Introduction
The hardest part about learning programming (or anything) is trying to decide where to start. Even after you decide, there is a lot of luck involved. If your first introduction into a new subject is something you can connect with, it’s much more likely you’ll have fun and continue learning.
Of course, since you’re coming into that subject without too much prior knowledge, being able to choose something you’ll connect with on the first try is really, really hard. It usually just comes down to chance.
I struggled at first to learn programming. I don’t have a college degree. I was in my mid-20s when I started programming. I was working what felt like all the time, trying to figure out life and work and everything else. After reading book after book after book I usually ended the day frustrated, and not sure if I had learned anything worthwhile.
Sometimes I wasn’t even sure I read anything that had understood.
Most technical books assume that you understand jargon that isn’t used outside of the field or programming. They also often teach by explaining ideas, and asking you to build something. Rather than just letting you build while learning.
Many people must learn well according to the ‘explain and test’ model, otherwise, why would so many publishing companies use it? I did not, and I know many others that don’t either. This collection of tutorials will be geared towards people who want to build something as they go. You won’t be expected to come into this tutorial with any prior knowledge of technical jargon or computing ideas. We’ll start from scratch, one self-taught programmer to another.
Hopefully you will find as much joy programming as I have. I have turned that knowledge, I hope, into a force for good in the world. I work as a community organizer and in disaster relief. I have helped start a free school in Brooklyn, worked in disaster relief in my adopted home in NYC and as far away as the Philippines and I’m helping organize data for all of the domestic shelters in the country.
Hopefully, you can learn enough to find a niche of your own. Please leave comments with ideas for how to improve this tutorial. I would love feedback.
