{"id":2570,"date":"2012-09-09T11:58:12","date_gmt":"2012-09-09T18:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/?p=2570"},"modified":"2018-04-03T08:44:22","modified_gmt":"2018-04-03T15:44:22","slug":"learn-to-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2012\/09\/09\/learn-to-program\/","title":{"rendered":"The Beginner’s Guide to Learning to Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the most frequent questions I get asked in emails is what\u2019s the best way to learn how to program. In the past I\u2019ve shied away from this question, since the internet is populated by much better programmers than myself.<\/p>\n

However, while there are many guides to learning a specific programming languages or tool, I\u2019ve seen relatively few dealing with managing the learning process itself. After writing code for ten years and learning over a dozen of languages to various levels of sophistication, I\u2019ve seen it\u2019s this process that matters more than anything else.<\/p>\n

Even if you\u2019re not interested in programming, I think it forms an interesting case study for learning any technical skill, so much of what I\u2019ll say will be applicable to non-programmers as well.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also hoping there\u2019s a chance I can convince a few people to give coding a try. It\u2019s an incredibly fun hobby, and the fact that many people do it for a living shouldn\u2019t detract from that.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Be Afraid of Syntax<\/h2>\n

A major reason many people are scared off from trying to learn to code is well\u2026 all that code. Like reading a paragraph in a foreign language, you can sometimes make out a few words, but the rest looks like gibberish. How can someone possibly read and understand it?<\/p>\n

Luckily syntax is the easy part! Although each language has its own quirks, the basic concepts of computer programming don\u2019t change much from language to language, so syntax is merely a shorthand for those basic ideas.<\/p>\n

As an example, a common idea in programming is a loop. The idea is that you want to repeat some section of instructions until some stopping criteria is reached. Once you understand the basic idea of a loop, figuring out how to do it in your language of choice is as simple as googling, \u201cHow do I use a loop in…\u201d and you\u2019ll get thousands of examples.<\/p>\n

Loops are a very simple idea, but this applies for less common and more difficult programming techniques as well. When I had to learn C++ to build a graphics ray-tracing<\/a> program, I wanted to create multiple shading routines separate from the rendering, so I quickly googled, \u201cC++ function pointers\u201d and got the exact syntax.<\/p>\n

Syntax, just like mathematical symbols and formulas, are often the reason people without a self-professed love of nerdy things avoid learning the subject. But once you realize this is simply a short-hand for other concepts, it is easy to figure out what the syntax is if you know the concept.<\/p>\n

Start with a Tutorial Book<\/h2>\n

The best place to start is always with a careful walkthrough. For programming, I like O’Reilly<\/a><\/strong>\"\" as a guide whenever learning a new language. Generally the assumed programming skill prior to starting is low, so they are a great start.<\/p>\n

Walking through examples avoids a lot of frustration because you can type the syntax out exactly and avoid causing unintentional bugs. Getting anything working in the beginning can give you the confidence to continue forward with projects of your own design.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re learning your first language, you may want to take an intro class on programming which can teach the basic concepts. Semantics are more important than syntax, so understanding the basic ideas is essential, while memorizing the exact spelling of a command usually isn\u2019t (if you\u2019re wrong, you\u2019ll get an error and a quick Google search will inform you of your mistake).<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s some free courses which cover the basics:<\/p>\n