What is Reddit's opinion of
Codecademy?
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
100 reviews of this app found across Reddit:
http://www.Codecademy.com/ I learned HTML/CSS from here for free. It's not gonna bore you with some dumb .PDF It will thoroughly explain every element and let you try it.
EDIT: I'm really glad I helped! I'm sorry I forgot to mention there are multiple other languages to learn.
You may be a kid, but start learning code/programming at this age. I started at about 12 and at 18 I can make a good sum of cash when I need to.
My favorite code-learning site
Also, babysitting is a great way to make money. Try staying away from retail. That shits horrible.
I've done some native apps, but I used Flash Builder with a focus on AS3 and only a little of Flex's MXML. My background if mostly Flash development, but I learned by purchasing, reading, and then going through books on C++, C#, AS3, Java, Objective-C, and a few more. I don't recommend that approach, though, as it's way too expensive compared to what you can find free.
If you need to know how to program, I recommend http://www.codecademy.com/ and https://www.udacity.com/ . From there, design it on paper, get the graphics (if needed) ready in advance, then use stack overflow for questions.
I've found that once you learn one language, google-searching can give you what you need. (eg "How do I do a for loop in python") If you're new to it, it depends on the app you want to make as to what I'd recommend there. I've used xCode for an internal iPhone app in the past for Lowe's. It's good if you really need it and there is a lot of help out there. Also you can start for free.
If you're going with something for both, I really enjoyed Flash Builder, but my AS3 background may have eased that too. Greensock has some nice tweening and loading classes that work well with Spark and Flex in general.
I have a friend who does games with Unity, though, and he loves it. He was never a programmer, mostly a designer, but it was easy for him to pick up and learn and the community there is really good from what he's told me. Also, this would be another develop once for both solution.
Sorry for the wall of text, but if you have any questions, let me know. Or if anyone else has more experience with other solutions, feel free to chime-in. :)
Hands down the best place to learn things like JavaScript, Python, PHP, etc. I promise you'll be able to learn through here if you don't just do a couple lessons and stop. It's all interactive and you can see what you're creating as you create it. And it's all done through the website so you don't need to download stuff.
Reddit's API has some amazing tools, you could build something like this yourself!
PRAW gives you a really powerful way to interface with the API, if you like Python (if you don't know any Python, I can't recommend CodeAcademy highly enough).
A basic flow for an automated top-content mail would be something like . . .
Get a user's subscribed subreddits
Read the top posts for each subreddit
Apply some weighting multiplier or filtering to list (maybe you want to see the top ten from each? Or you want to see the ones that got an unusually high amount for votes for the subreddit size?)
Combine the filtered lists into a single list and drop it into some formatting
Send it to you (email or pushbullet or rss or whatever)
http://www.codecademy.com and specifically http://www.codecademy.com/tracks/web. I'm learning with codecademy at the moment, great bite-size activities make up the courses (on what looks to me like a big selection of topics), and the best part is it's based on actually using what you learn to progress right there in the browser. And it's free. Go to it.
> Edit: I will never have this
The real thing people are missing is just do it. Teach yourself, be engaged in projects, run a blog, put in work and post that OC. Just going to school and studying stuff is nothing on practical applications. Sure, learning in a classroom environment helps, but having a good educational resume has nothing on showing you've done things.
I taught myself SQL to build a database for League of Legends stats, sharing info and analytics from that with people in the stats community got me a job with CBS interactive's LoL eSports site. That didn't pay ****, but it opened a ton of doors both in that community and out, and that on my resume helped me get a corporate full time job doing data analysis stuff from being a broke game tester.
Edit Since This is Visible: For anyone who is interested in this stuff, check out Codecademy if you're interested in getting into the computer side. It's not perfect, but the free 3-10 hour courses are great intros to the basics that jump you right into hands on coding.
Tell him to try out the "Make a Website" track on Codecademy.com. It'll take him a couple hours to go through the course, but by the end of it he'll be able to make something at the very least decent and he'll know how to minimally customize it.
You have the perfect job right now. Honestly, you could learn the foundation of web development (HTML, CSS, Javascript) in less than 2 months with 2-3 hours practice everyday.
Here are some links to get you started:
After you go through those links you should have a general understanding about web development.
Here's a challenge. I grabbed this website from the interwebzzzz. It contains a simple computer repair website. Take a look at it and try to apply what you learned from the above links to change images, links, add sections and divs.
Here's the template: http://www21.zippyshare.com/d/85994784/34314/TL37451.zip
Unzip and find the site folder inside. Double click index.html. You should now be able to see the full website.
If you want to change things on the fly, right click anywhere on the page and hit inspect element. This will bring you to the code inside your browser. On the left is HTML on the right is CSS.
Change some values and get coding!
Feel free to PM me if you need any tips,advice or help.
Good luck!
Sorry that turned you off programming, assembly is about as hard as it gets, but if you ever want to give it a second go codeacademy.com offers an easy way of getting into it.
I suggest python, it has an easy structure and can be learned quite easily, though still powerful enough to power things like Dropbox!
Codecademy has actually helped me a lot to get into the world of programming. They don't teach you everything but it's a brilliant place to start, it's very interactive and they make you do the coding and make sure it's correct, combined with the Q&A section make it a very helpful learning resource.
For anyone curious here's my Codecademy profile.
To be fair Codecademy does have its cons too. They don't go too extensively into the background of programming to understand the concepts behind it, it's more hands on, but that's why I've picked up some books to aid in the learning.
And the new jQuery courses have been poorly written by course designers, filled with bugs, unclear instructions and false passes.
I'd strongly recommend you check out Code Academy, it's free!
The Code Academy's - Web Fundamentals Track and the book "HTML and CSS: Design and Build Websites" introduce HTML and CSS in nearly the same way. Both are good for beginners.
Lynda.com Has some good tutorials, but I find they are harder to follow (yawn boring), and some of the material is out of date.
I find that reading books is also a bit more difficult for me, but if you find you're interested in getting to know CSS well, buy CSS the Missing Manual.
Ask them what they spend most their time developing with... whether it's a framework, cms, vanilla... learn the basics from phptherightway.com then sandbox using whatever they develop with?
You should know how to approach this if you have dev background...
Eu iti zic asa.
Ia un top de hartie si cateva pixuri si apuca-te de progamare.
