Interested in Learning How to Code?

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Learning something new, especially a programming language can be very daunting. The majority of us see high-level coding online and automatically get freaked out. It’s normal to feel like this. The same people sharing their high-level coding skills were once upon a time at the same place as you.

Coding is a highly technical skill that requires time and patience to master. Therefore, the first thing I will say to you is to be patient with yourself and trust the process.

In this blog, I will go through some beginner-friendly courses that can help you kickstart your coding career.

Software Engineering Basics for Everyone

 
Link: IBM: Software Engineering Basics for Everyone

The best place to start is to learn about the basics of software engineering. Once you understand the foundations and processes used for coding, you can start to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

In this course offered by IBM, you will learn about the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) and software development methodologies, for example, Agile. You will start by exploring fundamental programming principles and the foundations of design, architecture, and deployment. You will then go in and investigate skills that a software engineer needs and identify job opportunities with hands-on projects. Last but not least, you will learn about programming basics and software development tools and stacks.

CS50's Introduction to Programming with Python

 
Link: HarvardX: CS50's Introduction to Programming with Python

One of the most popular courses online and is still going strong. This course offered by Harvard is an introductory course to programming using Python, a popular language for general-purpose programming, data science, web programming, and more.

This course is designed for students with or without prior programming experience and who are interested in learning Python specifically. In this course, you will learn how to read and write code as well as how to test and "debug" it. You will cover areas such as functions, arguments, return values, variables and types such as conditionals and Boolean expressions such as loops.

You will have a lot of hands-on opportunities to practice your code using real-world programming problems.

C++ Programming: Basic Skills

 
Link: Codio: C++ Programming: Basic Skills

Just because Python is the most popular programming language out there, it doesn’t mean that it’s the language for you. C++ is also another popular programming language that is used by many successful developers.

In this course provided by Codio, students will get a solid foundation of not just C++, but core Computer Science topics that can be transferred to other languages. The modules for this course include printing, operators, iteration (i.e., loops), selection (i.e., conditionals), and vectors (i.e. arrays).

It is good to note that this course is video-free and there will be assignments containing short explanations with images and runnable code examples with suggested edits to explore code examples further, building a deeper understanding by doing.

CS50's Web Programming with Python and JavaScript

 
Link: HarvardX: CS50's Web Programming with Python and JavaScript

For those more interested in web programming, you should be looking at Python and JavaScript as your go-to programming languages. In this course provided by Harvard, you will dive more into the design and implementation of web apps with Python, JavaScript, and SQL using frameworks like Django, React, and Bootstrap.

Topics include database design, scalability, security, and user experience. To master the skills you have learnt, you will go through hands-on projects where you'll learn to write and use APIs, create interactive UIs, and leverage cloud services like GitHub and Heroku.

CS50's Introduction to Programming with R

 
Link: HarvardX: CS50's Introduction to Programming with R

Maybe Python, C++, or JavaScript is not on your radar and you want to learn how to program in the R programming language. This course provided by Harvard is an introductory course to programming using a language called R, a popular language typically used for statistical computing and graphics in data science and other domains.

In this course, you will learn how to use RStudio, a popular integrated development environment (IDE) as well as how to represent real-world data with vectors, matrices, arrays, lists, and data frames. You will also dive into filter data with conditions and apply functions and loops. By the end of the course, you will learn how to package, test, and share R code for others to use.

Wrapping up

 
Starting to learn a new programming language does not have to be daunting as long as you go through the foundations thoroughly before you move on to the next step. As mentioned before, be patient with yourself and the course and practice till you’re confident.
 
 

Nisha Arya is a data scientist, freelance technical writer, and an editor and community manager for KDnuggets. She is particularly interested in providing data science career advice or tutorials and theory-based knowledge around data science. Nisha covers a wide range of topics and wishes to explore the different ways artificial intelligence can benefit the longevity of human life. A keen learner, Nisha seeks to broaden her tech knowledge and writing skills, while helping guide others.