Encouragement and ideas

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Daydreaming about next steps or other places

One next step might be to take a real, semester-long "Computer Science 101" course.

• Harvard CS50 - several internet reviewers seem to like this one. They have a lot of videos on YouTube.
• Udacity CS101 - no, this costs money.
• MIT
• 6.00SC 
• 2014 6.00.1.x
• 2011 OCW Scholar
• 2008
• Games for Social Change - kind of random but interesting.
• Coursera/Stanford CS101 - although this one seems more "liberal arts" than "learn to program"?
• UCBerkeley - doesn't seem to offer a "101" course, but does have this one.

Alternately, drop down to Hour of Code and/or Codecademy, mess around for a while... There seems to be a sort of "track", different from the computer-science-theory kind of course, which goes: HMTL, CSS, Javascript... then PHP, Ruby, Python... more practical? Or more entry-level.

• Khan Academy (Javascript)
• PairUp to Code - incl GDI meeting on Sat mornings
• w3schools maybe gives the best map of this "track"

A third "track" is sort of "misc other" -- especially, mobile apps, game design, robots...

Ideally, find a project to actually work on, GitHub etc... alas those things are still unreadable to me. But perhaps help is available:

• Women Who Code - Open Source panel

MIT Gentle Introduction, Session #4 of 11: "Strings, lists, list comprehensions"

A Gentle Introduction to Programming Using Python
Instructor: Sarina Canelake
MIT Course Number: 6.189
As Taught In: January IAP 2011

3.5 hours total. (Of which 30 mins reading lecture notes, 1 hour on homework, 2 hours on Hangman project.) Over the course of three days.

Session Four homework is Homework set 2, exercises 2.7-2.10, plus two optional problems. Was able to finish in one hour. Except I skipped one exercise because it was about how to implement certain kinds of math (above my head). Also I didn't do the optional exercises, because I am a rusty old lady, not top of the entering class, and am just trying to keep my head above water for now.
Session Four also includes a "Project" (hangman game) in addition to the "Homework." 

virtual teacher

MIT Gentle Introduction, Session #3 of 11: "Defining functions"

Sarina and Percy, Dec 2012

A Gentle Introduction to Programming Using Python
Instructor: Sarina Canelake
MIT Course Number: 6.189
As Taught In: January IAP 2011

Session Three: 3.5 hours (completed over four days)

Fri: two hours

30 mins for some readings (that I had not done in advance)
1.5 hours for Homework 2, problems 2.0-2.5. But actually skipped 2.3 and 2.5 due to math issues.

Sat: one hour
Mon: 20 mins
Homework 2, problem 2.6, and Written Exercises (2.11, 2.12)

MIT Gentle Introduction, Session #2 of 11: "Conditionals, loops"

Day two: 2.5 hours

Not much "lecture" material. Have already done the reading.
Homework 1, Exercises 1.6-1.8 and Written Exercises 1.12-1.15.
30 mins Weds (kid had no camp) -- did some paper-shuffling
1 hour Thurs -- did 1.6 and 1.12-1.15.
Another 30 mins Thurs -- did 1.7. Hey, that was almost a real program! A step into Making rather than just studying!
Another 30 mins Thurs -- I'm out of time, gotta pick kid up from camp. But I finished! (Not counting the optional extra exercises.) And I wrote four little programs, and had fun doing the Making! (I've been a little worried about what might happen the day I finally actually put my hands to the clay rather than just reading about it...)

MIT Gentle Introduction, Session #1 of 11: "Introduction"

I decided to count today as my official Day One.

Read Lecture Session #1. Exercise at the end proves I am not a real MIT student: I don't understand question #4. "Positive Root"? "Recall"? Oh well, ploughing on.

Use IDLE to calculate:
1. 6+4*10
2. (6+4)*10 (Compare this to #1, and note that Python uses parentheses just like you would in normal math to
determine order of operations!)
3. 23.0 to the 5th power
4. Positive root of the following equation:
34*x^2 + 68*x - 510
Recall:
a*x^2 + b*x + c
x1 = ( - b + sqrt ( b*b - 4*a*c ) ) / ( 2*a) 

Was able to finish all (well, most) materials for Session #1 in about 1.5 hours (not counting the reading, which I did last week.)

A Gentle Introduction to Programming Using Python
Instructor: Sarina Canelake
MIT Course Number: 6.189
As Taught In: January IAP 2011

Monday morning update. Today is the day I am supposed to start the MIT class, according to my summer plan.

Codecademy Python: 91% done. [Finished the last 9% on 7/30/2014]

Think Python book: have read chapters 1-8 of 19 (but not done the exercises).

Set up this blog/log/journal today. Added backdated entries to try my "learn to program" efforts, based on notes in my journal, email reports sent to friends, etc.