- http://www.codecademy.com/
- Du-te la biblioteca din oras si cauta cartile cu C++ pentru dummy si citestele, si dupa
- intra pe https://oldpiratebay.org/search.php?q=Team+Treehouse si incepe si descarca-le dupa ordinea de aici http://teamtreehouse.com/tracks
- freelancer.com - da se incepe pe jeg-uri si cu google in dreapta dar e un inceput real
Nu este complicat ci trebuie doar sa vrei sa faci asta.
PS: Daca imi zic ca progamarea este grea, iti zic asta: din ce se fac bani multi nu este logic sa fie usor. daca ar fi usor toata lumea ar face-o si nu ar mai iesi asa multi bani.
I know a number of fellow Minecraft players who have been specifically inspired by the game to learn/teach themselves some level of programming.
I would like to very respectfully suggest that it would be great to have Notch write a short tutorial on one small element of Java development. Or perhaps even one 'entry level' tutorial, and then one of more advanced programmers? Notch has a very easy to read and well articulated writing style, and I think it would be pretty neat to follow a small example / tutorial from the man himself.
Not long ago, I came across this site on /r/programming: (note that I am in no way affiliated with it)
I am not sure if the guys who run that site would be interested, but perhaps Notch could be a special guest contributor for a lesson?
Just a suggestion anyways, feel free to downvote me into The Nether :|
EDIT - fixed link
I've been using codeacademy, I just started recently and this is my first programming learning experience so I cannot speak for the quality of the content, but I've enjoyed it so far and I feel like I'm learning. I've only completed about 30% of my first course and I think I won't really know until I try to do something with what I've learned, but it's definitely a better use of my time than what I normally do when sitting on the computer.
edit: also check /r/learnprogramming they have tons of great information and links to resources on their FAQ/Wiki
Python é simples, você pode fazer praticamente qualquer coisa com ela, e é uma boa entrada para linguagens mais avançadas.
Particularmente recomendo Codecademy, é grátis e super prático. Sempre que quero aprender uma linguagem nova procuro lá primeiro:
As someone that learned design, then programming (a bit) as a kid (both self taught), let me tell you that all of these kid-oriented things are bullshit.
They're designed by morons who have no grasp on how kids learn or what they find engaging, as illustrated by the fact that your child is already turned off to them.
What a kid wants to see is results. Quickly, and constantly. Even little results are awesome to see as a budding programmer! For that reason, my recommendation goes to Codecademy.
He will learn actual, straight up programming. It starts basic and gradually grows, but more importantly, there will always be results. Right there on the screen.
Let him have fun with that until he's really hooked (he will be), then try to push him into doing a bit more formal reading so he understands the concepts and "big picture" ideas behind the art of programming.
The important thing is to get him hooked. You get him hooked by showing him results. Not by pretty pictures or "convenient" ways to visualize programming.
You can totally learn. There are websites online to get you started http://www.codecademy.com/ is probably the most accessible at the moment.
Once you've got that stuff under your belt, let me know and I'd be glad to point you to the next step. This goes for anyone who reads this post, too - I'm always glad to teach people how to steal my job. It ain't hard, and if you like it, sky's the limit.
I'd recommend starting out with Codecademy. They've got a great series on introducing you to HTML and CSS. FreeCodeCamp is a great resource too although personally I found Codecademy's CSS section to be more in-depth than FCC's was, hence recommending their HTML/CSS courses. FreeCodeCamp is great though as the projects on their site are free (CodeCademy's tutorials are free, their projects are not) and they're also super helpful in explaining how to submit your projects to Github for companies to see. Both are great places to start to learn about web development.
There are other areas of programming outside of web development but web development has a high amount of jobs, pays well, and tends to be easier to hop into than other aspects of programming such as data analysis or systems programming.
You can definitely learn programming on your own, and there are an increasing number of resources that make it easier for you. You don't have to do it all at once, just a little bit each day will get you there. You just have to trust that it will eventually pay off. Here are some places to get started:
http://www.codecademy.com/ - Pretty nice gamified learning interface, easy to start out.
http://www.khanacademy.org/ - Overall pretty cool, haven't looked into it too much.
http://www.codecombat.com - You learn to program by essentially playing a video game with programming commands. A pretty neat idea and fun as well. Somewhat new, so I don't know how refined it is yet.
There's two types of web development:
Front end
This is about creating websites that users can actually interact with. Creating content and buttons and layouts and all that jazz. For this you need to know HTML/CSS/JavaScript.
Back end
This is about creating the support that a website needs to function properly. That means creating server scripts, databases and everything that the users don't actually see, but is necessary for everything to work. For this you need PHP/Python/Ruby.
To get started
I suggest first going to codecadamy and doing the HTML and CSS tracks. This will provide you with enough information to create simple websites on your own. Once you've done that, do the Javascript and JQuery tracks. After that look up wordpress and start doing amazing things.
*edit: grammar
It's not easy to just learn design... Most people spend years studying to become good at it. That said, start with the basics: http://www.johnlovett.com/test.htm
Definitely learn adobe software such as illustrator or photoshop. Even if you end up doing nothing but code work, it's useful to know how to read a psd file.
When you feel that you have a good grasp on design and know how to use photoshop, take a look at this: http://photoshopetiquette.com/
If you hand off work to a developer, that's a good set of rules to follow. If you do the work yourself, that's a good way to keep everything organized.
I think a good grasp on design is a must for any sort of web development since it delimites what sort of jobs you can take. There are plenty of resources on the web for learning code, for example: http://www.codecademy.com/learn . You mention treehouse, though I'd lean towards one of the many free sites out there. I don't think any one is better than another as far as learning the basics of html/css, etc...
It makes no difference whether you start with design or code, but becoming very skilled at both will take years. On the up side, having both of these skills usually guarantee a job somewhere.
OK, logical thinking and thinking "outside the box" are two different types of thinking although one helps with the other.
If you're just starting out then there are two things that I suggest you do.
One is play sudoku. I have found that a daily game of sudoku will tell me how able to think logically I am that day. I recommend The Daily Sudoku. Really you don't get into using much logic until you get to the "very hard" graded puzzles.
Once you have learned to do those then the next thing will be to head over to Code Academy and learn a programming language, I suggest PHP.
These two things will both teach you to think logically and reward you for doing so.
The thinking outside of the box bit may or may not come with experience. People tend to either have or not have the skill from a young age but the good news is that logic+experience+knowledge looks pretty much like it to most people.
Have fun and good luck.
