Sudo Programming Group
A lot of beginners wants to learn to program. There is a lot of material here to cover.
Events
There are a lot of great events that happen over the week for beginning programmers.
- Python Meetup - try to come to this meetup prepared with the basic Python environment installed.
Tips
- Choose Teachers Wisely Often the worst teachers are people who are already really good at programming. They have forgotten what it's like to be a beginner. Think of the time you took ski lessons or snowboarding lessons from your buddy who has been snowboarding for 20 years. It's a recipe for disaster.
- Experience programmers often get contemptuous or impatient that you do not "get it" right away on topics that are complex. I have seen experienced programmers say
- Custom Fit What's right for you is often different from what highly experienced programmers choose. Many people who are more advanced favor node; but for beginners a better choice might be Ruby.
- From personal experience, the best language for me was iOS (Objective-C) but due to political and business pressures, I was advised to develop for Android by many people representing the handset manufacturers and other interests. Be very cognizant of where advice is coming from and choose wisely. Even worse, many people pressured me to developer HTML5, which is the worst solution possible for someone who is not a highly skilled JavaScript developer. Be very aware of people's business agendas, skill sets, and learn to say no.
- "Beginner Languages" on the other hand, I warn beginners to avoid the "beginner" programming languages. Scratch is great, but it often hobbles you. There is no real reason for women to learn Scratch instead of Python or Ruby. This is a personal opinion but for some reason there's something super insulting about grouping women and children into the category of people who need to learn programming by starting with Scratch. Are women like small children? is the thought of a command line too challenging for them to handle? should they just give up trying and switch to childlike paradigms instead of learning a real programming language? For adult women, do not test out programs designed for elementary school children, and try to get set up on learning something that real programmers use on a daily basis.
- Beware stuff "geared for women" - "Geared for women" often means assuming babytalk, brightly colored graphics, and a dumbed-down and often unusuable learning experience for people who are 20+ years out of kindergarden. It's like assuming that women would automatically be into producing "apps for children" or "some kind of simple craft cutesy project" instead of working on solving interesting real world problems. Stay the hell away from stuff drenched in pink. I know there are exceptions but in my epxerience those kinds of well-intentioned programs result in people who are dilettants and do not go very far into their programming career. What's with the color pink anyway? why do women ahve to be treated like infants?