Over the past 30 days I’ve had three different people ask me for advice on learning how to write code and build an app. Of course, that’s music to my ears as I think everyone that’s involved with a tech startup should learn to write code. Now, the goal with learning to code isn’t so that she can become a life-long professional software developer. Rather, the goal is to better understand how things work behind the scenes, to better communicate with members of the technical team, and to become more well rounded. Much like many colleges require taking a foreign language as a graduation requirement, learning to code provides many of the same benefits.
With the new year just around the corner, learning to code, even if it’s something simple like building a small app, is a great New Year’s resolution. Here are a few ways to get started:
- Codecademy – Learn to code
- Code.org – Anybody can learn
- Code School – Learn by doing
Before, it was much more difficult to start due to having to install and configure a development environment on your laptop. Today, everything is available right inside a browser to learn the fundamentals without any friction. Building an app and deploying it to a web server is more involved and readily saved for a future assignment once it’s clear that more time will be devoted to learning.
So, no more excuses – learn to code.
What else? What are some more thoughts on learning to code?
David Cummings on Startups 
Start with a project in mind.
I’d add Thinkful (.com) to that list as they pair you with a mentor who you meet with weekly. This helps retention and motivation.
David, I have two concerns with blanket arguments to learn to code:
1) What does “to code” mean? What language? To what level? Does it suffice to be able to write some elementary JavaScript functions? Modify HTML?
I might suggest a more specific goal, such as: “Anyone at a tech startup should know how to write HTML (5), read a front end scripting language such as JavaScript, and speak intelligently about n-tier architecture.” It should also include the reason, for example “…so that they can frame the problems they describe in more accurate technical terms,” “…so that they can maintain the respect of developers,” etc. We can encourage a meeting of the minds if we define the what and the why more clearly.
2) I’m concerned with the subtle encouragement this might have to start coding prior to conducting proper due diligence. The first response to a problem shouldn’t be to write code. Is it equally important for everyone at a tech startup to be familiar with the principles and techniques of lean startup? Customer development knowledge by itself might be worth spreading to every team member since, especially with smaller startups, every person is coming into contact with the market. Perhaps you’ve touched on this in another post?
A company has more than one person in it precisely because one person doesn’t have the skills to make that company successful. There is more to a product than code. There is more to a company than product. If you limit your people to coders, then your company will fail. I’ve been there. Our idiot CEO said the programmers could sell the product. Well, no surprise, they could not. That company died. No, not everyone needs to code. And, the company needs to respect everyone even if they don’t code.
I used to give an intro to procedural literacy talk to non-devs at the mid-sized company I worked for. I always started with a slide of Dan Brown and Linus Torvalds to make the analogy that both make a living writing (novels vs code). Just as people who are able to read and enjoy a novel (and navigate street signs and make shopping lists and read blogs) wouldn’t necessarily assume they can write a novel, someone with basic coding/scripting skills wouldn’t necessarily write Facebook or AdWords but might use a little bit of scripting to help automate menial computer tasks or have more intelligent discussions about how systems work with developers they interact with.
Thanks for the good blogs. While learning to code may be a nice exercise, a better one for everyone in the company is selling. Talk to prospects. Hear about competitive options. Budgets. Politics. All the things that actually affect money coming into the door. Code can be minimum viable level but sales are binary- they buy it or they don’t. Knowing other business functions are good for appreciating how to work with others but maybe too much emphasis is placed on coding as “the” area everyone should know.. Happy new year to all!
Udacity has two great intro courses – Intro to Computer Science and Web Development – that I completed within the past 18 months. Excellent easy to follow course content including video lectures.
Udacity has two excellent courses – Intro to Computer Science and Web Development – that I completed within the past 18 months. Excellent content complete with video lectures.
I definitely think this is a great thing! And on that note: I think it should be a requirement (a basic coding class: whether HTML, Java, CSS, etc.) for business majors considering the importance of technology in the success of business. I recently went to the Create Now seminar with Adobe, and they truly make it easier than ever to do these things yourself. Again, maybe not as a pro… but enough to help yourself out.
Another resource you might want to add to your list. Great videos, code challenges, and a nice community of people to help you through the courses.
http://teamtreehouse.com
I recently finished Dev Bootcamp, and a buddy of mine recently finished Hack Reactor. Both of us would highly endorse both programs. Both of these programs cost $ but are immersive and I’d argue you get in 9-12 weeks what would take 2-3 years of nights and weekends on your own.
Thank you for the post! Great resources…
@ Jo Albright
Sorry but I’m going to have to disagree with you on teamtreehouse.com a friend of mine let me use his account and it is definitely not the best educational resource out there for coding. Every lesson I’ve taken jumps haphazardly from point to point with no smooth transitions at all. Plus, at least for the ‘Build a Sple Website’ lesson, the instructor never really explains any details, concepts, or terminology in depth. This makes it particularly hard for beginners to be able to keep track of what’s going on since they have to constantly stop and Google search something else that they didn’t understand every minute or two in each video. I hope this helps for any other novices out there looking to learn how to code.