>We're finding it hard in Winnipeg to locate the people who would want to take the courses.
I'm guessing it's the price. This is the land of dollar stores. $50 for a few hours of beginner CSS training in Winnipeg is like charging $150-$200 in Toronto or Vancouver.
For a non-profit group, I'd expect a bring-your-own-lunch option, and perhaps a $15 to 20 fee, max. Especially when I can learn it for free here: http://www.codecademy.com/en/tracks/web
Yup. Went to go fap, ended up researching how to PHP. Programming-wise, I'm still pretty much a noob. I definitely don't plan on applying, but the job position has sparked my interest. The furthest my background goes is up to Javascript on http://www.codecademy.com I've been having an itch to get back into it.
I highly recommend Learn Python the Hard Way. Also, this website seems to be a lot of fun.
Seriously, good luck to you! If you have any more questions, or want any more resources, don't hesitate to ask me or send me a PM!
I see you really want to hate programming on your first go-around!
Consider starting with Python. It's a lot simpler, and you don't really have to mess with setting data types, finding a guide that doesn't look like Chinese, or worrying about installing a massive compiler and IDE that might require a license to use.
Also take a look at: http://www.codecademy.com/en/tracks/python
It's difficult in some places, but an answer is usually a few clicks away.
Personally, I work on larger distributed systems that handle transactions, record keeping, et cetera.
Not to be discouraging but I also have been coding for a long time and graduated from a top 5 program. Trust me in saying though that many of my coworkers have far more bootstrapped backgrounds. If you really want to get into the industry, I'd recommend start working on some side projects of your own (make an app, a website, a game, really anything) while trying to learn as much about the technology as possible.
In terms of formal knowledge, a basic understanding of algorithmic complexity (big O notation) and simple algorithms/data structures are pretty crucial. Otherwise, for interviewing, it probably helps to brush up on "flashier" skills like set theory, even though you may not use it in day to day work.
Steve Yegge has a more extensive write up here: http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2008/03/get-that-job-at-google.html
Basic Programming Instruction (never used it myself but I've heard great things): http://www.codecademy.com/
Coding Competitions (Google emphasizes this in their hiring process): http://www.topcoder.com/
If you are seriously interested, I really can't overstate how great of a career path I think this is. Beyond a livelihood, programming is also an extremely rewarding hobby, especially if you can get involved in open source projects. Best of luck!
Even if you don't work at Valve if you're interested in the kind of work they do you should learn some basic programming and see how you like it.
It may be intimidating at first, but you will get to a point where you're really getting it or you'll hate it and know it's not for you.
Also you should familiarize yourself with Linux, maybe even look into getting a Raspberry Pi if you don't want to dual boot or build a Linux based computer.
Also bonus Gabe -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STRPsW6IY8k
The real meat of this story is found here:
>Of the approximately 30,000 students who took the exam in 2013, only around 20 percent were female, according to the analysis, and a tiny three percent were African-American. Just eight percent were Hispanic.
To be honest, as someone who did take and pass the AP CS exam in high school, that's not really disheartening. Most of what I know and apply today came from CIS courses in college then what I learned from AP CS. As for getting more and more people involved with it, you also have to consider which high schools are looking to expand into the technical class realm.
Many of my region high schools only offer a digital graphics class and a typing class. No programming, scripting, or otherwise which is what the fundamental problem with the situation. All too often, I'll go talk with a student who would want to jump into a scripting class in high school and I'll tell them they don't really need one to get started and point them to codecademy to help get them started with a simple recommendation of Python, Ruby, or Perl for beginners and eventually recommend them to websites like w3schools.
You start at a basic entry level with CS, but that's the broad course to explore over what possible future you might want to pursue with computers or technology in general. You want to have more and more offerings for those programs which will start the trend.
DON'T DO IT!
Just kidding. If it is really something that interests you, then do it. The more interested you are, the easier it will be. The hardest part, at least for me, is writing code. So if that's something you don't like to do, and feel you'll struggle with, here's a cool site that should help; http://www.codecademy.com/#!/exercises/0
That's a great idea for a project! Go you! I don't think you're likely to find a tutorial for the Steam API specifically, but I can help you out get started learn HTTP APIs in general, and then you should be able to apply it to the Steam one.
First, you say you managed to display some JSON on your website. Does that mean you got a Steam API key and made a request? I'll assume you didn't, so you should:
- Go through a few tutorials on codecademy about APIs. This will give you some practice pulling in data from an HTTP API and displaying it.
- Once you have a handle on that, get your Steam API key here. This is how Steam identifies you as a human and not a malicious robot or hacker
- Read the docs for the Steam User API.
- Try to make a request to the Steam API in your browser! You should be able to see, for example, your achievements in JSON format if you pass the right parameters with a request. All you have to do is type in the endpoint in the address bar.
Does that help you get started? I can also explain about making it look nice once you have the data, but I don't want overwhelm you with info right away.
DailMail_Bot is written in Python, a programming language.
You can start learning it here, it's intuitive and has a multitude of uses:
http://www.codecademy.com/tracks/python
EDIT.
Well, I just ran through your comments and found that you know immensely more than me, but I'll leave the comment, maybe someone will find the link useful.
Just start coding, work on some open source projects that interest you and build a Github portfolio. If you don't already know a little bit about programming I would suggest not waiting until you're in college, start learning right now ... http://www.codecademy.com/ is a good place to start. Don't just plan on coming out of college with a degree, rather you should plan on coming out with a degree AND a bunch of experience working on real applications.
You can never start learning soon enough when it comes to programming languages, and it can take decades to become one of the best.
1. learn about the stack
First of all you should check out what are some common layers of technology for web developpement.
Front-End -> Html + CSS + javascript
Back-End -> webserver + database + some back-end language
2. learn about the roles
Depending on the job you look into, there might be many types of specialization. We often find jobs like: front-end programmer, back-end programmer, communication/ux roles, sales/growth roles, sysadmin/database roles etc. Some people deal with specific aspects of websites, some people deal with all of them.
3. learn how to program
From your post you seem to have experience with HTML+CSS, those language miss most of the important stuff a programmer should know: control structures. Knowing the basics of programmation is mandatory if you plan on dealing with any javascript or back-end language, but would be useful no matter what.
You should have a look at codeacademy for that.
you're asking questions that each could take pages to answer. I suggest you start with the programming part. Go to http://www.codecademy.com/ and go through the javascript courses. That will get you a footing in one of the many things you want to learn about.
