Abraham - Coding For Dummies

Coding For Dummies

Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com

Copyright 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Media and software compilation copyright 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2014954659

ISBN 978-1-119-29332-3 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-29610-2 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-29607-2 (ebk)

Coding For Dummies (9781119293323) was previously published as Coding For Dummies (9781118951309). While this version features a new Dummies cover and design, the content is the same as the prior release and should not be considered a new or updated product.

1. Table of Contents

The ability to read, write, and understand code has never been more important, useful, or lucrative as it is today. Computer code has forever changed our lives. Some people cant even make it through the day without interacting with something built with code. Even so, for many people, the world of coding seems complex and inaccessible. Maybe you participated in a tech-related business meeting and did not fully understand the conversation. Perhaps you tried to build a web page for your family and friends, but ran into problems displaying pictures or aligning text. Maybe youre even intimidated by the unrecognizable words on the covers of books about coding: words such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, or Ruby.

If youve previously been in these situations, then Coding For Dummies is for you. This book explains basic concepts so you can participate in technical conversations, and ask the right questions. Dont worry in this book Ive assumed you are starting with little to no previous coding knowledge, and I havent tried to cram every possible coding concept into these pages. Additionally, I encourage you here to learn by doing, and by actually creating your own programs. Instead of a website, imagine that you wanted to build a house. You could spend eight years studying to be an architect, or you could start today by learning a little bit about foundations and framing. This book kickstarts your coding journey today.

The importance of coding is ever increasing. As author and technologist Douglas Rushkoff famously said, program or be programmed. When humans invented languages and then the alphabet, people learned to listen and speak, and then read and write. In our increasingly digital world, it is important to learn not just how to use programs, but how to make them as well. For example, observe this transition in music. For over a century, music labels decided what songs the public could listen to and purchase. In 2005, three coders created YouTube, which allowed anyone to release songs. Today more songs have been uploaded to YouTube than have been released by all the record labels in the last century combined.

Accompanying this book are examples at www.codecademy.com , whose exercises are one of the easiest ways to learn how to code without installing or downloading anything. The Codecademy companion site includes examples and exercises from this book, along with projects and examples for additional practice.

This book is designed for readers with little to no coding experience, and gives an overview of programming to non-programmers. In plain English, you learn how code is used to create web programs, who makes those programs, and the processes they use. The topics covered include:

• Explaining what coding is and answering the common questions related to code.
• Building basic websites using the three most common languages: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
• Surveying other programming languages such as Ruby and Python.
• Building an application using everything you learn in the book.

As you read this book, keep the following in mind:

• The book can be read from beginning to end, but feel free to skip around if you like. If any topic interests you, start there. You can always return to the previous chapter, if necessary.
• At some point you will get stuck, and code you write will not work as intended. Do not fear! There are many resources to help you including support forums, others on the Internet, and me! Using Twitter, you can send me a public message at