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+16 votes

I am planning on teaching myself a new language during J-term and was wondering if anyone has taken any online courses or used/is aware of any helpfull online resources! I heard that LinkedIn is good for this but haven't tried it myself.

asked in CSC350 by (1 point)
+4

I've been learning basic JavaScript from FreeCodeCamp.org and its been great so far! It's layout is similar to PracticeIt where in order to progress to the next lesson you must submit the correct answer. It feels like you're playing a game. Try it out!

6 Answers

+14 votes

LinkedIn Learning is a great resource that, as I understand it, is provided to you for free by Augustana, and covers a wide range of subjects, likely including a language you might wish to learn.

Stack Overflow is always a helpful resource to utilize, both to find sources for learning, and to ask questions. This one will apply to any language you can think of, and is definitely the number one of any resource I have ever used while learning programming.

Personally, I have more experience with less structured learning. Nothing motivates me to learn a new language better than a project I am interested in, whether it is for a useful application or just something I am determined to complete. This approach takes some shopping around based on your personal interests.

If you're looking for something more structured, edX is an aggregate for free open courseware provided by some well known universities.

Additionally, almost every language has a manual open to the public for free. These manuals could be your greatest resource for learning a new language on your own.

Of course, different learning methods appeal to different people, and I think it's great that you're asking for resources!


As you look around, I think you might notice that a lot of courses like this aren't necessarily specific to one language. This is, to my understanding, because learning a language is really not a course-worthy thing in and of itself. As a sweeping generalization: basic computer science concepts don't really change between languages, they just put on a new face.

An analogy for you: A language is like a carpenter's hammer. There are lots of types of hammers, each with their own specific uses and quirks, but at the end of the day, they are all hammers. What really matters is the person using it, and their goal.

answered by (1 point)
+5

Thank you! I will look into those resources but probably should just start on my own project instead... I also don't love super structured learning so I could see myself getting burnt out and not finishing an online course if that was a route I choose to go down. Thanks again for the advice!

+3

I second this! Linkedin Learning was very useful to me this summer when learning new tools for my internship!

+11 votes

It really depends on what language you're looking to learn. There are plenty of tutorials for most languages online.
I've currently been going through http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/ for learning C++
Stonedahl sent out that email for free online mini-courses in web development/design (https://thegymnasium.com/courses)
I have also used Kahn Academy for some basic JavaScript and HTML/CSS (https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computer-programming)
I also tried CodeAcademy like forever ago. It has a paid subscription for all of it's content, but some of it is free and I remember it being useful. I think I used this one mostly for HTML and CSS as well (https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computer-programming)

answered by (1 point)
+1

Is there one for learning Korean?

+9 votes

Like Kathryn said, Codecademy has free courses for learning some new languages and I used it to start learning Python a couple years ago. It has a lot of different languages and it's good for learning the basics of a new language.

Code Step by Step has a lot of practice problems on it in several languages. I haven't used it too much but it seems helpful.

Tutorialspoint has some courses I've never tried (because they cost money) but it also has tutorials on languages and libraries that are pretty helpful. I read a lot of the JavaFX tutorial back in Software Development and if I remember right this was the most helpful source I found for that.

answered by (1 point)
+7 votes
answered by (1 point)
+2

Thanks Jon this resource is really helpful!!

+5 votes

Try Khan academy to learn the very basics of different programming languages!

answered by (1 point)
+4 votes

Theres a ton of resources that I can't name off the top of my head but also check out learning programming or something of that name on reddit. I think a lot of resources are listed in that subreddit.

answered by (1 point)
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