Coding All-in-One For Dummies - Nikhil Abraham

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Mac: Use the preinstalled TextEdit or install TextMate 2.0, an open-source editor available for download at http://macromates.com.

      ❯❯ Browser: Many browsers exist, including Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, and Opera.

      I recommend you use Chrome, because it offers the most support for the latest HTML standards. It’s available for download at www.google.com/chrome/browser.

      ❯❯ Web host: In order for your website code to be accessible to everyone on the Internet, you need to host your website online. Freemium web hosts include Weebly (www.weebly.com) and Wix (www.wix.com); these sites offer basic hosting but charge for additional features such as additional storage or removal of ads. Google provides free web hosting through Google Sites (http://sites.google.com) and Google Drive (http://drive.google.com).

      Working online with Codecademy.com

      Codecademy.com is the easiest way to start coding online, and lessons from the site form the basis for this book. The site doesn’t require you to install a code editor or sign up for a web host before you start coding, and it’s free to individual users like you.

      The site can be accessed using any up-to-date modern browser, but Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are recommended. After you access the site, you can sign up for a free account that will save your course progress and allow you to access more advanced content. As you use the site, you may see offers to upgrade to Codecademy Pro, which includes extra quizzes, projects, and live help. For the purposes of completing this book, purchasing a Codecademy Pro subscription is completely optional.

      Touring the learning environment

After signing up or signing into the site, you will see either an interactive card or the coding interface, depending on the content you learn. (See Figure 3-3.)

      FIGURE 3-3: Codecademy.com interactive cards (left) and the coding interface (right).

      The interactive cards allow you to click toggle buttons to demonstrate effects of prewritten code, whereas the coding interface has a coding editor and a live preview window that shows you the effects of the code entered into the coding editor.

      The coding interface has four parts:

      ❯❯ Background information on the upper-left side of the screen tells you about the coding task you’re about to do.

      ❯❯ The lower-left side of the screen shows instructions to complete in the coding window.

      ❯❯ The coding window allows you to follow the exercise’s instructions and write code. The coding window also includes a preview screen that shows a live preview of your code as you type.

      ❯❯ After completing the coding instructions, press Save & Submit, Next, or Run. If you successfully followed the instructions, you advance to the next exercise; otherwise, the site will give you an error message along with a helpful hint for correcting it.

      The interactive cards have three parts:

      ❯❯ Background information about a coding concept.

      ❯❯ A coding window to complete one simple coding task. A preview window also shows a live preview of your code as you type.

      ❯❯ After completing the coding instructions, press the Got It button. You can review any previous interactive cards by clicking the Go Back button.

      Receiving support from the community

      If you run into a problem or have a bug you cannot fix, try the following steps:

      ❯❯ Click the hint below the instructions.

      ❯❯ Use the Q&A Forums to post your problem or question or to review questions others have posted.

      ❯❯ Subscribe to this book’s mailing list at http://tinyletter.com/codingfordummies for book updates and explanations for changes to programming language commands.

      ❯❯ Tweet me at @nikhilgabraham with your question or problem, and include the hashtag #codingFD at the end of your tweet.

      Book 2

      Career Building with Coding

      Chapter 1

      Exploring Coding Career Paths

      IN THIS CHAPTER

      ❯❯ Using coding in your existing job

      ❯❯ Exploring entry-level full-time coding roles

      ❯❯ Understanding skills and tasks in various coding roles

      “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”

– T.S. ELIOT

      For many people, the words “coding career” evoke an image of a person sitting in a dimly lit room typing incomprehensible commands into a computer. The stereotype has persisted for decades – just watch actors such as Matthew Broderick in War Games (1983), Keanu Reeves in The Matrix (1999), or Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network (2010). Fortunately, these movies are not accurate representations of reality. Just like a career in medicine can lead to psychiatry, gynecology, or surgery, a career in coding can lead to an equally broad range of options.

      In this chapter, you see how coding can augment your existing job across a mix of functions, and you explore increasingly popular careers based primarily on coding.

Augmenting Your Existing Job

      Many people find coding opportunities in their existing job. It usually starts innocently enough, and with something small. For example, you may need a change made to the text on the company’s website, but the person who would normally do that is unavailable before your deadline. If you knew how to alter the website’s code, you could perform your job faster or more easily. This section explores how coding might augment your existing job.

CHOOSING A CAREER PATH

      Coding career paths are extremely varied. For some people, the path starts with using code to more efficiently perform an existing job. For others, coding is a way to transition to a new career. As varied as the career path is, so too are the types of companies that need coders.

      As more people carry Internet-capable mobile phones, businesses of every type are turning to coders to reach customers and to optimize existing operations. No business is immune. For example, FarmLogs is a company that collects data from farm equipment to help farmers increase crop yields and forecast profits. FarmLogs needs coders to build the software that collects and analyzes data, and farmers with large operations may need coders to customize the software.

      To build or customize software, you’ll need to learn new skills. Surprisingly, the time required to learn and start coding can range from an afternoon of lessons to a ten-week crash course to more time-intensive options, such as a four-year undergraduate degree in computer science.

      Creative design

      Professionals in creative design include those who

      ❯❯ Shape how messages are delivered to clients.

      ❯❯ Create print media such as brochures and catalogs.

      ❯❯ Design

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