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General Discussion

Posted by Srinivas Sri Perumbuduru
Srinivas Sri Perumbuduru
2,502 Points

New to programming. How do I start ? Objective is to become a strong backend developer and know just basics of frontend.

This is my 3rd attempt. I've given up last two times because of CSS and confusion in learning different languages. I'd like to stick to one. What are your suggestions ?

3 Answers

Zachary Kaufman
Zachary Kaufman
1,463 Points
Zachary Kaufman
Zachary Kaufman
1,463 Points

I also found CSS very confusing and much more enjoy learning other types of programming. Is there a reason you want to become a web developer? You may enjoy languages like Swift, Java, Python and Ruby. I found web development confusing and less enjoyable then those languages when I first started out. But if you really want to stick to web development, I would suggest the Web Design or Front-End Web Development track and then choose a backend language to learn (perhaps full stack Javascript or Django, Ruby on Rails, Flask, PHP etc) and do the track for that one. Or you could just take the How to Make a Website course (which is only front end and only a few hours) and then choose a backend language and take the full track for that. I hope this helps! Good luck!

Srinivas Sri Perumbuduru
Srinivas Sri Perumbuduru
2,502 Points

Thank you, Zach. This helps a lot. I don't want to stick to just web development, I'd prefer learning languages like Python and Swift after "How to make a website course". Thanks a ton :)

Zachary Kaufman
Zachary Kaufman
1,463 Points
Zachary Kaufman
Zachary Kaufman
1,463 Points

No problem, but just a heads up the How to Make a Website course won't help you with Python or Swift. Swift is used purely for Apple development and Python alone isn't a web language. You have to take the Django or Flask course (Python web frameworks) to use Python on the web. I wish you the best of luck! I love both Python and Swift I think you'll enjoy them too :)

J V
J V
4,471 Points
J V
J V
4,471 Points

There was a TreeHouse blog post about this a few months ago. This gave me the best advice ever.

"Pick a language and stick with it".

Pick Python. Do the track, then do the intermediate/advanced courses on python. Practice and learn more. Then go back to the Web Development/ Web Design Tracks and use your expertise in Python to make your stuff do amazing things.