What online programming courses are good?

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toyonut

1508 posts

Uber Geek

#198664 18-Jul-2016 11:47

I am trying to learn programming in between working and family life. I have been a sysadmin for a few years now and I have always preferred working in Powershell thanks to a push from the guy who got me into my current job. I have recently moved into Devops. As I work for a Microsoft shop, this means more Powershell. I do everything I can in Powershell and really enjoy it. I want to go further with programming so I have been looking at dotnet/C# as a next step.

Are there any recommended courses I can take from home to speed up my learning? Any recommended books? I have found a course on Sololearn that teaches C# and I am currently working my way through that. I have learned a lot already and I am even learning things I can apply to my powershell writing as well.

How do you get more hands on experience to apply things you learn? I am writing small programs to try and implement what I learn.

Try Vultr using this link and get us both some credit:

http://www.vultr.com/?ref=7033587-3B

TwoSeven

1615 posts

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#1594686 18-Jul-2016 19:02

I would suggest Microsoft Virtual Academy as one resouce.

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Dolts

214 posts

Master Geek

#1594703 18-Jul-2016 19:42

Starting Out with Visual C# 2012 is what we used at Waikato Uni for intro to C#. It might be below your current level but it's a pretty good book.

ech3lon

368 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#1594726 18-Jul-2016 20:22

www.pluralsight.com

toyonut

1508 posts

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#1594939 19-Jul-2016 11:07

Cool, thanks very much. I am sure starting out with C# won't be below my level, seeing as my level is 0 or maybe 1! Will have a look and see if there is an updated edition for dotnet 4.6/dotnet core. Will have a second look at the MVA courses and evaluate the cost of a pluralsight license, I keep hearing good things about them. .

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darylblake

1157 posts

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#1595758 20-Jul-2016 17:39

yuk microsoft, cough rubbish. Oh wait doesnt even work on my mac.

Learn C, then C++.

toyonut

1508 posts

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#1595762 20-Jul-2016 18:03

dotnet core works fine on Mac... Linux too... I figure learning a language and concepts of programming to start is going to be better than learning the "right" language.

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tchart

2368 posts

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#1595765 20-Jul-2016 18:19

Concepts are transferable.

If it was me I'd start by learning C# and Java.

I started on VB. Then due to necessity self taught myself C/C++. However while it comes in handy it's not required much nowadays as devices have so much compute (even mobile) there is not much need to optimise and streamline using C++.

Go for a popular language. Hedge your bets with C# or Java.

nova

243 posts

Master Geek

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#1595847 20-Jul-2016 20:30

You can get a 3 month subscription to Pluralsight through https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/products/visual-studio-dev-essentials-vs.aspx. It's a free signup, and you just need to click on the "Use your benefits" link once you've signed in to get the code.

toyonut

1508 posts

Uber Geek

#1596581 21-Jul-2016 23:41

Thanks, that reminds me I used my work VSTS entitlement to sign up. I need to check I still have that active. Would be a shame if that had lapsed and I didn't use it. If it is lapsed, I will sign up for a personal dev essentials.

Thus far, I can recommend hackerrank. I am only doing the 30 days of code challenge so far, but is the first time things have really clicked and I have written some real programs that do something. Their videos are good too. It isn't a teaching site per se, but it has taught me a lot.

Sololearn and uDemy have been good but frustrating. For the courses I am trying with them, they both break things down into small bits. You get an overview of what is a class, what is a method, what is an operator etc, but you don't get a good view of how it all fits together. Maybe that comes later, not sure. Finally feel like I am getting somewhere though which is good. I think the key so far is trying to put what I learn into practice.

Try Vultr using this link and get us both some credit:

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dryburn

430 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1596587 21-Jul-2016 23:50

I have an the material for An Advanced Java course if you want. it covers the basics of programming. I didn't learn much since it was all basic but it is an excellent starting point

dclegg

2806 posts

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#1596633 22-Jul-2016 08:25

darylblake:

yuk microsoft, cough rubbish. Oh wait doesnt even work on my mac.

Learn C, then C++.

Weird. I was coding C# on my Mac 5 minutes ago. I even targeted an iPhone with it. Do you think my machine may be faulty?

toyonut

1508 posts

Uber Geek

#1596690 22-Jul-2016 09:53

dclegg:

darylblake:

yuk microsoft, cough rubbish. Oh wait doesnt even work on my mac.

Learn C, then C++.

Weird. I was coding C# on my Mac 5 minutes ago. I even targeted an iPhone with it. Do you think my machine may be faulty?

Try Vultr using this link and get us both some credit:

http://www.vultr.com/?ref=7033587-3B

dryburn

430 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1597876 24-Jul-2016 22:19

dclegg:

darylblake:

yuk microsoft, cough rubbish. Oh wait doesnt even work on my mac.

Learn C, then C++.

Weird. I was coding C# on my Mac 5 minutes ago. I even targeted an iPhone with it. Do you think my machine may be faulty?

xamarin?

dclegg

2806 posts

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#1597922 25-Jul-2016 08:54

dryburn:

xamarin?

Yep.