Code Academy has a Python course (among others, including Ruby, PHP and Javascript) and that I found really easy to get to grips with, having learned no programming previously. It is free, the course walks you through basic programmatic elements and methods hand-in-hand, and if you still get stuck you can see what other people have tried or ask a question by going to the Q&A forum. The coddling, while sometimes irritating, is particularly useful to help in starting to develop the right mindset for solving a problem programmatically. The course is also definitely something you can dip in and out of, some of the later exercises are series of problems which you can do one of (or in my case, go away and think about) then leave until you have the time/inclination to tackle another one.
Once you complete the course (estimated 13 hours to complete, it took me a little longer), you can then (through a little jiggery-pokery) join groups like 'Python for Beginners' which has within it a list of partially completed or slightly rough round the edges extra modules to help you further your understanding if you so wish.
I can link to other online resources I have found useful if there is interest :) Also, first post! Hopefully I didn't mangle the formatting too much :D
ed: fixed I think...
I'd actually recommend python as a starting language. Python is easy to learn and http://www.codecademy.com/ breaks it down into even easier to understand bits. I've found that once you know python you can learn other languages relatively easily.
If I remember correctly, this entire project is being created with JavaScript. If you're interested in learning it, I've heard Code Academy is a good source. Also look up the JavaScript Tutorial at w3schools. Both are amazing to learn the basics!
After you've learned JavaScript, take a look at jQuery. It's a JavaScript framework that makes JavaScript a breeze. Be careful though; Learning jQuery without knowing JS is dangerous as you won't know what is fundamentally going on underneath the jQuery hood.
I think there's plenty of things that are currently helping. I think that ending slut-shaming will let women be more free about their sexuality, and will generate more bitches like me, who actually enjoy men hitting on them.
I also think that on the MRM side, the "creep shaming" stuff will help. If we stopped thinking of nerdy boys as "creepy", it would go a long way to making women more comfortable.
Further, computer science is definitely not something you need to go to a university for. If you're a girl and you want to learn computers, you can just go to the internet, where nobody gives a shit about your gender, they just care about what you can do. Places like TryRuby, Treehouse, Codecademy, are awesome for learning languages. StackOverflow, w3schools, and, honestly, just, like, random forums, are also great places to learn specific things. I love helping people out on StackOverflow. Stupid as it sounds, I really like getting fake internet points and earning badges. Plus I love teaching people.
Honestly, I don't think there's much to be done about the men hitting on girls thing, and I wouldn't want us to do something about it either. I don't think hitting on people is innately bad, though I understand how excess attention can be annoying. As you may have guessed, I'm a sex-positive feminist, I see nothing wrong with seduction and promiscuity, from men or women.
Technology skills are going to vary a lot from librarian to librarian, largely depending on what their position is and the positions of other staff at their library.
Personally, I know the basics of (X)HTML and CSS from classes I took in undergrad and grad school. I can write code manually for a basic site and tweak more complicated codes on things like themes on blogging platforms. I used to know a bit Perl, but that went completely out the window because of how much I struggled with it.
Having a basic understanding of a couple web development languages would probably be a good idea. You could use something like Code Academy to learn on your own.
This is definitely not your "typical" technology librarian job. This is the kind of position where they're in an office all day, away from the public working with and maintaining digital resources for the library. It reminds me of the technology department at my old library. They were rarely seen outside their offices, unless they were out fixing a computer.
Not sure what your background is, but Project Euler has some awesome programming based math questions. And if you don't know how to program Codeacademy is a great place to start. I had a similar revelation recently and those two websites have kept me entertained.
I just graduated and I only took 1 class that used java, the rest basically used C or some functional language. Honestly the language doesn't matter (after you really understand the first language, you get the rest, almost every higher level class makes you learn another language eventually), every language uses the same core concepts just a different syntax. Early on, I see a lot of freshman not understand the core concepts like loops, recursion, etc. And they fall behind real fast because everything is based on these fundamentals. You can't expect to learn more advanced stuff without understanding the basics. In some degrees you can get away with this, but not in comp sci =/. Everything really builds off of each other.
Id recommend learning python because it's real easy to get into. http://www.codecademy.com/en/tracks/python is a good place to start.
Understand that if you've never done this before it might get frustrating, or you might just not get it or you're like fuck this, I'm done. Just take a break, it's summer so you have time. Go at your own pace, even if it's a turtles.
Fair warning: CMPSC 121 is a weedout class.
I can vouch for https://dataquest.io or http://www.codecademy.com/tracks/python
If after this you want more, go for a proper MOOC on Coursera, ideally on a theme you are interested in (Finance, Biology, etc).
I suggest you start NOW a Github repositery because any tutor will want to see your code and easily share fix or ask questions. Use the wiki for your notes, use the repository itself for your code.
If after all this done you are still up for it, in July I could tutor you for one hour per week in exchange for... I don't know yet but as you said nothing illegal.
NUS CS student here. I'm sure there are other factors to judge job prospects but looking at the fresh grads pay here http://moe.gov.sg/education/post-secondary/files/ges-nus.pdf i think CS is one of the highest, alongside engineering. Unless you can get into law or medicine.
In Singapore the pay is not good but you get a chance to work in Silicon Valley where they pay interns USD$7-8k a month. That's the ideal many students have here.
But realistically, you need to work very hard to get good. And you're unlikely to be good if you don't enjoy it. I know a few ex-students who took up computing because they didn't have anything else to do. In the end they transferred out. We have one of the highest transfer rates here. So don't go into the course if you're thinking about money. If you hate programming you'll end up hating what you do. I wouldn't want to use a product built by a software engineer who hates their job.
So my advice to you is to start learning to program by yourself. Try this codeacademy javascript course. Try your best and see if you enjoy it. Not saying that you shouldn't enter NUS CS if you don't. But you'll get an idea of what kind of stuff you'll be doing here.
tl;dr you have to be good to get a high paying programming job. you have to enjoy programming to be good.
First of all, congratulations!
This is just my experience as someone finishing up an MLIS/pre-full time employment, so maybe take this with a grain of salt. I went into my program knowing next to nothing about programming, and I feel confident that I learned enough just in the couple of classes I took. You more than likely are never really going to have to know how to program, so you just need to know "enough to be dangerous" as one colleague told me. Essentially, you'll want to know enough to sound intelligent when talking to people who actually are going to be working on building applications, websites, etc. Of course, you may also end up loving it and wanting to learn more than just that, which is great too, and depending on what school you're going to there will be opportunities to expand that interest.
