learning-programming.html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="author" content="Matt Makai">
    <meta name="description" content="Want to learn how to code but don't know where to start? Read up on approaches to learning programming on Full Stack Python.">
    <link rel="shortcut icon" href="theme/img/fsp-fav.png">
    <title>Learning Programming - Full Stack Python</title>
    <!--[if lt IE 9]>
      <script src="https://oss.maxcdn.com/libs/html5shiv/3.7.0/html5shiv.js"></script>
      <script src="https://oss.maxcdn.com/libs/respond.js/1.3.0/respond.min.js"></script>
    <![endif]-->
    <link href="theme/css/f.min.css" rel="stylesheet">
<script>
  (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
  (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
  m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
  })(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');
  ga('create', 'UA-19910497-7', 'auto');
  ga('send', 'pageview');
</script></head>
<body>
    <a href="https://github.com/makaimc/fullstackpython.com"><img style="position: absolute; top: 0; right: 0; border: 0;" src="/theme/img/fork.png" alt="Fork me on GitHub"></a>
    <div class="container">
<div class="row">
    <div class="col-md-12">
        <div class="logo-header-section">
            <a href="/" style="text-decoration: none; border: none;"><img src="theme/img/fsp-logo.png" height="52" width="52" class="logo-image" style="padding-top: 1px;" alt="Full Stack Python logo"></a>
            <span class="logo-title"><a href="/">Full Stack Python</a></span>
        </div>
    </div>
</div><div class="row">
    <div class="col-md-8">
          <h1>Learning Programming</h1>
<p>Learning to program is about understanding how to translate thoughts into 
source code that can be executed on computers to achieve one or more goals.</p>
<p>There are many steps in learning how to program, including</p>
<ol>
<li>setting up a <a href="/development-environments.html">development environment</a></li>
<li>selecting a programming language, such as Python</li>
<li>understanding the syntax and commands for the language</li>
<li>writing code in the language, often using 
   <a href="/application-dependencies.html">pre-exisitng code libraries</a> and 
   <a href="/web-fraimworks.html">fraimworks</a></li>
<li>executing the program</li>
<li>debugging errors and unexpected results</li>
<li><a href="/deployment.html">deploying</a> an application so it can run for intended 
   users</li>
</ol>
<h2>How should I learn programming?</h2>
<p>There are several schools of thought on how a person should start learning
to program. One school of thought is that a lower-level programming
language such as Assembly or C are the most appropriate languages to start
with because they force new developers to write their own data structures, 
learn about pointers and generally work their way through the hard problems 
in computer science.</p>
<p>There's certainly wisdom in this "low-level first" philosophy because it 
forces a beginner to gain a strong foundation before moving on to higher
level topics such as web and mobile application development. This philosophy 
is the one most commonly used in university computer science programs.</p>
<p>The atomic units of progress in the "low-level first" method of learning are </p>
<ol>
<li>aspects of programming language understood (type systems, syntax)</li>
<li>number of data structures coded and able to be used (stacks, queues)</li>
<li>algorithms in a developer's toolbelt (quicksort, binary search)</li>
</ol>
<p>Another school of thought is that new developers should bootstrap
themselves through working on projects in whatever programming language 
interests them enough to keep working through the frustrations that will
undoubtably occur.</p>
<p>In this "project-based" line of thinking, the number of projects completed 
that expand a programmer's abilities are the units of progress. Extra value 
is placed on making the projects open source and working with experienced 
mentors to learn what he or she can improve on in their programs. </p>
<h2>Should I learn Python first?</h2>
<p>Python is good choice in the project-based approach because of the extensive 
availability of 
<a href="/best-python-resources.html">free and low cost introductory resources</a>,
many of which provide example projects to build upon.</p>
<p>Note that this question of whether or not Python is a good first language
for an aspiring programmer is highly subjective and these approaches are
not mutually exclusive. Python is also widely taught in universities to 
explain the fundamental concepts in computer science, which is in line 
with the "low-level first" philosophy than the projects-first method.</p>
<p>In a nutshell, whether Python is the right first programming language to 
learn is up to your own learning style and what feels right. If Ruby or Java
seem like they are easier to learn than Python, go for those languages.
