Hmm to be pedantic, Pascal is the language and Delphi (and Lazarus) is the environment. Like C# and Visual Studio. As an environment, Delphi is not that bad, but I just find the Pascal language very verbose, clunky and cumbersome. The whole interface/implementation sections thing is a massive pain. It gets in the way of creating code and interrupts the train of thought all the time.
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Hmm to be pedantic, Pascal is the language and Delphi (and Lazarus) is the environment. Like C# and Visual Studio. As an environment, Delphi is not that bad, but I just find the Pascal language very verbose, clunky and cumbersome. The whole interface/implementation sections thing is a massive pain. It gets in the way of creating code and interrupts the train of thought all the time.
newby_investor
Executive Member
It's been years now and my Pascal rememberance grows dim. As I said, it wasn't perfect, but as a language for teaching logic and the basic ideas of programming, it was okay. I remember doing some cool things with it. A bit of a rigour requirement can be a good thing.
Python lets you get away with a lot of cowboy stuff though, so it takes a disciplined teacher to actually learn good coding in Python. Or prior programming experience. It's one of the dangers with the language being so easy to pick up.
I don't really like that. Same with JS. E.g. I prefer typesafe and finding mistake at coding/compiling time rather than stuff crashing at runtime.
JS is another kind of mess, debugging is difficult as code is written quickly and there are no real tools (there are testing framworks) for before compile time debugging.
This does exist when using Pycharm, which makes things really good for debugging.
A buddy of mine codes solely using Python and Vim, he battles with Debugging as he needs to set up another environment for this.
Language aside, you should pick the language that offers the most free support and integrated tools for learning. Learning how to use a Text Editor and other programming accessories should come later. This is why I changed from JS to Python, it was easier for me to learn more skills that matter.
Nuts....
Agreed. That is why I chose C#, but I will give Python a bash...
Stellenbosch University. They offer two CS streams, MATLAB, as a primary language and Python as a primary language.
Download Pycham as well. As Python needs a virtual environment in order to run code, however every other tool you need is integrated in the IDE. A debugger(this is a plugin that needs to be downloaded), run time environment, and it also supports 3rd party libraries like Django/Flask and many more.
I use Python 2.7, I would suggest skimming through the docs as I believe that the syntax was further streamlined in Python 3.
Python website looks like it was designed in the 80s and I am actually really grateful for that as it is way less distracting. It is a well documented language, more so than C# if I might say.
Yep got PyCharm. I got the whole JetBrains suite.
Licensed and paid for? Oh I do envy you....seriously.
I was actually skimming through my Laptops file directory(I use Linux, had a quick skim for updates), I was a little surprised to find that a JRE had been installed, seems that JetBrains builds their IDE's within Java. Fancy that.
aleksandar
Expert Member
Every year they have sale so I managed to get all of their tools for "cheap"
Same...
I will keep an eye out for this, thanks!
marco79
Expert Member
I have a son in grade 7 that is interested in coding. Is it too young for him to start some beginner sessions?
Are your classes/sessions after hours, or over weekends. I'm in Brackenfell.
Are your classes/sessions after hours, or over weekends. I'm in Brackenfell.
I'd be very interested, and willing to pay obviously.
Been looking for something like this. Looked at schoolofitdotcodotza, still considering. Price being my obstacle currently. See no other similar 'personalised' offering like theirs. More options would be nice
Also looking to start with Python
Been looking for something like this. Looked at schoolofitdotcodotza, still considering. Price being my obstacle currently. See no other similar 'personalised' offering like theirs. More options would be nice
Also looking to start with Python
Magandroid
Expert Member
I gifted my son this online course end of 2018, which was inexpensive, with the idea that he might give programming /coding a chance, seeing as he like his games so much.
https://www.udemy.com/teach-your-kids-to-code/
I was hoping that it would pique his interest and hopefully he wants to continue further onto more advanced programming courses. Happily for now he still very much into it and if he wants to continue then I can look at sending him for classes somewhere. By then he should know what to expect and what it is about, so it won't be new to him. this is the reason this thread sounds so interesting as there isn't much out there that is part-time.
When he was much younger I sent him to classes before, through Kidswhocode.com. They started out with Scratch which he liked and completed that course after which he went onto Javascript, HTML and CSS but he lost interest in it as it was typing lines of code.
Yes after hours. I try to find a slot that fits all schedules, but that is quite challenging. In my son's school's IT classes the first few classes uses Scratch to teach the concept of sequential instructions, branching, loops, etc. Maybe one should start him off on that. I might need to present Scratch starter classes as well....
Before you invest some time and possibly money your sons journey(This is a friggen frustrating journey at first), I can email you Python for Dummies. I would suggest having it printed and bound and have him replicate some of the examples in an IDE(Pycharm Community is free, and full featured). NOT IN PYTHON'S IDLE.
PM me, if you like the book.
Another thing to get them interested in https://www.kodugamelab.com/ . Almost like minecraft where you build worlds, but the amazing thing is that you can actually play and navigate your world on PC/XBox with a game controller. It allows you to 'program' interactions etc...