As far as resources for now if you feel like playing around, Codecademy is pretty good for the most part as an introduction, though it can be a little buggy at times (if you do an exercise that you really think is right and it still won't validate for you, check the forums for other users' workarounds).
Also, it's not programming, but if you want to go into archiving, I'd recommend becoming familiar with XML, or even HTML just so that when you get to your classes the code doesn't look scary. It's really simple to learn, but a lot of people who aren't familiar with it immediately freak out because they aren't used to looking at it.
Hope that helps!
Okay, then get qualified. Learn to code, if you haven't already! Code Academy is a great resource. If you want to learn more stuff about design/want more resources, webdesignrepo is my bible.
Learn to program! It may sound daunting but you could easily write your first program today!! :D
EDX intro to computer science using python *thanks to /u/itsjoeybones
http://www.codecademy.com/ might be worth checking out. I didn't learn about this site until I actually knew HTML etc. but got forced through it at uni, and from what I saw I should teach you a lot of the basics. Of course for more advanced stuff I too would recommend just looking at youtube etc. and just keep trying. It all comes with time :)
I'm a software engineer. Code Academy is a good place to start to pick up the basics, and is great if you're want to start something on your own like web development. If you're wanting to work at large software company (and probably most startups), a BS in computer science is likely required unless you have a significant portfolio of work you can show to recruiters. So if the college route isn't for you, your best bet is to learn the skills and start putting them to practice writing whatever you would find useful.
codecademy has great free resources.
Following along with YouTube tutorials like this one is a great way to learn on the fly, but recommend hitting the basics first.
I'm currently taking the HTML5 Game Development Course at Udacity, it's probably a good starting point since you already know HTML.
You definitely need to be well versed in javascript though, so if that's not the case I recommend taking the CodeAcademy JavaScript course prior to starting the Udacity one above.
Both are excellent resources, and will get you started with videos, exercises, and additional reference materials.
If you want to learn more, I'd suggest checking out these websites:
How to Design Programs This is the textbook that my introductory Comp Sci class used to learn programming last semester. The language they use is simple to learn so that you can tackle harder problems without getting bogged down in syntax. The programming environment they use is actually also quite good, so it shouldn't be too hard to correct whatever mistakes you make.
Code Academy This i've only recently discovered due to another thread (props to threaders but i've forgotten where i saw it). It's cool in that it exposes you to different types of languages and different things to do ie. web page design and problem solving.
Good luck.
Hey Dakota! Sounds like you are very smart and are working hard to continue learning. I noticed in one of your replies that you said you would like to learn to program computers, and I just wanted to share a few resources with you that might get you started if you decide you are interested in computers:
http://www.alice.org/ -- This is a fun little program to learn the concepts of programming, basically the fundamentals without learning the actual programming language.
http://www.codecademy.com -- This is a GREAT website to get you started on programming websites if that is something that interests you.
http://www.udacity.com/ -- This is a fantastic website for when you get a little more advanced, can learn a ton of things from computer programming to building a search engine.
Keep Reddit posted on all the fun ventures you take, for science!
Guys, keep in mind that Codecademy and CodeAcademy are different things. Note the difference in spelling.
Codecademy is an online, interactive intro to programming, while CodeAcademy is an actual on-site 3-month-long academy in Chicago where you learn to program. I believe that the latter came first, since there was a bit of drama about how similar Codecademy's name is to theirs.
Anyways, I think that people here are referring to Codecademy.
I'm a computer scientist with an interest in bioinformatics and both of my brothers studied cellular/molecularly biology in college. After talking with them and doing my own research, I can definitely say that having any programming and bioinformatics experience could really set you apart from other applicants. I'd recommend learning to program in Python programming lanuage. It is relatively easy to learn and widely used in bioinformatics.
I'd recommend taking the Codecademy course on Python to start.
I don't think you'd need to be anywhere near an expert in bioinformatics to benefit greatly. Hope this helps.
Once you have completed that, the Rosalind problem set would be a great place to start for bionformatic specific programming.
I dunno if you're interested, but w3schools have kinda bad rep. You should check out codecademy, khanacademy and MDN!
I love Khan Academy's cosmology and science courses; their history outlines help me get a better grasp of world wars histories in 20 minutes than I have had in the past 30 years. I've also been toying with http://www.codecademy.com/learn
By doing it.
http://www.codecademy.com/ is great! Watch Youtube videos. Get a book on html and read through it.
Practice, practice, practice!
And when you get stuck, come here to ask specific questions.
https://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide/NonProgrammers
http://learnpythonthehardway.org/book/
http://www.codecademy.com/en/tracks/python
Beyond that there are lots of good tutorials on youtube. The main thing is just practice, practice, practice! The basics are pretty easy to get down in Python, so once you have the fundamentals down just think of something to build and go for it. The best way to learn programming is by programming.
Il mondo della programmazione è incredibilmente vario, ti consiglio di cominciare con qualcosa che stuzzichi la tua voglia di fare, potrebbero essere le applicazioni web, oppure sviluppare su android o iphone, come la programmazione di videogiochi oppure realizzare un programma per windows o per linux. Una volta capito cosa ti piacerebbe provare indirizzati su qualche tutorial veramente basilare, e impara facendo. Se dovessi indicarti un linguaggio da cui cominciare non avrei dubbi: il C. Non C++ mi raccomando ma il C puro. Esistono diversi testi incredibilmente validi e oltre alla Bibbia ti consiglio di farti un giro su amazon per cercare qualche introduzione a qualche argomento o linguaggio specifico, tipo "coding for dummies" ecco. Il python potrebbe essere un linguaggio buono per cominciare a capire, oppure il javascript a livello base. Quindi in sostanza io ti consiglio di seguire due strade parallele allo stesso tempo, da una parte di fai un pò di culo con le basi, quindi imparando il C, dall'altra puoi divertirti a sperimentare con le tecnologie più recenti. Ad esempio su codeacademy puoi già cominciare a fare pratica di javascript (penso ci siano altri linguaggi disponibili). Gli argomenti base che dovresti cominciare a studiare riguardano la programmazione procedurale ad oggetti. Esistono altri paradigmi di programmazione come ad esempio quella funzionale ma al momento lasciala pure stare. Ovviamente tutto in inglese, mi raccomando.
