Where/how can I learn to code online?

[Bob_McMillan]

I decided to take Computer Science in college, despite knowing only the most basic stuff in C++. Like, basic math basic.

I thought during my really long summer break I would get a head start on it all, since I now know that my college will be more into the theoretical and research sides of ComSci than the technical. I researched a bit, and I found FreeCodeCamp: https://www.freecodecamp.com/about/. It seemed legit, although asking me to upload a picture of myself was kind of creepy. I read some reviews, and while it doesn't seem so bad, a couple of them had issues with what they were teaching.

So I thought I might as well ask here anyway, seeing as how there a couple of coders and programmers on the Escapist. Is FreeCodeCamp legit? Are there any better alternatives? Any other methods of learning how to code to suggest?

Please try and keep the technical jargon on the low side, you've got a complete rookie here. Thanks in advance?

 

[bluegate]

My advice would be to contact one of the teachers at your college and asking them. In my experience, teachers have always been happy to help students that show interest in their course and who want to read up on them beforehand. Especially because you say that your college will be more theoretical, your teachers could probably best provide you with literature that goes well with the curriculum for next year.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

My advice would be to contact one of the teachers at your college and asking them. In my experience, teachers have always been happy to help students that show interest in their course and who want to read up on them beforehand. Especially because you say that your college will be more theoretical, your teachers could probably best provide you with literature that goes well with the curriculum for next year.

I dunno if I can do this, mainly because I'm not exactly enrolled there yet. I suppose I could try, but considering the shoddy state of my college's website its ridiculous how hard trying to find information about my course is without being enrolled.

 

[Buzz Killington_v1legacy]

Codecademy [https://www.codecademy.com/] is probably your best bet.

 

[BreakfastMan]

Depends on what you are doing. w3schools [https://www.w3schools.com/] is a damn good intro to front-end, web-dev stuff, I find.

 

[Avnger]

I'll second CodeAcademy for an actual learning "class" setup. W3schools I've found to be great for reference; I've never tried any of their learning stuff though.

 

[Borty The Bort]

Codecademy. Used it myself, great website. Free too.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

 

[mysecondlife]

I decided to take Computer Science in college, despite knowing only the most basic stuff in C++. Like, basic math basic.

I thought during my really long summer break I would get a head start on it all, since I now know that my college will be more into the theoretical and research sides of ComSci than the technical. I researched a bit, and I found FreeCodeCamp: https://www.freecodecamp.com/about/. It seemed legit, although asking me to upload a picture of myself was kind of creepy. I read some reviews, and while it doesn't seem so bad, a couple of them had issues with what they were teaching.

So I thought I might as well ask here anyway, seeing as how there a couple of coders and programmers on the Escapist. Is FreeCodeCamp legit? Are there any better alternatives? Any other methods of learning how to code to suggest?

Please try and keep the technical jargon on the low side, you've got a complete rookie here. Thanks in advance?

I personally found that best way to learn coding (or anything in general) is:

1. Read briefly about the concept so that you have the general idea what it does.
2. Open your favorite IDE (I use Visual Code Studios the most) and dive in. It's OK if you don't know what you're doing. But it's important for natural exploration and curiosity to drive you through this step.
3. After exploring all you can, go back and read the reference.
Rinse and repeat.

I find the 'why' important as well. What interests you about coding? Do you have something in mind you want to make?
If you don't, I highly recommend you to find a project that interests you so that you can show the world.

If you are a complete stranger to coding, definitely give Codecademy a try then go to Free Code Camp for code challenges. I gave it a try and they are pretty legit.

EDIT: I just read that you're learning C++. Keep in mind that Codecademy and FreeCodeCamp will be centered around Javascript not C++. Many things on Codecademy and FreeCodeCamp may not be fully applicable if your goal is to get ahead in C++.

 

[Zombie_Fish]

As others said, it depends on what exactly you want to learn. Codeacademy doesn't have a C++ tutorial on it, but others such as those listed here [https://www.quora.com/What-is-a-website-like-Codecademy-for-C++] do.

Personally when I tried learning C++, I used http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/ to get an understanding of it. After going through their tutorial, I started out using Project Euler [https://projecteuler.net/] as a source of problems to try solving in C++, before switching to coming up with my own pet project[footnote]The project was a software-based Enigma machine [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enigma_machine], if you're wondering.[/footnote] to fully cement my understanding.

 

[DrownedAmmet]

Codecademy [https://www.codecademy.com/] is probably your best bet.

I'll third codecademy, it's a really simple system that let's you fuck around in the actual environment and let's you do stuff as you learn

I had to learn SQL for my job and it didn't take long for me to get the hang of it on there

 

[Scarim Coral]

My uncle, a programmer used Lynda to learn some codings https://www.lynda.com/ HOWEVER you do have to pay for it via subcription.