

Ask YC: Advice on learning programming in 9 months - throwaway121

I am tempted to quit my job and move to the bay area to spend 9 months focused on learning programming and a bit of web design.<p>I already know a bit of programming, one college course of Java worth but not much.<p>I am an aspiring startup entrepreneur and want to get to the point where I can start creating cool stuff. I could probably get by depending on others to do the technical stuff, but I feel like in the long run learning programming is really important for my desired career path.<p>I know it takes longer to become a great hacker but I hope to learn as much as possible in 9 months.<p>What advice would you have for someone thinking of doing this?<p>I am thinking of starting with HTML/CSS and Javascript and working on some simple browser add-ons, so I can start creating stuff that applies what I am learning relatively quickly.<p>I wish something like Ars Digita University still existed today but it doesn't. I am thinking of joining something like the Hacker Dojo or something similar.
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antm
If your goal is to create cool stuff now, you don't necessarily need to learn
how to program. You can build prototypes in PowerPoint or Keynote. My partner
and I built <http://www.thankthanknotes.com> in 8 hours using Wordpress, a
pre-built template, wufoo, paypal, and almost no code.

Now, if you have a genuine interest in programming that's a different story. I
do know it's taken me years to become a half-decent developer (I come from a
design background). So, have some patience. What do you do now? Did it take 9
months to be come proficient? But don't let a lack of dev experience/knowledge
keep you from building something cool.

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paulitex
Google Code University (<http://code.google.com/edu/>) has some good resources