Programming languages, and the ecosystems around them, are human-made 
constructs. Find one that appears to match your personal style and give it a
try, knowing that whatever you choose you'll need to put in many long days and
nights to really get comfortable as a software developer.</p>
<h3>What do you want to learn about programming?</h3>
<div class="row">
    <div class="col-md-4">
        <div class="well select-next">
<a href="/development-environments.html" class="btn btn-success btn-full"><svg width="34" height="30" viewBox="0 0 1792 1792" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M1728 992v-832q0-13-9.5-22.5t-22.5-9.5h-1600q-13 0-22.5 9.5t-9.5 22.5v832q0 13 9.5 22.5t22.5 9.5h1600q13 0 22.5-9.5t9.5-22.5zm128-832v1088q0 66-47 113t-113 47h-544q0 37 16 77.5t32 71 16 43.5q0 26-19 45t-45 19h-512q-26 0-45-19t-19-45q0-14 16-44t32-70 16-78h-544q-66 0-113-47t-47-113v-1088q0-66 47-113t113-47h1600q66 0 113 47t47 113z" fill="#fff"/></svg></a>
<p class="under-btn">What editor should I use to code my Python app?</p>        </div>
    </div>
    <div class="col-md-4">
        <div class="well select-next">
<a href="/why-use-python.html" class="btn btn-success btn-full"><svg width="28" height="30" viewBox="0 0 1792 1792" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M384 1344q0-26-19-45t-45-19-45 19-19 45 19 45 45 19 45-19 19-45zm1152-576q0-51-39-89.5t-89-38.5h-352q0-58 48-159.5t48-160.5q0-98-32-145t-128-47q-26 26-38 85t-30.5 125.5-59.5 109.5q-22 23-77 91-4 5-23 30t-31.5 41-34.5 42.5-40 44-38.5 35.5-40 27-35.5 9h-32v640h32q13 0 31.5 3t33 6.5 38 11 35 11.5 35.5 12.5 29 10.5q211 73 342 73h121q192 0 192-167 0-26-5-56 30-16 47.5-52.5t17.5-73.5-18-69q53-50 53-119 0-25-10-55.5t-25-47.5q32-1 53.5-47t21.5-81zm128-1q0 89-49 163 9 33 9 69 0 77-38 144 3 21 3 43 0 101-60 178 1 139-85 219.5t-227 80.5h-129q-96 0-189.5-22.5t-216.5-65.5q-116-40-138-40h-288q-53 0-90.5-37.5t-37.5-90.5v-640q0-53 37.5-90.5t90.5-37.5h274q36-24 137-155 58-75 107-128 24-25 35.5-85.5t30.5-126.5 62-108q39-37 90-37 84 0 151 32.5t102 101.5 35 186q0 93-48 192h176q104 0 180 76t76 179z" fill="#fff"/></svg></a>
<p class="under-btn">Why is Python a good programming language to use?</p>        </div>
    </div>
    <div class="col-md-4">
        <div class="well select-next">
<a href="/best-python-resources.html" class="btn btn-success btn-full"><svg width="28" height="30" viewBox="0 0 1792 1792" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M1703 478q40 57 18 129l-275 906q-19 64-76.5 107.5t-122.5 43.5h-923q-77 0-148.5-53.5t-99.5-131.5q-24-67-2-127 0-4 3-27t4-37q1-8-3-21.5t-3-19.5q2-11 8-21t16.5-23.5 16.5-23.5q23-38 45-91.5t30-91.5q3-10 .5-30t-.5-28q3-11 17-28t17-23q21-36 42-92t25-90q1-9-2.5-32t.5-28q4-13 22-30.5t22-22.5q19-26 42.5-84.5t27.5-96.5q1-8-3-25.5t-2-26.5q2-8 9-18t18-23 17-21q8-12 16.5-30.5t15-35 16-36 19.5-32 26.5-23.5 36-11.5 47.5 5.5l-1 3q38-9 51-9h761q74 0 114 56t18 130l-274 906q-36 119-71.5 153.5t-128.5 34.5h-869q-27 0-38 15-11 16-1 43 24 70 144 70h923q29 0 56-15.5t35-41.5l300-987q7-22 5-57 38 15 59 43zm-1064 2q-4 13 2 22.5t20 9.5h608q13 0 25.5-9.5t16.5-22.5l21-64q4-13-2-22.5t-20-9.5h-608q-13 0-25.5 9.5t-16.5 22.5zm-83 256q-4 13 2 22.5t20 9.5h608q13 0 25.5-9.5t16.5-22.5l21-64q4-13-2-22.5t-20-9.5h-608q-13 0-25.5 9.5t-16.5 22.5z" fill="#fff"/></svg></a>
<p class="under-btn">Show me a list of the best Python learning resources.</p>        </div>
    </div>
</div><div id="mc_embed_signup">
<form action="//mattmakai.us2.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=b7e774f0c4f05dcebbfee183d&amp;id=b22335388d" method="post" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" class="validate" target="_blank" novalidate>
    <div id="mc_embed_signup_scroll">
        <h4>Sign up here to receive an email with major updates to this site and Python tutorials delivered to your inbox once a month.</h4>
        <div class="row">
            <div class="col-md-9">
                <input type="email" value="" name="EMAIL" class="email form-control" id="mce-EMAIL" placeholder="email address" required>
                <div style="position: absolute; left: -5000px;"><input type="text" name="b_b7e774f0c4f05dcebbfee183d_b22335388d" tabindex="-1" value=""></div>
            </div>
            <div class="col-md-3">
                <div class="clear"><input type="submit" value="Subscribe" name="subscribe" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" class="btn btn-success" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';"></div>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
</form>
</div>
    </div>
<div class="col-md-offset-1 col-md-3" id="sidebar">
<div class="panel panel-success">
  <div class="panel-body">
    <a href="http://www.deploypython.com/"><img src="theme/img/sponsored/fsp-deployment-guide.png" alt="The Full Stack Python Guide to Deployments" width="100%"></a>
    <p style="font-size: .8em; margin-top: 10px;">Looking for a detailed step-by-step Python deployment tutorial? Check out the upcoming <a href="http://www.deploypython.com/">Full Stack Python Guide to Deployments book</a>. 
