Extremely engaging.
I did the JS courses but I didn't learn enough - or retain enough. Something's not clicking. As soon as I get a fucking moment of free time I really want to do this 6 week program. Between design class, a clusterfuck manic workplace, working as a mermaid on the weekends for another 3 months cuz my coworker is 9 months pregnant and Ariel ain't pregnant, I just don't have time. It's 9:43pm and I just walked in my house. I left at 7am this morning to get to work early to power through marketing materials without disruptions. /rant Also, aforementioend link: http://javascriptissexy.com/how-to-learn-javascript-properly/
I'm a little skeptical about this approach. The idea here is to dump people into a massively useful and widely adopted environment (Javascript + the web) which is great, but with that comes a great deal of complexity. There is really a lot to digest, and the oddities and exceptions are overwhelming for a beginner. Doing this overlooks some of the more basic building blocks of programming, which are extremely valuable when you're learning. By building blocks I mean thinking about data, how to structure programs, how to think about problems, etc, rather than "What's the syntax for making a blue square?" Disclaimer: the first programming course I took was an irl version of this course so my view is almost certainly one sided.
One thing that strikes me about this is that while it is very user-friendly and has a nice, fun tone, it doesn't really provide a framework for practice or provide ideas for furthering the skills or vocabulary that they touch on. You mentioned that you took a programming course. Would you recommend that anyone with any interest level take a course? If not, do you have any other suggestions for someone who is somewhat interested in learning more about the subject?
What kind of programming are you interested in?
Ultimately I'd like to be able to set up a basic website and maintain it. I don't really have a concrete goal, or website that I'm trying to realize, but I think that the more I'm able to learn about the subject, the better I'll be able to contribute to possible jobs in the future as I'm currently looking for a new one. In short, something I can use in a professional environment that I could also use for whatever personal projects I might have.
But it's so user-friendly that it grabs people like me who would never take the initiative to open a programming book because learning to program computers out of a book just seems sort of stupid to us. I've already learned more about programming than I ever have in my life, and that was only one night of screwing around with it off and on.
I find programming books really boring, but it depends on the book. It's really beneficial to learn to program with a book like "The Little Schemer", typing into a REPL and getting feedback. Another good book would be "Seven Languages in Seven Weeks", using a REPL with that too.
I am in agreement to a point. But if someone is already solid at C then maybe that is all one needs.
I learned C in the 80's everything I write has a heavy functional accent.
one can't. but I did. ;) I guess it is like learning a second foreign language the ground work is already laid.