You may not be the next Mark Zuckerberg, but with a little online help, you can get close. As early as a decade ago, it was a task in itself to gather resources and sharpen our programming skills. But now, with the plethora of websites dedicated to programming, it’s been made much easier. Thank you, Internet.
Of course, there’s still a bit of struggle looking for quality content. You have to filter through garbage and find what suits you best. Fortunately, Yaabot is happy to be doing that for you. Here’s a list of 5 quality websites that can get you up to speed on your programming skills.
#1 – The New Boston
- Video Tutorials
- C, C++, HTML, Javascript. Practically every language you could think of.
- Difficulty: Easy.
The New Boston is an organizational learning site. If you are interested in mainstream programming, like C, C++, along with web technologies like HTML and Javascript, then this site is probably your thing. It offers video tutorials on various topics like Python, computer game development, iPhone development, Photoshop and so on. Each topic is covered by around fifty to hundred easy-to-understand videos lasting for seven to fifteen minutes each. Tremendous amount of content here.
URL : http://www.thenewboston.org
#2 – Codecademy
- Hands-on Exercises
- Web technologies – HTML, Javascript, CSS, Python, Ruby, PHP.
- No C, C++, Java.
- Difficulty: Easy
If you are a beginner and want to start with the basics of web technologies, Codecademy is the site for you. Codecademy offers easy -to-understand tutorials which you can schedule according to your liking. The course is divided into segments. After completion of each segment, the site provides you with a “badge” thereby giving you a regular update of your progress. There are hands-on exercises as well. Additionally, it warns you about the errors in your program. And of course, all of it is free! Check it out here
URL: http://www.codecademy.com
#3 – Python Programming by Guru99
- Created by a Google veteran.
- 7 Day Course
- Difficulty: Moderate.
Guru99’s Python tutorials took 160+ hours to create and contain beautifully annotated screenshots, and comprehensive coverage of all basic concepts, including – Python Basics like Introduction, Environment setup and Install Guide. It also introduces Main Function, Variables, Strings, Tuple, Conditional Statements, OOP Concepts, and Loop. They also touch on advanced topics like Regex Tutorial, OS Module, Shell Script Commands, and XML Parser.
URL: https://www.guru99.com/python-tutorials.html
#4 – Wibit.net
- Ebooks
- No video, no hands-on.
- C, C++, C#, Java
- Difficulty: Moderate.
Wibit.net believes in starting from scratch and is therefore apt for beginners. It starts with giving you a brief history about what you are going to learn, followed by basic concepts behind the programming segment one is going to deal with and then finally helps you strengthen your coding skills. Optimized for Android phones as well as iOS devices, the site has its ebooks available on both the Play Store and App Store. For a price, though.
URL: http://www.wibit.net
#5 – LearnStreet
- Hands-on exercises
- No Videos
- JavaScript, Python, Ruby.
- No C, C++, Java.
- Difficulty: Easy.
Even if you are noob to programming and do not have any prior knowledge about it, this website helps you learn and practice programming in a very interactive and easy manner. It offers you courses in JavaScript, Python and Ruby. An added bonus for users is the lack of a need for the compiler. Users can type in their code and see the output in the browser itself. Additionally, it gives you an opportunity to practice what you have learnt through various projects that the site offers.
1 Comment
Codecademy is complete and utter garbage for being able to learn anything. it is far from easy to learn because the tutorials are written by people who know nothing about how to write instructions.
The tutorials (Aka TRACKS) are written in such an overly obnoxious cryptic manner, that you wind up spending more time trying to decrypt what you’re being asked to do that the focus of the lesson shifts from, the lesson, to trying to figure out what you’re supposed to be doing. The other part of this problem is that people actually use the excuse that, the tracks are written like that to help you learn. But then again people are idiots.
The other reason the tracks are pointless is because they have so many contradictions in their lessons it’s not even funny. For starters the lessons tell you things about what you’re doing, that even when you apply what the lesson said to a review, the review tells you that what you did is wrong.
The forum on that site is filled with way too questions that should not even be being asked. You’re also told to use other resources to help you, however that is another problem in itself.
Here is an example of why using another resource for what you’re working on is a horrible idea and should not ever be suggested unless what you’re working on is directly connected. and I don’t me connected as in it’s the same type of thing, I mean directly connected as if the lesson you’re currently doing is continued on where you’re told to go.
So here is what I ran into with outside resources.
I was working on the Ruby for beginners lessons, and I came to something that had mentioned to use an !, and it was also not the first time the Ruby tracks I was working on had had me use an ! .
Now when i had a problem with something, someone mentioned try going to (Insert source) to get some perspective. Now at first people don’t see what the problem is, however the resource I went to, while looking for the information about what I was currently working on, I came across information that said any time you see a ! in a script that means it will change the script forever and it basically said not to touch anything that had a ! in a script because it can mess up a program. So in other words it’s warning you that an ! is for that specific reason and it shouldn’t be messed with.
So now having that information, and never finding what i was looking for to help me, I go back to the ruby Tracks I’m working on, and i come to a lesson that starts telling me to use ! in the answer but it has a completely different use and doesn’t even mention the information I found in the other resources. Anf then further on in a nother track I find the lesson asking me to use an ! again but it now has an a completely different reason and use for it.
So as you can see anyone that tells you to go look up something somewhere else, to something you’re not directly working on and that isn’t directly linked, is an extremely bad idea and causes more problems than there already are.
I’ve gone through as much of the tutorials/tracks that i can but instead of learning I’m met with aggravation and incorrect grammar in tutorials that aren’t written correctly or clear, and the people are hiding behind the excuse of that’s how you learn, all to justify the poorly written tutorials that are literally way too difficult to decrypt.
Overall I give codecademy a 1 out of 10 because I’m not really learning anything and I really don’t see the point they serve. If a siete is going to say you can learn this easy, then it needs to be this way because it’s a false label.