Before you can write programs for the computer, you have to learn how to think like a programmer. Learning to think like a programmer is valuable for any student. Here are steps to help anyone learn to code and see the value of computer science — even if they don’t plan to become a computer scientist.
As the title implies, Python is often used as a first language by people who want to learn programming. Python is clean and easy to read, but its design encourages programmers to write programs that are short, clear and easy to read.
Python is a programming language. But Python is more than just a programming language. It is a philosophy, and a way of looking at software construction. It's also an enormous collection of highly reusable software components, know as modules and packages...
Sure there are other languages like Go (golang) or C++, but I think Python is the best language to start with.
Learn how computers work
The first step to learning to think like a computer scientist is to learn the basics of how computers work. They can’t simply be treated as magic boxes that do everything for us; we have to understand how they work at a fundamental level.
You probably don’t think about how computers work. Sure, you could sit around and ponder the mysteries of binary encoding and the memory hierarchy, or you could learn how computers work.
Start by analyzing the goals of a computer system, and using them to motivate the building blocks of a computer: the clocking mechanism, memory, and the central processing unit. Next, learn the basic structure of a CPU, how it executes instructions, when it fetches instructions, and what it does with its results.
How to learn to code?
But how does one learn to code? It’s tough, and everyone learns differently. The key is that you have fun with it, because if you care about what you’re doing, you’ll want to keep going. The way you learn best is the way that will keep you motivated as you go through the process.
A good book+video course is the Python Crash Course
If you are new to Python, these websites can help:
- pythonbasics python tutorial which goes over the basics
- pythonprogramminglanguage general tutorial on python
- pythonspot another good resource which goes over a variety of topics
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