How to start learning programming?

Hi Sythe,

Seems like there is a large amount of programmers/coders on Sythe. I was wondering whether anyone has any tips on how to start from a non computing background?

It's something I want to do for fun but if it becomes a genuine interest I'd love to explore working in the industry as I've heard many good things about not requiring a degree. I have been told python is the best to begin with, but open to all.

I would also really appreciate anyone sharing insights on what I would need to know to be considered fluent?

 

I personally learned python in my later years and had a hard time adjusting to their syntax but it's great for beginners. You can literally spit out a program in a couple of minutes because of how many libraries are available.

The first step would be to follow along with tutorials and really learn what each line of code does instead of mindlessly following along the tutorial. Learn the basics: classes, functions, ifs, for loops etc. People think you need to know a lot of mathematics and algorithms but its simply not the case (in some cases yes). after learning the basics, try to make some simple apps yourself without following tutorials. When you make the app, make sure to put it on github and ask people for a code review. It really helps.

For example, the reason why I learned python (im a c++ guy) is because I wanted to automate some daily life tasks like managing invoices and sending out emails. So I created an app that does it for me with python.

 

Thank you for your response! Do you think paying for a program like codecademy is worth it?

 

It really depends on your study style at that point. I've never used codeacademy but I assume it provides courses. I've used Udemy before and it's great but not for all people. Some people like following structured courses and can self-motivate to finish them. It depends if you have the motivation to do it.

 

I mean that's fair, thank you for your help

 

I personally took a course on Udemy, there are different instructors on there and it's the best one that I was suggested to go to by my friend who is a CS Major. He is a firm believer in not needing college education so maybe you can look down that path? There are lots of other options if that doesn't suit you best

 

I have actually heard a lot about Udemy so glad that it's actually good!! Yeah I've heard that from friends as well. It's a hobby for now and if it happens it happens

 

I started with a botting platform that offered a plain english script editor that allowed me to create scripts without having to know how to program, with this platform I ended up creating a tutorial island -> zulrah ready account script which helped a lot with the line of thinking/problem solving that I would require when moving into proper development.

After about 7 months of using this platform, they implemented a Javascript engine which I dove into at a surface level for another 6 months, learning the absolute basics classes, methods, booleans, for loops, etc. In this time I also made a simple runelite plugin that allowed me to utilize other plugin providers webwalkers within the other script editor. My main aid to do both of these was utilizing AI.

Around the new year, I decided to take my use of the JS editor to the next level by creating a api to fill in the gaps that the JS engine did not natively support. This took about 3 months to complete, but once completed I moved completely away from using the plain english editor. Half way through this process I had learned enough where I no longer had to utilize AI as training wheels.

A friend then created me a TypeScript build system to introduce me into a proper developers environment/work flow. I also took this opportunity to start completely re-writing my api from JS to TS, taking the lessons learned from API 1.0 and create a 2nd api that was much cleaner/better structured and more efficient.

A month into that re-write, I decided to move from this platform over to developing my own runelite plugins and working in Java. I started re-writing a 3rd time which took 4 months to produce an api & a plugin package which brings me to where I am now.

At this point, I don't by any means consider myself a experienced developer, but I feel I have a strong enough baseline where I can produce quality runelite plugins, comfortably hop between languages I have no experience with, and whenever I need to learn a new skill/get stuck on something I know what to google to figure it out on my own. By working in a runescape context this entire time, and being able to see the results of my efforts in-game I think this contributed heavily to the motivation of wanting to learn & not getting burnt out doing x programming course online.