Learn to Program

What Hacker News says

1. WillPostForFoodSep 2023
   I like "Learn to Program", by Chris Pine. It is very simple and straightforward. You get students into interactive exercises very quickly. You can preview it online:

   https://pine.fm/LearnToProgram/

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2. zeroegoSep 2021
   I just recently accepted my first Software Development position. Copy pasting from another post but this is basically how I did it:

   2015 - Graduated with BA in History.

   2018 - Started self teaching how to program, got an office job and automated everything I could.

   2019 - Took four semesters of night classes to meet the math per-requisites for my local CS program.

   2020 - Took a butt load of CS classes while working.

   2021 - Finally convinced my company to let me help the software team (part-time).

   July 2021 - Partner gets job out of state, apply for dev jobs in that city even though I hadn't finished my degree.

   August 2021 - After a long interview process, accepted an offer for my very first software development job!

   Books that really helped: The Players Guide to C# by RB Whitaker, Learn to Program by Chris Pine

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3. AlchemistCampOct 2020
   I read all of those and would like to add two more:

   1) Learn to Program, by Chris Pine. It's the best book I've read on learning to program in any language.

   2) Practical Ruby Projects: Ideas for the Eclectic Programmer, by Topher Cyll. In a sense it wasn't "practical" at all. But it was a joyous eye-opener to all kinds of applications that turned me into a whirlwind of enthusiasm for months!

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4. aplummerOct 2020
   > Learn to Program, by Chris Pine

   My first programming book, 10 years ago in a few months I think. Great read.

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5. AlchemistCampJan 2020
   I found Ruby a bit easier to read and much easier to learn than Python as a beginner. In fact, I'd say it's the most beginner-friendly language I've seen, especially with great resources like Chris Pine's Learn to Program.

   If I had to rank learning difficulty I've found various languages, I'd say Ruby was the easiest one I've ever encountered. It's very consistent, everything is an object, it's flexible and you don't need to learn anywhere near all of it to become productive with it.

   Python is fairly beginner-friendly too, but it's less consistent, significant whitespace leads to a certain class of mistakes that are maddening for a beginner and at least when I used it pip was nowhere near as nice to work with as gems and bundler.

   Both are much easier than JavaScript or anything where you manage your own memory, though!

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6. zeroegoAug 2019
   As someone who was recently a total beginner, I've found two that I have really appreciated:

   1. Learn to Program, by Chris Pine https://pine.fm/LearnToProgram/

   2. The C# Player's Guide, by R. B. Whitaker

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