Getting ready to try using MIT Open Courseware, (A Gentle Introduction, course #6.189, as taught in Jan 2011):

• Calendar - 11 sessions total
• Lectures
• Assignments

Session 1 wants me to be install Python and get the IDLE shell running. I seem to have a Python (v.3.4.1) window, but it doesn't seem to be IDLE -- no command menu at top. Sigh... will try re-installing, and researching... digging around in Windows lib directory... OK, yay, I've got IDLE!

Wikipedia trivia:

IDLE is an Integrated DeveLopment Environment for Python, which has been bundled with the default implementation of the language since 1.5.2b1.^[1][2] It is packaged as an optional part of the Python packaging with many Linux distributions. It is completely written in Python and the Tkinter GUI toolkit (wrapper functions for Tcl/Tk). ... IDLE is intended to be a simple IDE and suitable for beginners, especially in an educational environment. 

10 Secrets You Should Have Learned with Your Software Engineering Degree – But Probably Didn’t

67% complete in Codecademy Python course.

Reading:
Think Python: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist, by Allen B. Downey
aka Python for Software Design: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist, by Allen B. Downey
aka How to Think Like a Computer Scientist, by Allen B. Downey

http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/

  

I am only 41% through the Codecademy Python course ("13 hours"), which means I may barely finish Python in this three-week slot (during which I had hoped to finish their full website: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, PHP, Python, Ruby, plus practice Web Projects and APIs.)

summer programming plan

OK, I've read a few books, looked around some, and now this is my current summer learn-to-program plan:

June 23-July 7 (while kid has no camps): 

try to complete all Codecademy modules. Starting in the middle, with Python (13 hours, they say), then back to the beginning with HTML and all their other modules.

http://www.codecademy.com/

July 14 - Aug 1 (while kid is in camp): work through the MIT Open Courseware three-week module on Intro to Programming with Python, 

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-189-a-gentle-introduction-to-programming-using-python-january-iap-2011/index.htm

which based on the textbook How to Think Like a Computer Scientist:

http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/

Do-able? Don't know. But it's a plan...

:)

Today I heard a cheery woman on NPR's "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" introduce herself as an MIT research engineer. She sounded very happy.

"There was no going back to coal mining for me anymore."

http://www.quora.com/Career-Advice/Im-about-to-quit-my-job-to-learn-to-program-What-should-I-do

   http://inventwithpython.com/

Learning Web Design, 4th Edition

A Beginner's Guide to HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Web Graphics

By Jennifer Niederst Robbins

Publisher: O'Reilly Media

Final Release Date: August 2012

Pages: 624 http://inventwithpython.com/

Ordered a stack of new computer books. From the library, and from Al Sweigart at The MADE. All free.

Reading:

• Build a Website for Free, 3rd Edition, by Mark Bell

In preparation for:

Learning Web Design, 4th Edition, by Jennifer Niederst Robbins (the green textbook)

Family newsletter:

I've been enjoying my UU hobby so much, I've gone ahead and decided to try taking on another hobby: studying computer programming. (Just studying, so far, not much actual doing. My schedule doesn't seem to have any free computer time in it, but it does have moments, as I chauffeur Paikea around, when I can read a few pages of a book.) I've read half of Python for Kids (not impressed), and started Eloquent Javascript (pretty cool), and Coders at Work (way over my head, but interesting). Many thanks to the Google Blockly team (especially Ellen S.), to the Au Coquelet BiFriendly crew, to the Hour of Code campaign, and to my 9yo daughter, for the encouragement and inspiration.

TEDx 10 places where anyone can learn to code

Technology TEDx

10 places where anyone can learn to code

Posted by: Jessica Gross January 29, 2013 at 11:28 am EDT

Teens, tweens and kids are often referred to as “digital natives.” Having grown up with the Internet, smartphones and tablets, they’re often extraordinarily adept at interacting with digital technology. But Mitch Resnick, who spoke at TEDxBeaconStreet in November, is skeptical of this descriptor. Sure, young people can text and chat and play games, he says, “but that doesn’t really make you fluent.”

Mitch Resnick: Let's teach kids to codeFluency, Resnick proposes in today’s talk, comes not through interacting with new technologies, but through creating them. The former is like reading, while the latter is like writing. He means this figuratively — that creating new technologies, like writing a book, requires creative expression — but also literally: to make new computer programs, you actually must write the code.

The point isn’t to create a generation of programmers, Resnick argues. Rather, it’s that coding is a gateway to broader learning. “When you learn to read, you can then read to learn. And it’s the same thing with coding: If you learn to code, you can code to learn,” he says. Learning to code means learning how to think creatively, reason systematically and work collaboratively. And these skills are applicable to any profession — as well as to expressing yourself in your personal life, too.

In his talk, Resnick describes Scratch, the programming software that he and a research group at MIT Media Lab developed to allow people to easily create and share their own interactive games and animations. Below, find 10 more places you can learn to code, incorporating Resnick’s suggestions and our own.

