Resources for new web programmers!

README.md

Resources for new programmers

This document is a work in progress and right now is mostly a mishmash of copy-pasted responses to people I have offered advice about a career-switch to web development over many years right now. It will get tidier as time goes on!

Career paths and competencies

[coming soon]

Introduction / where do I start / this is so overwhelming omg

[coming soon]

Language-specific

HTML

Javascript

Ruby

Framework-specific

Unorganized notes to integrate into the actual headings

Great gentle intro for brand new programmers: The Railsbridge curriculum is always a great place to begin. This was more or less the content of my first intro to Rails at a weekend workshop in Boston many years ago! Intro To Rails - Intro To Rails

A really comprehensive resource for newer programmers: The best Rails tutorial I know that you can buy is the Michael Hartl one, but it’s not short or even medium. It’s 800 pages.

That said, it’s really high-quality and affordable, and it has a great ToC that makes it easy to dip in and out of portions someone finds interesting or to fill gaps. Ruby on Rails Tutorial

Free! Short! Pretty good! Best for people with a bit of web programming experience already: I continue to think the Rails Guides are awesome, too. This one might actually fit the bill really well, you make a blog basically: Getting Started with Rails — Ruby on Rails Guides

Software as a cooperative game

Harvard Extension School web technologies certificate programs

Learn to Program Ruby intro with Chris Pine, a gold standard.

• Mozilla Developer Network is the gold standard of free reference material on web programming. I'd strongly recommend preferring them as a reference versus something like w3schools, which, despite the name, has no relationship to the standards body that regulates web standards (called the w3c). They're paid via advertising whereas the Mozilla docs are all a labor of love from people passionate about open source and education. Check out the tutorials!
• Great lists of programming projects. Pick something small and do project-oriented learning. It's much more effective in my opinion and picking something that feels fun to you is a great motivator. One of my first JS projects was this, but feel free to start even smaller and make a calculator or a dice roller or something, those are great places to begin.