I strongly suggest learning Python via Codecademy. By far the best interactive and hands-on learning I've seen.
In general, with programming, reading a book is not too helpful. The best way to learn is through practice. Good luck!
Hi, I'm kind of new to the indie-game dev scene, me and a buddy are starting some small projects, we haven't released a thing, but I have some advice.
Do NOT let anyone tell you you can't do something.
Definitely start small, start by learning a programming language, a really easy one to get into is C++. There's a few websites that you can use, Code Academy , as well as Khan Academy.
I personally prefer to use Unreal Engine, simply because it's very easy to learn, and has a lot of tutorials online, through the actual developers, which can be found here
After that, it's a lot of self motivation, and creative thinking. I'm probably bad at giving advice, but I tried my best I guess
EDIT: A word.
SuperSU has a root survival option, but it's a premium feature. Another option is to just reflash SuperSU after rooting, takes like a minute to do.
As for your second question, check out Codecademy.
I'm not sure if OP will respond, since it's not his area of expertise, but you can try http://www.codecademy.com/.
I'm guessing that you're using the MIT OpenCourseWare course. I struggled with that one, but if you can find the rest of the resources somewhere, Mehran Sahami's CS106A course at Stanford is the best CS intro course I've seen so far.
After taking that, if you're interested in getting ahead of the curve, Wolfram's soon to be released Wolfram Language could end up being an incredibly useful tool for professionals in the STEM fields. You could have the opportunity to learn it before anyone else. Good luck!
> I don't know much about programming and I want to learn to make some bots.
Great. Python is generally considered a good starting language that will support you for a long time.
> Should I use python 2 or python 3
Python 3 is essentially the future. Python 2 will not have any more major updates, and the extended support will end eventually.
At the moment, however, there is a lot more material... libraries and documentation, including training... for Python 2.
On the other hand, Python 3 claims to have removed a lot of the quirks that trips newer programmers up.
Ultimately, it's up to you... would you prefer to struggle a little now with less resources to learn the new language, or have an (arguably) easier time now and struggle later to switch to the new language?
> what is the best tutorial?
I'm a fan of http://learnpythonthehardway.org/book/ and http://www.codecademy.com/
The easiest way to contribute, honestly, is by mining. With Doge being the most profitable scrypt coin there is right now, we're at the mercy of multipools; which in turn leads to pump and dump shenanigans, which can devalue it as a currency. Not wow :(
You can contribute by mining, no matter how low a rate you mine at - and holding on to your doges. Or tip them. Or just do something nice with them. Add to Dev bounties, donate to doge-accepting charities, or visit the /r/dogePIF subreddit. Anything that's not pump and dump, and you're contributing.
If you really want to aid the community in dev projects - why not use doge as an incentive to start learning how to build your own projects? You can start learning at Codecademy - and you'll be building Doge apps and services before you know it.
+/u/dogetipbot 1000 doge
Your best bet is to use your free time to learn how to program. If you're wondering what languages to learn, I highly recommend Python. From a career perspective, a talented software engineer will always be in demand. Do what makes you happy.
I'd recommend these steps for an absolute beginner.
1) Learn to code. No, I'm not asking you to know everything about programming but you should know terms like if, for, variables, booleans, arrays and these symbols <=, ==, =, >=, { }, [ ] (Note = and == are two different things). If you have zero knowledge of programing then don't lose hope! Codecademy.com is an excellent place to learn these things. I'd pick up the python tutorial and spend a couple of days learning as much as you can. It's really easy and if you get stuck, the forums will help you.
2) Now that you have a basic grasp of coding. I'd watch the Youtube series by Shaun Spalding. He has excellent tutorials on how to use Gamemaker well. Do this to get familiar with Gamemaker and apply that new programming knowledge you just learned. Durning this time, I would just copy what he does until you get comfortable.
3) Go beyond the tutorial. Use the help menu (PRESS F1). IT HAS EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR GAMEMAKER. Tutorials only take you so far and when making a game there won't be a tutorial for your unique code. You have to solve your own problems. No I'm not saying you would have no help since this subreddit is here. However, you are pretty much the only person who knows all your code inside out. So knowing how to fix your own problems is 99% of developing in gamemaker.
As someone who literally just started Gamemaker last week I'm already making a game that looks like this.
It doesn't look like much now but it's solid progress.
I don't think you need classes, you lonely wanker. There are tons of resources online.
If you're a beginner, visit Codecademy.com. Also check out the sidebar at r/learnprogramming.
Get yourself a nice code editor like Notepad++, Sublime Text, Brackets -- Google for "good code editor" for reviews and options for your OS. Then you can start making HTML/CSS files on your computer.
You can also use the Codebits feature -- have you found that yet?
If you haven't done it yet, try http://www.codecademy.com/skills/make-a-website
I started with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript on Codecademy. Then when I got pretty good, I started Python on Codecademy. Codecademy is great. You do it over and over until it gets drilled in. After CA, I did Python The Hard Way. It's good too. Python let's you learn the core concepts of programming without getting bogged down in the syntax. After that I moved to Bash scripting in Linux. Digging into Linux was helpful for me to learn how computers work on deeper level (Also, almost all Linux software is free at some level for individuals). Now, a year and a half later, I've just started Learn C the Hard Way and playing around with Rust.
The major thing is don't get discouraged. So many times I hit a wall and felt like an idiot because it felt like I would never get any better than a pure beginner. I'm so glad I didn't give up, because if you keep at it long enough, you'll get it. I actually use a couple programs/web apps I've written.
A few other good learning (subscription required) are: Lynda, PluralSite, LinuxAcademy, Code School (a couple free courses)
Hi - sorry you had that experience. Our PHP code submission system is getting old, and it still gets a lot of traffic from learners. Those circumstances combined can sometimes make it unresponsive for people.
My advice is to try again, or better yet learn Ruby on Rails. It's a newer course that teaches more relevant skills to today's market! And you still get to make websites.
If you have $27,000 to spend on 4 months of training there's a better solution. Take 4 months out of your life, and go through http://www.codecademy.com/. It's free to use and each course is just about ten hours long. So spend 3 days learning a program, one day practicing it, and then hire someone for day 5 to spend time reviewing things with you to make sure you understand it and are implementing it properly.
4 weeks, four languages. Or take two weeks per language and review each a second time. Or expand upon it. That's two months out of your life and the only cost is what it costs you to live, which has to be less than $27,000.
