Hacker News Reader

Comment by oz | Hacker News Reader

My mantra for the past 2 weeks has been that there's never been a better time to learn to code, simply because the resources are so abundant and available.

I'm self-learning web development right now. Between HTML Dog, W3 Schools and Google, I have more than enough information. I wanted to play around with WordPress-fired up a VirtualBox VM with Fedora, and an hour later had completed the 'famous 5-minute install.' When I begin to take on client work, most sites can be hosted on a cheap Linode or Bluehost.

Most of the information you need is free. Infrastructure (if you need it) costs peanuts. You have nothing to lose. Why not start now?

View on HN

from me to you: http://developers.whatwg.org/ is an incredible resource you might put above w3schools, despite w3schools amazing google juice.

Or this... this looks like a great resource. Looks like I've got some reading to do.

Also this: http://dev.opera.com/articles/view/1-introduction-to-the-web...

HTML Dog is absolutely awesome for learning, but just make sure you follow that up with what's different in HTML5. It'll make your life a bit easier. net.tuts+ and webmonkey are great places to get up to date. I've been meaning to try out teamtreehouse.com too, but just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Right now I'm trying to learn Python using Zed Shaw's Learn Python the Hard Way and The New Boston tutorials. I think once I'm comfortable with the language I'm going to try to build something. It seems like the best way to learn how things really work.

> there's never been a better time to learn to code, simply because the resources are so abundant and available.

I felt this way in 2001 when I started to teach myself HTML. There were plenty of free resources available online to learn.

The free education available now is exponentially more abundant. I would expect a similar leap during the next 10 years.

Awesome attitude! If it's something you want to do, you'll make time to learn.

Exactly. As a 17-year-old I've been able to run my own little freelance business. The internet = opportunity if you use it right.

Awesome. I wish I was doing this at 17. Ten years later I'm making up for lost time. Congrats for getting after it early!

To offer a counter-point, I was running a consulting business at 17 (OK, a little later) went from hack to hack and didn't even know I was failing to learn and improve myself. Ran up debt, and went through what in retrospect looks a lot like bouts of depression. Now, I'm going on 30 in my first "real" job and I feel like I'm making up for lost time.

There's no magic right way to do it.

I don't do something unless the profits are clear. I once had $3,000.00 stolen from me, so I've learned early on to avoid anything too risky. And I'd rather make pennies doing something I love than dollars doing something I hate. It's absolutely different for everyone! But I'm confident you've probably learned a lot from your endeavors and have more respect for money. It's an interesting thing when you first start dealing with money...yikes...sometimes we have to learn the hard way.

Thanks man! And you're not making up for lost time :) Everybody's life is completely different.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com