Ask HN: How do I get into coding? (law student)

[yourspacelawyer]

Hey HN,

I am a current law student, but feel that I have a major gap in my knowledge when it comes to coding, for both apps and websites. I have used an Arduino for some basic things, but have no concept of aesthetics or digital functions.

Are there any open source softwares and tutorials you would would recommend? Ideally I would be able to learn in short blasts instead of long lessons.

Thanks!

[cbwll]

I started a few weeks ago. To save you a lot of Googling;

1 - Go to CodeAcademy and do the Python and Ruby starter tutorials.

2 - Pick your preference.

3 - Choose a framework. The choices are fairly obvious: Django for Python or Rails for Ruby.

4 - Do the starter 'app' that the framework of your choice offers. (I went with the Django 'Polls' tutorial)

5 - Get a hold of the books; JavaScript and HTML & CSS by Jon Duckett. Both are amazing!

6 - Choose a project and get started.

7 - Get lost. Then get lost some more. Then you slightly get a grasp of how things are working, and then you introduce something else and get lost even worse than before..

8 - NEVER GIVE UP! It's okay to get frustrated and walk away for a few hours/days. Just keep pushing.

9 - Remember to appreciate the things you are learning. Take as much in per session as possible then do something else.

Good luck Sir. It's rough. But it's more than worth it when you finish your first project!

[yourspacelawyer]

Thanks for the encouraging words. I shall attack the lessons with gusto!

[adim86]

Check out http://teamtreehouse.com they have pretty good lessons and their longest video is around 10 mins long so it is easy to take a break when you need to or deep dive for hours when you have the stamina. Coding is something that requires perseverance. It always helps to have a project in mind when learning a language or tool

[yourspacelawyer]

Great thanks!