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General Discussion

Posted by Beth Morgan-John
Beth Morgan-John
376 Points

Does anyone want to buddy up? (I'm completely new to programming)

I'm trying my hardest to learn everything I can about programming despite having zero knowledge of it. I'm hoping to make a career of it. I know a lot of people who do know what they are doing but nobody with the time to talk to me about it and work on things with me (even long distance over the computer). I'm starting with Ruby. If anyone does want to keep in touch or has any advice they wish they had when they started out I would really appreciate it.

Marcus Parsons
Marcus Parsons
15,719 Points

Hey Beth,

I just want to give some practical advice to you right now. I would start with learning HTML and CSS and at least a smidgeon of JavaScript since all backend web languages deal with these front end languages. It'll make things easier as you progress. I would buddy up with you because I love mentoring but Ruby is as foreign to me as the German or Chinese languages haha. Good luck, Beth!

3 Answers

Beth Morgan-John
Beth Morgan-John
376 Points
Beth Morgan-John
Beth Morgan-John
376 Points

Thank you! The reason I am starting with Ruby is because I have a few months to learn it before I start a course which deals entirely with Ruby. If I have time, I will definitely learn the other two as well. I want to eventually be able to do all or as much as I can so I probably will do that, thank you ^.^

Marcus Parsons
Marcus Parsons
15,719 Points

Awesome! You'll get there, Beth. Happy Coding :)

Rich Bagley
Rich Bagley
25,869 Points
Rich Bagley
Rich Bagley
25,869 Points

Hi Beth,

Welcome to Treehouse!

I'm not familiar enough with Ruby to buddy up I'm afraid, but just wanted to echo Marcus' comment really. HTML and CSS are great starting points.

Each course, such as those in the Ruby section, will have a difficulty label (Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced) so you can work through them in roughly the right order. You can also opt to work through the Ruby Track which is like a guided option with a set of courses.

In terms of assistance, you can ask questions via the forum but it's always good to Google the problem first to see if you can find the answer. Stack Overflow is also a great source for this.

The more you do it the more it'll stick :)

-Rich

Marcus Parsons
Marcus Parsons
15,719 Points

You are definitely right, Rich! Stack Overflow is the kingdom of answers especially for dealing with web development.

Misty Shaw
Misty Shaw
10,825 Points
Misty Shaw
Misty Shaw
10,825 Points

Hi Beth! I'm going to echo Marcus and Rich as well. HTML and CSS are great starting points; they are what I started with many years ago. JavaScript is also helpful, and can ease you into learning a programming language.

I'm currently on the PHP track, which is a bit of a challenge, but the understanding of it comes to me quickly. My plan is to get into the Ruby track before the end of this year. It is known to have a steeper learning curve, but I'm not deterred by that! By learning other languages first--HTML, CSS, JavaScript, you may have more of an ease learning Ruby.

I am also thinking that you can Google documents about HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and Ruby, to see how relative they are to each other. I hope this helps!