Does anywhere know where I can learn to code online where I can learn similar to a college course? I need to read a chapter on a topic. Then watch a video of a lecture over that material that I just read, then some assignments or something to have me practice what I just read and listened to. I keep defaulting to learning c++. Right now I’m reading a book. The book has assignments in it. But there’s no lectures. So, I just keep reading it and it gets a little dull reading for hours… I don’t mind switching languages if a different language would have a course like this available.
I’m a student in Zed’s courses (I’m in the $99/month LCLive program). My recommendation is to work thru Learn Code the Hard Way first. You’ll learn how to actually do something in the real world. After you’ve learned that, then you can start working on the theory (if it still interests you).
I have 2 degrees in electrical engineering. I’ve worked as an engineer at a semiconductor electronics company. I’ve published research papers (in solid state electronics, not computer science). I have my name on a patent. So I understand the difference between knowing theory versus being able to do something in the real world. But I’m a noob at computer programming. So I’m working my way thru LCTHW first. Then I might work on learning some more theory in computer science.
At the company I worked at, I saw people with 4-year engineering degrees who were basically useless. College courses are no guarantee that you’ll actually know anything or understand anything. Even Google has finally learned that.
If you want to see what the Learn Python The Hard Way book is like, go to learncodethehardway.org and click on PYTHON in the upper left corner. At the bottom of that page, in tiny print, it says “Read a free sample of Learn Python 3 the hard way”.
If you would rather look at the college class, MIT has courses online. And there are probably others.
Coursera is probably the most convenient for finding others. I might sign up for one of these myself someday, but I have at least another year before I’ve finished Zed’s books.
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Hi, you arrived in the right place!
There you go, check it out:
https://shop.learncodethehardway.org/access/buy/14/
Yeah what these guys have said. Zed’s course is very much that pattern; read a chapter, have a go yourself, then watch the video explanations and complete further study drills for practice or deeper understanding.
It’s great value for money too.
Plus a very valuable feature: you can have your code inspected directly and have live feedback on it, you can ask questions directly about stuff you don’t understand.
Everyone keeps referring to the Zed course. Where is this Zed course? How do I find it?
Do they have a trial of the course so I can kind of see how it works before dumping $100 into something completely unknown?
https://learnpythonthehardway.org/python3/
Here is some free content to wet your whistle. This isn’t a $10 Udemy course, it’s a structured program that goes much deeper. Even at $99 it’s a total bargain. I’ve done both and know what I prefer.
Hey @dorlow,
Everyone’s pointing you at where to buy but not quite explaining why they’re saying my courses are what you’re looking for, so here’s the rundown of how they work:
- You can check a sample of the exercises for Python 3 at https://learnpythonthehardway.org/python3/ , The follow-on book for Python 3 at https://learncodethehardway.org/more-python-book/ , and for Ruby at https://learnrubythehardway.org/book/ If you take a look, they are structured exercises in a logical pattern that are much like tiny little lectures on each topic. The Python 3 series is more recent than the Ruby book.
- Each exercise then comes with a video where I either demonstrate how to do the exercise, or I talk about additional issues with it, or I break it and show you common errors you’ll hit. That would be like a lecture where you see someone demo what you should do, but I try to avoid doing too much for you so you have a chance to work through the material on your own.
- Then each exercise is structured much more on a “now you do it” method, where after you study it, watch the video, then you attempt it (or just copy it to start), and then you do additional study drills to expand on the topic.
- Finally if you get stuck you can then ask for some extra help here in the forum or search through the forum to see if it was answered.
The $100 course people are pointing you at is a Live demonstration and additional help course I run for people who are trying to build their skill with a possible goal of getting work.
I recommend you try the Python exercises in the above links, and if you like them then buy the course and try it. If it doesn’t work for you then I offer 60 day refunds. You can get it here https://shop.learncodethehardway.org/access/buy/9/
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