Where to start if you want to learn web programming

If in our relationship with technology we want to go from being mere spectators to an active part of their evolution, what is ours is programming , learning to write code. That set of characters that placed correctly allow you to instruct a machine to do what we want, be it a computer , a mobile phone, a Smart TV or a robot.

Nor should we lose sight of the fact that it is increasingly difficult to think of a profession that is not related in any way to technology, as Ainhoa ​​Marcos tells us, responsible for the Hacking STEM projects of Microsoft Ibérica.

According to his data, "more than 50% of current jobs require technological skills, and experts say the percentage will increase to 77% in less than a decade. New work roles are emerging and existing ones are changing to include new technologies. In this sense programming and computer language are and will be the language of the future, "he stresses.

Of course, before getting to it we have to know that, to successfully overcome our challenge, we must be perseverant, assume that we will only learn based on mistakes and, above all, practice, practice and practice because - one last warning - it will not be easy.

WHERE IT BEGINS TO PROGRAM

The first thing to be clear is what we want to do. There are several programming languages intended for different environments, and more or less extended. To clear up doubts, a good reference is the Tiobe Index , a monthly ranking that gathers which are the most popular languages. Its classification is based on the results of search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo !, Wikipedia, Amazon, YouTube or Baidu. At the top of the ranking is Java, and C is the one that has experienced the most growth during the last year.



If our interest in programming responds more to a professional question, it is interesting to consult Trendy Skills , where they collect the average salary a programmer has depending on the language they master . They include data from 14 countries, also from Spain, and here Java also exceeds the rest in absolute terms. Anyway, we must not lose sight of the fact that the important thing is to start, there are many similarities between them and, once you have learned one, it will be easier to immerse ourselves in another's code.

LEARNING BY BLOCKS

With these questions a little clearer, it's time to get in trouble. If we have children around, we will have noticed that there are robotics courses aimed at them so that they start in this programming. Obviously, it is not about teaching them to write code, but about helping them to understand it to stimulate their curiosity .

A good start is Scratch , from the prestigious MIT Media Lab . It is based on a system of blocks by colors that allows intuitive initiation in programming languages. Their basic tutorials teach how to create an animation, create music or games. Although it is designed for ages between 8 and 16, it is used by people of all ages. So much so that in Coursera they teach you the principles of programming through this language.



Block-based learning is also the one used in Microsoft Makecode . "This system allows us to learn to code from very early ages and then move on to JavaScript," says Marcos. This system is free, multiplatform and is based on open source, so it does not require installation. Includes simple tutorials to build a robot with cardboard boxes or a wallet that counts only the tickets.

Equally simple are the courses designed in the Hour of Code . One hour, it is about introducing people with no experience - from 4 to 104 years, according to its promoters - in the world of computing. The initiative is organized by Code.org and has the support of technology companies such as Microsoft , Apple and Amazon . With them we will not become a computer expert, but it is a good way to see if this is our thing.

CONCRETE PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES

Once the intuitive phase is over, you have to assimilate concepts and go to the concrete. Java , HTML , Phyton , Ruby on Rails ... are some of the most used programming languages. To do with them, it is best to go to some of the online platforms with more baggage and inspired by the same philosophy: learning to write code is available to anyone. Although getting our goal is going to take work.

"It takes work" is the phrase that Kate Ray receives us on her web, a young programmer who learned to write code by herself, and who has gathered in Teach yourseft to code tutorials and recommendations made by the programmers themselves. The help of these communities is very useful and, above all, practical.

Stack Overflow , meanwhile, claims to be the largest in this field: "Each month, more than 50 million developers go to Stack Overflow to learn, share their knowledge and develop their careers."

Any aspiring programmer must go through FreeCodeCamp . HTML, JavaScript, CSS and JQuery are some of the languages ​​that appear among their tutorials. In addition, we can share experiences with other members of the platform.

In Codeacademy there is also a community of developers in Spanish, what is only in English are its basic, interactive and free courses. If you increase your interest in any of them, it is possible to expand knowledge prior to payment. In the same line you have Khan Academy . To start, you can learn to create drawings and animations with JavaScript, web pages with HTML and CSS, and to store and manipulate data with SQL.

If this is definitely our thing, we have to get used to the idea that learning is continuous. The virtual reality or artificial intelligence are mature markets despite their youth. Using the appropriate language to participate in it is also within the reach of beginners, as they prove in Udacity . In collaboration with Google, we will introduce ourselves in the design of multi-screen applications or in the creation of virtual reality content. They are just one example of the around 50 free courses for beginners that Udacity has hosted on its platform.

At this point it seems clear that the most prestigious schools to learn to program from scratch, free and online are located in the United States. Behind are organizations such as MIT or Georgia Tech, or companies such as Google, Amazon or Facebook.

In Spain we can take advantage of an interesting initiative, and with years of experience behind us. In APR (Learning to program) we will not have problems with the language at the moment of immersing ourselves in almost any programming language and solving doubts in your forum. Although do not forget that when writing code all speak the same language.