Best way to learn a progrmaming language ?

[LittleChild]

Hey devbest... I know this might be in the wrong section... please move to right if its wrong section.
So devbest I have a debate, What is the best way to learn to program, Please note this is not a way for me to learn, I just wanna know what you think is the best way to learn a programming lanaguage.
Do you think a person should:
Look up tutorials online, and ask for help.
Just get there hands dirty, and do not ask for help, as it may result in you expecting to get spoonfed.
Do both
So what do you think ?

 

[Khalil]

Trial and error. Do it, fail, research and fix. Good luck.

 

[Kaz]

Trial and error. Do it, fail, research and fix. Good luck.

What this guy said.
Download a couple of scripts, have a play with the source, see how it works etc... (maybe try putting 2 scripts together eg. register/login script with an account management script and learn how to tie things to specific users etc..)
Build on that code, maybe add an additional function or change the way an existing one works.
Add more to that, or even attempt at starting a new project using the previous source as a guide (code in your own style)

 

[TrueJewix]

@Kaz, Yeah that might be hard if you can't remember any codes!
Any suggestions on how to remember codes? (PHP)

 

[Kaz]

@Kaz, Yeah that might be hard if you can't remember any codes!
Any suggestions on how to remember codes? (PHP)

Whats that got to do with anything?
You start off by using existing scripts, merge the 2 together by using existing code (the code is there so you don't need to remember if that's what you are implying?)
As you gain experience and learn more, you remember code. How this links with that etc...
It's like learning another language, if you speak English and German, you need to remember the language which is not your first choice. Programming is just the same, it's another language but not one you speak

 

[Cancer]

Use some programs to help you,
Code academy if it helps and always use default help websites if you are stuck.
Most of the time if you are stuck you can find it on google.

 

[Weasel]

Trial and error. Do it, fail, research and fix. Good luck.

Exactly this. Take a simple script, check out what does what. For example PHP, look up the function on php.net and see what it does. Have a play with it, change the way it behaves to your liking, and try it out. Don't give up if it doesn't work out - try again.

Another very good method of learning the basics of some languages, is

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. It walks you through the very basics of the code, helping you understand what everything is through letting you make excersizes. You can't continue if the code is wrong - and tells you what's wrong so you can correct it.

 

[Cancer]

Exactly this. Take a simple script, check out what does what. For example PHP, look up the function on php.net and see what it does. Have a play with it, change the way it behaves to your liking, and try it out. Don't give up if it doesn't work out - try again.

Another very good method of learning the basics of some languages, is

You must be registered for see links

. It walks you through the very basics of the code, helping you understand what everything is through letting you make excersizes. You can't continue if the code is wrong - and tells you what's wrong so you can correct it.

Exactly give this man a beer!

 

[TrueJewix]

@Kaz, no what I'm saying is... .. . in other words. It's very complicated to starting coding from scratch without remembering any code.

 

[RastaLulz]

@Kaz, no what I'm saying is... .. . in other words. It's very complicated to starting coding from scratch without remembering any code.

What do you mean by "remembering code"? Do you mean things like functions and the like that are built into the language? If so, you aren't expected to remember every function and how to use it, and you should refer to documentation. If you mean others code, well then you're doing it wrong; you should be learning how that code works at a fundamental level, so that you can understand how to do it in the future, as opposed to having a "copy and paste" mentality.

 

[BIOS]

@Kaz, no what I'm saying is... .. . in other words. It's very complicated to starting coding from scratch without remembering any code.

That's why you take examples of code that other people have written and experiment with it to try and make it do something else that it originally didn't.

If by "remembering" the code you mean the actual functions of the programming language then some of them have slight hints, e.g. in PHP you might see foreach(){do something} as for each of the (red apples){do something}.

