Learning How to Code in High School: A Journey into the Unknown
During their time in high school, students often struggle to find good resources to study code, if not even start learning it. Unless you’re one of those who are fortunate enough to have AP/IB/A-level courses on programming in your school, it might be hard for you to get a grasp on how to study code, where to get useful knowledge, etc.
Fortunately, this post will guide you through learning how to code in high school, by providing instructions on what to learn.
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Why should you study code?
Computer science is one of the most versatile, important fields in the modern world. It takes a huge part in other studies such as engineering and science. Besides being crucial in those aspects, computer science also improves your problem solving skills, making it able for you to approach problems in multiple ways/perspectives. Additionally, computer science itself stems out to multiple fields(data science, app development, etc) and programming languages can be used to create any type of software, given the right tools.
Where should I start with coding?
Most aspiring software developers often start their coding journey with “block coding”. Block coding is an easier way to approach code, where students use already existing blocks to perform tasks, without having to type it out themselves. Block coding programs like scratch is a good way to learn the basics/fundamentals for those who haven’t been properly introduced to the world of coding.
If you’re slightly more ahead of the game, starting with written programming languages would be a better idea. Languages like Javascript or Python are recommended, since they are relatively simple and still have almost all the functionality intact. Keep in mind that starting out with languages such as html and CSS would not be as meaningful, since they differ from other languages due to their unique nature.
Either way, in order to write code and run it, you will need applications called IDEs (Integrated Development Environments). There are recommended IDEs for each code language (eclipse - Java, Javascript, Pycharm - Python), so make sure you search them up, find one that suits you, and download it.
Where should we learn to code?
Before I start mentioning resources, if your school offers CS classes of any sort or if there’s a code tutor nearby, I recommend you to sign up for it. Although self-studying is much easier in this day and age due to the internet, learning from a teacher who you can ask questions to would still be more beneficial. Additionally, getting a teacher would save you time when finding resources, so you can use that time and energy to self-study extra languages if you want.
The first resource that I’ll talk about is codeacademy.com. As the most popular method to self-study code, codeacademy.com provides you courses, quizzes and projects about many different programming languages, teaches you math concepts that are needed for certain projects, and even helps you prepare for future interview preparations. The best part about this website is that you can personalize your feed, and have the site sort out resources that are most important to you, based on your interests and skill level.
Another important resource to use is freecodecamp.org. Although this resource has less programming language lessons to offer than the previous source, it is more beginner friendly, considering that it has a youtube channel where they post great lessons for students to study both basic fundamentals and intermediate content. If you’re starting out specifically with python, I recommend their 4 hour 30 minutes long full beginner course to get an overall understanding of such fundamentals.
In what order should I learn to code?
Although Python, C, Swift and Javascript are considered the coding language for beginners, when deciding on your first language to learn, what you should be more concerned with is their uses. Despite most programming languages being able to be used for almost anything(with the proper libraries/additions), there are specific uses that each language is particularly good at. For example, python tends to be the main language for creating AI and machine learning models, Java is good for making applications, C++ is mainly used for game development, and etc.
FURTHER CODING TOPICS
If you have picked your choice, it is time for you to start getting hands-on experience on code, refer to this list of topics that you should study as a beginner and start working.
Variables - data types, concatenations, typecasting
Operators - mathematical operators
Conditionals - if statements, comparison operators, exceptions handling
Loops - for loops, while loops, how not to make run-time errors, nested loops
Data structures - lists, tuples, sets, dictionaries, how to handle it
Methods - string methods, libraries of your choice, etc
Class and objects - Constructors, local/private variables, parameters
To conclude, learning how to code is a long journey, where you will need perseverance, dedication and will to complete. When things go the way you didn’t intend it to, and you run into an error that you ran it to thousands of times before, take a break from the screen and be sure to give yourself some slack. Be sure to always keep in mind that this is not a race, but a marathon that you should have pride in for taking part of it.