I used a lot of online resources to learn.
- khan academy For math if needed ( I learned higher math as I needed it)
- Code Academy This is how I learned to code the basics
- Steb's Design MasterMix This is a playlist of videos that you NEED to watch. Im not kidding. Not everyone of these is amazing so feel free to skip around. MUST WATCH "Juice it or Loose it"
Keep yourself motivated by listening to Joe, Adam, using #indiegamedev on twitter.
Also if you want to learn less traditional coding and just care about games. Check out gameMakerStudio!
And if you need a pair of eyeballs to look at something for you! Message me! Ill help out!
I'm going to insist on this point once more: before starting code, ask yourself what do I want to do. Depending on the answer, you could follow different paths:
- I have absolutely no idea about programming and I want to learn how to code: I don't think making a game is a good start. You would be better off learning the basic first. Spend a few days/weeks/months learning how to code, there are tons of websites e.g. http://www.codecademy.com, https://www.codeschool.com/, many others.
- I have some idea about coding, and I want to do a game: Fair point. I think clickers/idlers/incrementals are a good start since they can be pretty simple to make (compared with other genres). Don't overengineer it and start by doing an step-by-step tutorial e.g. http://dhmholley.co.uk/incrementals.html, and then expand from there.
- I want to learn about games/game design: If you want to learn about games and game design, coding is actually a burden. One of the best ways to learn game design is to make variations of existing games instead of create brand new ones. Luckily there are several open source games out there that you can play around with, just check the sidebar ultimate list. As a last resource, creat a as generic game as you can e.g. Cookie Clicker bsic clone, and play around with it. How does it feel when you change the growth of prices? and the growth of production? what if you put more generator tiers?
- I know about coding, I know about game design, I have a very clear idea in my head and I want to make it real: Go ahead, it seems that you have very clear aims and ways to get them, so choose the tools you feel more comfortable with and make that game happen.
>any other non-html programming
Well, the problem is that HTML is not programming. If you moved straight from HTML into a programming language, you won't really have any experience with it at all.
However, codecademy does not use Java; I would guess that you are actually using Javascript. (They are entirely different languages.) There is a dedicated track for Javascript here if you would like to learn it separately.
There are recommended books for various languages in the FAQ.
step one: http://www.codecademy.com/en/tracks/javascript
step two: http://dappsforbeginners.wordpress.com/
Ethereum dapps are ridiculously easy to make. Studying finance and econ is actually going to be a huge advantage because good ideas and business models will be what is in short supply in the ethereum ecosystem.
Executing is as easy as writing some contracts, making a frontend in bootstrap, do some testing and bam there's your new business.
Start by learning html5 here for free; then proceed to css and then JavaScript. Once you're comfortable with those do jquery and ajax then PHP for the most challenging part. These coding languages makes up most of any website on the internet.
Your comment about how you solved it make sense, but from a consumer's perspective I'd hate to use it. Why should I need to remember that the second index is the 'T' array??
Instead I would have used a dictionary.
def trajectory(): ... return {'x': [], 'y': [], 't': []}
Which you can then reference as...
trajec = trajectory() x_array = trajec['x'] y_array = trajec['y'] t_array = trajec['t']
You really shouldn't need learn assembly that much. Like it's good to know about but unless you're working with embedded systems or compilers learning assemble can do more harm then good by encouraging bad programming practices.
If you want to start learning programming I would recommend learning python. It's an easy to learn language that has a lot of support and extensions so you can do some pretty cool stuff out of the box. http://www.codecademy.com/ has some good python tutorials.
"I develop websites and apps for my own personal use" - perhaps this is something to delve deeper in? How good are your programming skills at the moment? Perhaps you can take it further, learn in your spare time using resources such as http://www.codecademy.com or others. Maybe even a job in this field would allow you to work from home, depending on what is available for you.
>But I can't get more experience if agencies don't give me the chance.
Respectfully, this is whiny bullshit. You have a computer? You have a brain? Guess what, you can get experience. Pick a product, ANY product, make an ad for it. Make 700 ads for it. Pick the best 5 and re-do them. Pick the best one of those and re-do it until you think it's perfect. Go post it on /r/design_critiques and ask them to rip you to shreds. Then take their advice and re-do it.
Do that over and over until you have 5-7 awesome projects.
Do you know web design? No? Cool. Go to Lynda, CodeAcademy, or TeamTreeHouse and start learning. Go ahead and learn some programming too.
>I guess I have to accept that I'm not cut out for what I want and just give it up. I don't want to give it up, but if I'm really that bad I shouldn't waste my time on something I'll never get.
Quit this giving up shit. WORK. LEARN. So you went to a school that maybe didn't have super great standards. That sucks. Oh well, lesson learned. You're an adult now, you've lost of childish ability to blame shortcomings on anyone else. Make a choice right now. Either you want to be a designer, and you're going to put in the work to do it and do it well....or you're going to give up and whine about it.
"Arduous task" is certainly one way to phrase it. To put it simply, most webpages are made of these:
- HTML: This is the basic code that adds structure: Headings, paragraphs, links, images, etc.
- CSS: These are the style sheets that add flair: layout, color, typography, scrolling, simple effects, etc.
- JavaScript: These are the more complex codes that add functionality and interactivity. In the example you provided, I think the map where you rollover and a flag pops up uses Javascript and CSS.
- Databases: These handle information. Blog posts, catalogs, products, etc.
If your page isn't terribly complicated, then you may not need all of these technologies. HTML is an absolute must and CSS can handle the prettiness and probably the scrolling. If not, then a little JavaScript may do the trick. If the scrolling is your only goal, then you can ignore the databases for now.
Where to start? Codecademy is a nice place to learn the basics. Then all you'll need to achieve your goals is a lot of time.
If you're interested, I'd say learn these basics, see what you can make and assess your skills and interest. If you like coding and design, you may be able to pull it off by yourself.
However, there may be other constraints in your life that will prevent you from building this yourself. While going through the exercises may take a day or two, don't think that it will give you all the skills you need to create a great website.
If you're new to this, then besides the basic HTML & CSS skills, you will need time. The newer you are to this, the more time you will need. If your time is something you cannot afford then consider hiring someone to do this work for you.
Good luck.
A sample website for you to just view the basics and get back into it?
Honestly mate, the best bet is to do the Code Academy course - it won't take longer than a few hours and I found it to be a great kickstart back into web coding.
