Introduction to programming?
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A friend of mine is thinking about a career change and she was thinking about programming. She's freaking smart, got multiple degrees, among which psychology. She's currently a primary school teacher, she loves the kids, but she dislikes lots of other things. So I'd like to show her some programming stuff, mostly that it's not that hard to learn (but impossible to master) and it's easy to get into. I'd like to start with some WinForms because it's very easy to grasp (it's how I got started) and then move on to some web programming. Just some C# and then JavaScript and HTML and CSS, probably a bit of SQL as well. The goal is to give her an idea about programming, what it is and how it works. I could even show her some production code. I'm not going to show her stuff like C or Python, simply because I don't know it myself. So, within the constraints of .NET and a fun afternoon, is there anything I absolutely should or should not show her? Looking for a sort of curriculum or idea, like a to-do list.
Best, Sander sanderrossel.com Migrating Applications to the Cloud with Azure arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly
As a novice who started with a DEC writer in collage I was hooked but no one could buy a DEC writer Then I got a 40 column Apple But what sparks anyone's desire to code is to write your own application one you want Coding is WORK the fun is saying I WANT A Diary Checkbook Tracker When your desire to have your own program the work to code it becomes the fun Which for many of you here has developed into a enjoyable way to earn a living
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A friend of mine is thinking about a career change and she was thinking about programming. She's freaking smart, got multiple degrees, among which psychology. She's currently a primary school teacher, she loves the kids, but she dislikes lots of other things. So I'd like to show her some programming stuff, mostly that it's not that hard to learn (but impossible to master) and it's easy to get into. I'd like to start with some WinForms because it's very easy to grasp (it's how I got started) and then move on to some web programming. Just some C# and then JavaScript and HTML and CSS, probably a bit of SQL as well. The goal is to give her an idea about programming, what it is and how it works. I could even show her some production code. I'm not going to show her stuff like C or Python, simply because I don't know it myself. So, within the constraints of .NET and a fun afternoon, is there anything I absolutely should or should not show her? Looking for a sort of curriculum or idea, like a to-do list.
Best, Sander sanderrossel.com Migrating Applications to the Cloud with Azure arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly
I've found that most problems that are interesting to non-programmers are way out of reach of a beginning programmer. Instead, maybe find out what she wants to do with her new skills, then teach her pieces along that path. I'd actually suggest taking one of the video courses for learning the programming stuff with her. You could come up with the course material and organize it into a meaningful sequence yourself, but that's a lot of work for one student, and you're limited to the languages and tools that you know. I've found that writing games has been one of the most motivating things to engage new programming students with. It is amazing how little code is needed to make an interesting game that sparks a student's interest. The simplest was the one-if-statement wumpus "game" we used in our Java class as our first-program intro to teach the students how to use the Java compiler.
I live in Oregon, and I'm an engineer.