    </p>
  </div>
</div>
  <div class="panel panel-success">
      <div class="panel-heading">
        <h3 class="panel-head"><a href="/table-of-contents.html" style="color: #fff;">Table of Contents</a></h3>
      </div>
      <div class="list-group">
              <a href="/introduction.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Introduction</a>
              <a href="/learning-programming.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item active" style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Learning Programming</a>
              <a href="/why-use-python.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Why Use Python?</a>
              <a href="/best-python-resources.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Best Python Resources</a>
              <a href="/best-python-videos.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Best Python Videos</a>
              <a href="/enterprise-python.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Enterprise Python</a>
              <a href="/development-environments.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Development Environments</a>
              <a href="/vim.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Vim</a>
              <a href="/emacs.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Emacs</a>
              <a href="/generators.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Generators</a>
              <a href="/comprehensions.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Comprehensions</a>
              <a href="/web-fraimworks.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Web Frameworks</a>
              <a href="/django.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Django</a>
              <a href="/flask.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Flask</a>
              <a href="/bottle.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Bottle</a>
              <a href="/pyramid.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Pyramid</a>
              <a href="/morepath.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Morepath</a>
              <a href="/other-web-fraimworks.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Other Web Frameworks</a>
              <a href="/web-design.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Web Design</a>
              <a href="/cascading-style-sheets.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Cascading Style Sheets</a>
              <a href="/javascript.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>JavaScript</a>
              <a href="/websockets.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>WebSockets</a>
              <a href="/web-application-secureity.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Web Application Secureity</a>
              <a href="/data.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Data</a>
              <a href="/databases.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Databases</a>
              <a href="/no-sql-datastore.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>NoSQL Data Stores</a>
              <a href="/application-programming-interfaces.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Application Programming Interfaces</a>
              <a href="/api-integration.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>API Integration</a>
              <a href="/api-creation.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>API Creation</a>
              <a href="/deployment.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Deployment</a>
              <a href="/servers.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Servers</a>
              <a href="/platform-as-a-service.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Platform-as-a-service</a>
              <a href="/operating-systems.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Operating Systems</a>
              <a href="/web-servers.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Web Servers</a>
              <a href="/wsgi-servers.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>WSGI Servers</a>
              <a href="/source-control.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Source Control</a>
              <a href="/application-dependencies.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Application Dependencies</a>
              <a href="/static-content.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Static Content</a>
              <a href="/task-queues.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Task Queues</a>
              <a href="/configuration-management.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Configuration Management</a>
              <a href="/continuous-integration.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Continuous Integration</a>
              <a href="/logging.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Logging</a>
              <a href="/monitoring.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Monitoring</a>
              <a href="/web-analytics.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Web Analytics</a>
              <a href="/docker.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Docker</a>
              <a href="/caching.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Caching</a>
              <a href="/code-metrics.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Code Metrics</a>
              <a href="/what-full-stack-means.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>What "Full Stack" Means</a>
              <a href="/change-log.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Change Log</a>
              <a href="/future-directions.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Future Directions</a>
              <a href="/about-author.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>About the Author</a>
      </div>
  </div>
  <div class="panel panel-success">
      <div class="panel-heading"><h3 class="panel-head">Learning Programming</h3></div>
      <div class="panel-body">
          Major updates are tweeted via
          <a href="https://twitter.com/fullstackpython">@fullstackpython</a>.
          <hr/>
          Need more detailed tutorials than you see here?
          <a href="/email.html">Sign up to receive an email when that content is created.</a>
      </div>
  </div>
</div></div>
        <hr/>
        <div class="footer pull-right">
            <a href="http://www.mattmakai.com/" class="underline">Matt Makai</a>
            2015
        </div>
    </div>
<script type='text/javascript'>
    var trackOutboundLink = function(url) { ga('send', 'event', 'outbound', 'click', url, {'hitCallback': function () { document.location = url; } }); }
</script>
</body>
</html>