Im 19 and for years my mother has been telling me to use codecademy but most of its locked behind a paywall. Have any of you used this site, what are your thoughts on it? Are there better totally free alternatives that walk you thru everything?
Someday i want to make games or something like that but im unsure what programming language to choose. I like the look of lua but im not sure if i should go with it or what projects to learn from? Everyone here tells me if i i choose to go with gamedev someday, to pick up godot but i feel im not ready to make games and that i need to start learning the basics.
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Hi there, nice to meet you. I’m 14 and i’ve used codecademy to learn HTML, CSS, JavaScript and ReactJS. It was a really good experience for me, although i did not pay anything. The most interesting stuff are paid unfurtunatley.
If you want to make games then you may check Unity, wich uses C#, or Godot, wich uses GDScript (Similar to Python and lua)
As someone who makes indie games professionally, I taught myself how to program by making video games. Maybe it’s just my adhd, but I have a difficult time with organized learning, but I pick things up really quickly by doing. I wouldn’t get too caught up in the “I need to learn it the right way before I make games” part, since the making games part is exactly what kept programming interesting and engaging enough to prevent me from getting bored.
Second I also wouldn’t get too locked up trying to decide which programming language to use. Modern programming languages are all conceptually pretty similar. It’s really only minor syntax differences. Learning a new programming language is mostly just a matter of “how do I write a for loop in this language again?” It doesn’t take too long to adapt.
I use Unity and C# right now, and I’m in the middle of learning Godot to make the switch. I would generally agree with what other people have said. C# is a pretty good language to start with. Just low level enough to make sure you learn fundamentals without being so low level that you have to fiddle with memory addresses and pointers like c/c++.
As for codecademy, I tried it when I was first starting out like 10 years ago, so I can’t vouch for it now, but it seemed to very much be “Learn how to type code” and not “learn how to actually program.” Just explaining how to write if statements and for loops isn’t really teaching programming. I still don’t think there’s really a good universal way to teach it, even after taking programming classes in college. Everyone sort of picks it up differently, at different paces, and enjoys different parts of it, so I still think picking a project you think sounds cool and finding and following along with YouTube tutorials and just trying stuff out until it works is a pretty good way to get started. You can always take the time to read a book or take a course after you’ve determined if programming is even something you’re vaguely interested in.
Please consider instead:
- Fullstackopen
- Hyperskill
- Envato Tuts+
- Zenva Academy
- Hexlet
- Coddy
- Tutorialzine
- freeCodeCamp
I’ve had more luck with people using freecodecamp. It gives you goals to build. But just learning your first real language will help either way. GL!
- There are many courses that are free – the only payment is at the end if you want a certificate.
- Lua is as good as any other language to start with. Python, Ruby are also popular starting languages. If you’re going to continue to program, then you’ll probably change languages several times in your career. What’s important is to learn the generic concepts of programming, such as input/output, looping, functions; once you are familiar with concepts, changing languages isn’t a big deal. Start anywhere and build from there.
If you want to start with understanding the fundamentals, this may be a good place start: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/1-124j-foundations-of-software-engineering-fall-2000/
Don’t fixate on what language to learn. I would find a teaching resource that works for you and follow whatever it is telling you to use. Once you have a specific project in mind is an appropriate time to worry about which language to use.
A lot of others are commenting some great stuff. I would like to add, knowing how to program is less about knowing the specific syntax of different commands, and is more about knowing how to work with functional groups and logical paths. Once you get that down, moving to another language then becomes learning the syntax and quirks of the new language.
So, any language is a good starting point, a lot of the skills you learn from it will be applicable to lots of others.
personally, I started with Basic, then C by way of microcontroller and robotics programming.
I’ve used it in the past, it’s great.
Generally you get what you pay for. A paid course will have a proper progression and structure and while you can find the same into on YouTube it’ll be scattered and disjointed, making it kinda aimless.