 

[Examed]

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[Gxnge]

The best way to learn anything is dependant on your learning style. If you are a kinesthetic learner (touching, exploring etc.) Then you are best off doing something like w3schools or codeacademy where you can trial and error until you get what you're looking for. If you are a visual learner you may find it easier to learn by watching video tutorials or just watching somebody else doing it and picking it up as you go along. For an audio learner, you would be better off listening to somebody explaining whatever it is you're learning. If you're unaware of what your learning style is you can find out online by doing quizzes and stuff. But ever since I found out my learning style I've found it a lot easier to learn things as I know how to teach them to myself.

 

[caution3]

JavaScript is easy but try a Visual Platform such as scratch or neobook then when you get used to how a workspace works TouchDevelop And start at intermediate then expert. Then go to JavaScript. Search up JS tutorials. But if you want a specific language such C# or PHP. Then do PHP Tutorials Or C# Tutorials.

But then again this information is from someone that only know small basic and the tiniest bit of PHP, HTML And JS.
 

JavaScript is easy but try a Visual Platform such as scratch or neobook then when you get used to how a workspace works TouchDevelop And start at intermediate then expert. Then go to JavaScript. Search up JS tutorials. But if you want a specific language such C# or PHP. Then do PHP Tutorials Or C# Tutorials.

But then again this information is from someone that only know small basic and the tiniest bit of PHP, HTML And JS.

How I started with PhP was starting a habbo retro. The scripts are there and you just edit them. NotePad++ can write just about every coding language. And an extra is, you can make your own coding language out of another built language.

 

[DevAaron]

The best way to learn is by looking at something and just editing it and learning the code of it...

 

[Lost]

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[Ethereal]

I use:

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to help me with many aspects of Python (getting acquainted with certain modules etc). A guy on there gave me an explanation of how to use SQLite3 effectively, and with a little bit of tinkering I had sufficiently integrated it into my program. Good stuff.

I'd emphasize on the tinkering method (what @Khalil mentioned), as it allows for greater understanding and remembrance of what you've accomplished. I also read about it in
Getting Started with Arduino, by

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. Friggin' good book, yo.

 

[LeChris]

I started with tinkering, and as you progress you'll remember the code. A lot of it also is just a play with words, ie the isset function in PHP, if you take it apart (is set), so it helps when you're coding to kind of say the functions allowed or in your mind, (Is variable a set), so on. Aha, but that's just me. Honestly, play with some small scripts, and don't expect to learn too fast.

 

[Virgin]

Just make it, by using your biggest friend Google.

 

[Markshall]

There's no right answer to this, how can there be a 'best' way to learn anything, let alone a programming language? Everyone learns in different ways.

Many people learn from seeing stuff or being told what/how to do something. Personally, I learn better by actually doing it (kinaesthetic learning I think the correct term is).

I used to use Piczo probably about a decade ago to be honest (I'm 21 now and using Piczo at age 11 onwards seems about right), and if you don't know what Piczo was (it's now shut down), it was a drag-and-drop website builder but you could also implement JavaScript code and stuff like that. I was really interested in how those codes worked so I decided to learn how, I'd right click and view page sources and try to figure out what pieces of code meant and did what. Anything I was unsure about, I'd just Google it. Then I'd put what I'd researched into use, I'd just spend most of the day (literally) trying out different things, most of the time what I was doing was wrong, but you learn from your mistakes.

I don't know everything about PHP/HTML/CSS/JavaScript etc, no one can -- they're changing so much and so quickly, but I certainly know enough to put together a half decent website without having to Google anything. People think they need to know every function to be a good programmer. Good programmers check documentation to ensure what they're doing is correct and the best way of doing.

From then I was pretty much obsessed with what could be done on the web, I'd trawl loads of different websites figuring out what does what and why it does what it does.

I've not always been a web-based programmer, I used to make applications in Visual Basic (lol) for a few years, then realised that the web was my forte.

So basically, I learned what I know now from viewing page sources and Googling what I'd saw, then after a while, the fundamentals stuck with me.

This is probably just overthinking, but my family and I have always thought I've had a thing for languages, I studied German at GCSE level in high-school and excelled at it (without blowing my own trumpet), I know programming languages and spoken languages are different things, but the concept is pretty similar.