1. At Codecademy, you can take lessons on writing simple commands in JavaScript, HTML and CSS, Python and Ruby. (See this New York Times piece from last March, on Codecademy and other code-teaching sites, for a sense of the landscape.)
   .
2. One of many programs geared toward females who want to code, Girl Develop It is an international nonprofit that provides mentorship and instruction. “We are committed to making sure women of all ages, races, education levels, income, and upbringing can build confidence in their skill set to develop web and mobile applications,” their website reads. “By teaching women around the world from diverse backgrounds to learn software development, we can help women improve their careers and confidence in their everyday lives.”
   .
3. Stanford University’s Udacity is one of many sites that make college courses—includingIntroduction to Computer Science—available online for free. (See our post on free online courses for more ideas.)
   .
4. If college courses seem a little slow, consider Code Racer, a “multi-player live coding game.” Newbies can learn to build a website using HTML and CSS, while the more experienced can test their adeptness at coding.
   .
5. The Computer Clubhouse, which Resnick co-founded, works to “help young people from low-income communities learn to express themselves creatively with new technologies,” as he describes. According to Clubhouse estimates, more than 25,000 kids work with mentors through the program every year.
   .
6. Through CoderDojo’s volunteer-led sessions, young people can learn to code, go on tours of tech companies and hear guest speakers. (Know how to code? You can set up your own CoderDojo!)
   .
7. Code School offers online courses in a wide range of programming languages, design and web tools.
   .
8. Similarly, Treehouse (the parent site of Code Racer) provides online video courses and exercises to help you learn technology skills.
   .
9. Girls Who Code, geared specifically toward 13- to 17-year-old girls, pairs instruction and mentorship to “educate, inspire and equip” students to pursue their engineering and tech dreams. “Today, just 3.6% of Fortune 500 companies are led by women, and less than 10% of venture capital-backed companies have female founders. Yet females use the internet 17% more than their male counterparts,” the website notes.
   .
10. Through workshops for young girls of color, Black Girls Code aims to help address the “dearth of African-American women in science, technology, engineering and math professions,” founder Kimberly Bryant writes, and build “a new generation of coders, coders who will become builders of technological innovation and of their own futures.”

While we’re at it: bonus! General Assembly offers a variety of coding courses at their campuses across the globe. Additionally, their free online platform, Dash, teaches HTML, CSS and Javascript through fun projects on a simple interface that is accessible from your web browser.

More suggestions posted in the comments below the article:

http://blog.ted.com/2013/01/29/10-places-where-anyone-can-learn-to-code/

Eloquent JavaScript by Marijn Haverbeke

On Feb 12, 2014, at 9:42 AM, S wrote:

Hi N & C,

I don't know what the right format for a computer programming learning club is.

But, lacking a format, here are my notes to date:

My first question was, what language? What skills? What context?

E happened to send this link a few days later:

http://www.hackbrightacademy.com/

Among other things, their curriculum looks like as good a recommendation for "what to learn" as any.

E also mentioned (not as endorsement, just awareness):

http://www.appacademy.io/#p-home
http://devbootcamp.com/
http://zipfianacademy.com/

http://www.hackreactor.com/

I've been reading _Python for Kids_ and have not found it to be excellent. I'm about half way through, and might or might not finish. I have learned some vocabulary though.

I am now starting _Coders at Work_ and _Eloquent Javascript_, both library books, although the second one is also avail free online.

P made me play CargoBot on her iPad, and that one seemed closer to excellent.

Other highly-recommended entry points have been:

http://learnpythonthehardway.org/

http://code.org/learn - The famous "Hour of Code" place

http://www.codecademy.com/

But my screen time and finances are limited, so for now any learning I do is in paper library books, read in little scraps while chaffeuring P around.

That's my update...

"Studying programming is hard. Not only the time and energy involved, but also the waves of grief and rage and hurt. All the years lost."

"Even if this doesn't work out, I'd rather be an unemployed programmer than an unemployed anything else."

Javascript the Good Parts book

Things I am reading.

Twine game engine

 

Coders at Work book

Interviewed my Tues eve friends about programming. They were supportive and friendly, but gave no clear answers, in part because I quite lack clear questions. But I did note: even when I don't know what they are talking about, I tend to enjoy programmers, their talk, their jokes.

I just sent a txt to N, saying I was thinking of preparing for job as computer programmer. She replied that she and A had also just decided the same thing! Based on a conversation with a visitor woman on Sunday. Who told them to learn Python, not Ruby on Rails, N said.

Still some research to do before choosing a path. But seemed like a good omen to me. Friends. :)

Reading Steven Levy's book about Google.  I like Steven Levy and the computer world he chronicles. His book Hackers made a big impression on me when I was young.

Hour of Code is cool