It's not what you were after, but hopefully that helps!
If you've never coded anything before I would recommend not starting with swift. The major reasons being the tools are all still in beta, and that since the language is brand new there are not many resources for questions when you run into problems. If I were you I'd check out a language at code academy and dig into swift in a few months once it's final.
You can start learning some fundamentals for free right now at Codecademy! There are lots of books and online resources you can find to pick up just about any language... and the best part is that you can download the prerequisites for free for most languages and get going. I found that a nice introduction to programming was learning how to write a script. Scripting languages are a little easier and lightweight to start with at least in my own opinion. Anyways, if you have questions feel free to ask, else you may find some answers in /r/learnprogramming.
Programming skills are pretty much essential in Astrophysics, in both observational and theoretical projects. I would suggest learning a programming language like python to begin with and right some simple code with it.
Code Academy is a great choice here and it's free :) A large amount of astro software is now written in python so it really isn't a bad choice to start with.
Once you feel like you're progressing well with Python, you could try learning C/C++ and try running an SPH code, for example: http://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/gadget/
I'd also suggest installing Linux in a virtual machine program like VirtualBox and doing your programming in there. Linux and sometimes Mac OS are pretty much the standard OS in astro so it would be good if you familiarised yourself with it. Programming is also much more straightforward: www.ubuntu.com
If you are feeling adventurous, you could also give Fortran a try and run and look around MESA (stellar evolution code): http://mesa.sourceforge.net/
You don't need to pay for any of this but you will need plenty of time to play around and do silly things on a computer ;) In my case, I learned to programme before university, and improved it outside university with small projects that I was interested in. I didn't really do any proper scientific programming until a summer internship at my university and during my masters project. In general, if you can code well, then not knowing specific scientific algorithms isn't a big deal but nobody is going to pay you to simply learn to program when they could hire someone else who already knows how to do it.
See here for a working JS Fiddle with comments. You definitely need to brush up on your standard JS knowledge. Check out these two resources for simple, free tutorials in that regard:
Go with Python, here's why:
Python is a very high level language, which means it comes with a lot of functions and abstractions out of the box. This means you can spend more time thinking about programming logic and algorithms, and less time thinking about correct syntax.
Python is a general-purpose language, which means you can use it to create virtually any type of program or software, from web scripts to games. This means you should be able to use it to code projects you are actually interested in.
There are huge amounts of programming books, videos and courses online that use Python as their language choice.
Python is used in the real world as well. Some very large companies like Google and Facebook use it on my parts of their platforms and products.
Links to tutorials:
1. The New Boston (if you're interested in an easy/funny approach to learning)
2. Invent with python (if you're interested in making games)
3. Code Academy (if you're interested in a more interactive approach)
Except I actually try and get shit done when doing laundry. I'll use the time between loads to fold, put them away, sort other clothes to be washed, that sort of thing. I also tend to do my laundry at night and I'll take care of my other chores (set up coffee maker for morning, pack my lunch for the next day, wash dishes, get my son's sippy cup set for when he wakes in the morning, pick out the next day's work clothes, etc) while the washing is doing it's thing.
And if, by some miracle, I don't have anything to take care of (very rare), I try to study.
Code Academy is my newest addiction.
Codecademy is a pretty good place to learn the basics of Javascript.
Node.js is for server-side programming (and there are other server-side languages, the most popular being PHP) while Javascript itself is for client-side programming.
Jquery is a Javascript framework that allows you to implement Javascript stuff without writing it all from scratch. If you have surfed around the Jquery site you can see that it allows you to implement interactive windows, add effects to your site, and theme your site with ease.
I would strongly recommend going to a community college if you can. You might be able to swing some financial aid which will help you out while you don't have a job, and you can get an internship towards the end of your degree. If you have a basic grasp on C# (and you like it so far) then stick with it until it becomes a strong grasp and branch out.
Also, check out the tutorials at the New Boston. He works on C#, C++ and a bunch of other languages and he starts from the beginning. This is a great way to gear up for a course.
I'd avoid buying books, honestly because they are easily ignored and forgotten. You might also check out Codecademy, they are interactive and have a lot of content.
Sorry about the job, but maybe the sudden career change is for the best. A couple years ago I had an epiphany about my career direction too, and that led me back into programming as well. I'm much happier for it now, though transition is always difficult. Good luck!
Start exercising even it's just walking; it can relieve depression, and it'll help keep you healthier. You should be able to walk approx 4 miles in an hour, if you do this everyday you'll also keep your weight in check.
Learn to code:
Learn Python:
Teach yourself to play a tin whistle (they're cheap!).
Starting writing a novel, even if it's crap it can't hurt to improve your writing skills.
Get a cheap digital camera and learn to take good photographs:
Post them on Flickr.com and photo.net and solicit feedback.
Good luck job hunting! :)
Edited to fix formatting.
The FAQ might be somewhat helpful to you if you haven't read it already.
There are two main things to keep in mind.
From a "getting work done" standpoint there's not really anything you can do in Ruby that you can't do in PHP, if you think somehow Ruby is going to open you up building apps you couldn't build before, it's not.
That being said, Ruby is going to teach you much better programming practices than PHP. This doesn't mean that you can't learn the same things in PHP, but PHP isn't going to help you learn them.
Things like modules, OOP, package/dependency management, etc are all possible in PHP, but you have to know how to use them before you ever get started. In Ruby you will naturally be exposed to these things as you use the language because Ruby was built with the concepts in mind, whereas in PHP they were bolted on later by popular demand.
My personal recommendation is if you are still mastering concepts like Object-Oriented Programming, package management, and Test/Behavior -Driven Development, which it sounds like you are, definitely tackle Ruby.
If you just want to build some projects and don't care about the language just use Laravel (which is essentially just a PHP clone of Ruby on Rails).
Also, that "$39 down from $499!" thing sounds like a scam to me. I'd try places like Codecademy or Tutsplus to start.
I doubt anyone would be willing to spend their time teaching you a complex language. Your best bet is to be self-taught using web tutorials, videos, and books specific to the area you wish to specialize in.
Check out http://www.codecademy.com to get an idea of some of the differences.
I would personally stear away from the private colleges like Herzing and such.
Also, start by taking free online classes to see if you actually like this. You could try CodeCademy to start.
No, considering everything that course offers is available from a free source, e.g.:
Also, a "python certification" will literally make any prospective interviewer laugh, possibly out loud.