Learning to Code as a Hobby
For many, quarantine has meant having more time for exploring new hobbies and learning new skills. Learning to write code is an exciting and challenging hobby that will deepen your understanding of computers and open up a world of possibilities creatively and intellectually. Getting started can be intimidating, but fortunately there is a plethora of resources both online and at Mercer County Public Library to help you begin your journey!
But don’t you need to be good at math? Nope! Programming is much more about logic, patterns, and problem solving than arithmetic. Although they are helpful, lacking quantitative skills should not discourage you from giving it a try. If you’d like to brush up on those too, LearningExpressLibrary is a great free resource to help you along. Rest assured that a computer and a decent mastery of typing are all you need to begin.
To get started with learning to code, choose a programming language. Different programming languages are used for writing different applications. iOs apps are written in Swift or Objective-C, and Android apps are made primarily with Java and Kotlin. You can make 2D/3D games with JavaScript, C#, or C++; and if you’re interested in building a website, Javascript, CSS, and HTML5 will come in handy!
If you are not sure where you’d like to start, Python is an excellent choice. It’s suitable for a wide range of applications and has a huge community of learners and teachers online who can help you feel supported along the way. Many people find it to be the most straightforward language to learn, but it doesn’t really matter where you start. The most important thing is to stick with it.
At the Mercer County Library System, we offer many textbooks that can guide you in learning a new programming language. Try searching “computer programming” in the subject field of our online catalog to see pages of results.
Zed Shaw’s series of books on learning C, Ruby, Python and Python 3 the “hard way” is a popular option. Learning PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, CSS & HTML5 by Robin Nixon is a good start for learning to build websites. Python for DevOps: Learn Ruthlessly Effective Automation by Noah Gift is a recent book that offers a practical guide to applying Python. Automate the Boring Stuff with Python and Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python are two popular titles by Al Sweigart that can get your creative juices flowing.
Beyond books, there are countless free resources online that can help deepen your learning experience. MIT Open Courseware offers free online classes such as “Introduction to Computer Science and Programming in Python” and Harvard offers a free online course “CS50: Introduction to Computer Science”. These challenging classes can lay a broader framework for understanding computer science and are a great fit for those who learn well in a lecture based context. There are excellent interactive websites for self-instruction like codeacademy.com where you can take a free course at your own pace to learn a programming language.
This is also a great activity for involving the kids! Blockly and Scratch are two new computer programming languages developed specifically for teaching children how to code and think computationally. At the Mercer County Library System, we have a huge selection of books that will be sure to get your kids excited about programming. You can find them by searching for computer programming in our catalog and limiting the results to juvenile in the sidebar.
I hope this brief overview of learning to code as a hobby has been helpful. There is a world of resources and learning out there and the Mercer County Library System is the perfect place to start! Check out our catalog.
But don’t you need to be good at math? Nope! Programming is much more about logic, patterns, and problem solving than arithmetic. Although they are helpful, lacking quantitative skills should not discourage you from giving it a try. If you’d like to brush up on those too, LearningExpressLibrary is a great free resource to help you along. Rest assured that a computer and a decent mastery of typing are all you need to begin.
To get started with learning to code, choose a programming language. Different programming languages are used for writing different applications. iOs apps are written in Swift or Objective-C, and Android apps are made primarily with Java and Kotlin. You can make 2D/3D games with JavaScript, C#, or C++; and if you’re interested in building a website, Javascript, CSS, and HTML5 will come in handy!
If you are not sure where you’d like to start, Python is an excellent choice. It’s suitable for a wide range of applications and has a huge community of learners and teachers online who can help you feel supported along the way. Many people find it to be the most straightforward language to learn, but it doesn’t really matter where you start. The most important thing is to stick with it.
At the Mercer County Library System, we offer many textbooks that can guide you in learning a new programming language. Try searching “computer programming” in the subject field of our online catalog to see pages of results.
Zed Shaw’s series of books on learning C, Ruby, Python and Python 3 the “hard way” is a popular option. Learning PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, CSS & HTML5 by Robin Nixon is a good start for learning to build websites. Python for DevOps: Learn Ruthlessly Effective Automation by Noah Gift is a recent book that offers a practical guide to applying Python. Automate the Boring Stuff with Python and Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python are two popular titles by Al Sweigart that can get your creative juices flowing.
Beyond books, there are countless free resources online that can help deepen your learning experience. MIT Open Courseware offers free online classes such as “Introduction to Computer Science and Programming in Python” and Harvard offers a free online course “CS50: Introduction to Computer Science”. These challenging classes can lay a broader framework for understanding computer science and are a great fit for those who learn well in a lecture based context. There are excellent interactive websites for self-instruction like codeacademy.com where you can take a free course at your own pace to learn a programming language.
This is also a great activity for involving the kids! Blockly and Scratch are two new computer programming languages developed specifically for teaching children how to code and think computationally. At the Mercer County Library System, we have a huge selection of books that will be sure to get your kids excited about programming. You can find them by searching for computer programming in our catalog and limiting the results to juvenile in the sidebar.
I hope this brief overview of learning to code as a hobby has been helpful. There is a world of resources and learning out there and the Mercer County Library System is the perfect place to start! Check out our catalog.
- By Sara of the Hightstown Branch
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