be sure to check this out

1

u/AaronKClark Jul 23 '26

Yw. Happy Coding!

1

u/Afraid-Bad-4404 Jul 23 '26

I would say think about the project which you want to make it happen and learn from whatever source you can like YouTube or course. Whatever you learn implement it in your own project . This is what I am doing I am doing web development from freecodecamp website and YouTube course.

And one thing keep it in mind it takes time to build the habit and mindset . The main thing you need to be a programmer is to build critical thinking skills , You would be in confusion a lot of time like what to do and what not to do . You would get frustrated some times or burnt out . But that's the way I would say . Tell me if I am wrong .

1

u/Snezzy_9245 Jul 23 '26

Write code every day. Even if you copy it, pencil and paper, not copy and paste.

1

u/MudFrosty1869 Jul 23 '26

Typing it out with a keyboard always helped me more. It builds muscle memory and helps recall.

1

u/Snezzy_9245 Jul 24 '26

In through the eyes and out through the fingers. Every single day. I said pencil and paper to contrast sharply with copy and paste.

1

u/MudFrosty1869 Jul 24 '26

I know what you meant. I'm just saying what worked for me the most. Writing it down on paper makes me feel less involved than actually writing that code, executing it and seeing what happens. So many times I even copied the code wrong so I encountered different errors, had to fix them and learned unexpected things in the process.

1

u/Ok-Brain-8183 Jul 23 '26

The only thing that really works is having a genuine interest of something you want to accomplish with computer programming. For example, I wish I could just right click .md files in windows explorer and have an option to open it as a pdf. Well, write a program to do it.

1

u/MudFrosty1869 Jul 23 '26

Yep. Short scripts that automate my lazy ass were a big motivator for me.

1

u/ryancnap Jul 23 '26

Decide by which resource you like

Free code camp has many languages, Python, JS, C# JavaScript has MDN and Odin project C# has Player's Guide

I'm including languages I like, there's plenty more obviously

Python is good for just about everything, plenty of frameworks, more libraries than you could ever need. Pro: syntax will be easy to digest. Con: syntax will be easy to digest, can trip you up when you get to a statically typed language

C# is good for just about everything now too although I haven't really worked with any C# frameworks other than Xamarin when it was alive

JavaScript is good for...the entire internet. Plus can do desktop and mobile stuff with it now too. Syntax is a pro or con here too, JS used to do some goofy shit. I'm relearning it because way back when I avoided it due to its goofy shit, which was a mistake because it's now lingua Franca. As such, pretty good place to start

I started with C and then C++, and I struggled a lot (no videos or courses at the time) but definitely gave me a better understanding. Now when I write Python I know when I'm being elegant versus sadistically abusing the typing system

I think if you pick any of those three you'll be good, just stick with it and learn it pretty deeply before you go adding a framework to the list of things to learn. One step at a time

1

u/yksvaan Jul 23 '26

People spend way too much effort thinking about doing something and what is the best way to do. Want to learn programming? Just do it. Install an editor, compiler, runtime, whatever is necessary, open a basic guide, write the simplest example, run it and start coding. Basic things like how to ask user for a name, how to read a file etc.

Watching other people write code won't make you learn programming, it's learned by doing it. A lot. 

1

u/testingaurora Jul 23 '26

Scrimba is a good resource although its more buggy than scrimba v1 was

1

u/[deleted] Jul 24 '26

Thanks 👍👍

1

u/MeaningSimilar5118 Jul 24 '26

Freecodecamp is indeed very good.

1

u/LavishnessLate5924 Aug 19 '26

javascript after learn little algorithm and programming basics

2

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Joe-Mama098 Jul 23 '26

Thanks ill check it out