

Learn to Code: A Non-technical Co-founder's Guide - kathrynhough
http://noconformity.co/2011/12/24/learn-to-code-a-non-technical-cofounders-guide/

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moocow01
"This year, my New Year’s Resolution is this: I am going (finally) to learn
how to code. It’s been on my agenda since June 2009"

Hopefully this will be seen as constructive/motivational by the author... but
why if you've wanted to learn something in 2009 have you not done it. And why
wait even until new years... why don't you just start today? You can go to
code academy or the other myriad of online resources for learning right now.

The reason why I say this is that "coding" is not something just learned and
then moved on from. Its a lot like a language. Becoming proficient is a
lifelong and typically never ending journey. Its great if you genuinely enjoy
it - completely miserable if you don't. If its something you think you might
truly enjoy - start now. If its not, be honest with yourself and focus on
other things you like. I hope this is not seen as mean-hearted in that one of
the skills its taken me a long time to get even semi-skilled at is identifying
what it truly is that I want to spend time on and eliminating all the stuff I
actually don't want to do even when I think I do.

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kathrynhough
I totally see your points. Don't worry, I have a thick skin.

Anyhow, the past few years have been a "life gets in the way" scenario. I've
moved across the country twice, and most of my waking hours are spent devoted
to the startup that I work for. I know, tons of excuses. But no more. Trust
me, I am giving myself a kick in the pants as well.

I am exploring many tools, and today I fired up my treehouse account
<http://teamtreehouse.com/>. It's a great program for people who like to apply
new skills immediately and receive consistant feedback. This process reminds
me of the "learning a language" comparison that you made. When I learned
French in high school, we spent the first few weeks awkwardly speaking the
language by learning basic songs and cafe menu items. Once we got a feel for
it, we began to learn grammar. I think that approaching learning to code this
way will work for me as well. I'll need a few weeks of awkwardly following
along and completing exercises within my treehouse account before I can look
at the bigger picture.

Thanks for the advice. I'm starting this journey with open ears and I welcome
comments like this.

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laironald
try starting by learning to think logically! like everything in life, i think
people want to rush to the "fun stuff" right away and can get super
overwhelmed. Get the logic part down and you'll see emerging patterns over and
over again. have fun!

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kathrynhough
Thanks for the comments. Yep, it's going to be challenging and I am sure that
at times I will want to beat my head against a wall. I view taking on new
challenges as a twisted form of fun, so we'll see how this goes. Thanks!

~~~
laironald
:) Challenging things are often worthy endeavors. And pls don't be afraid to
ask questions to the community when you get stuck. I'm sure there are plenty
of people wanting to help!

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ohnovampires
non-technical cofounders should check out <http://trybloc.com> too, don't have
to bother with setting up a dev environment or anything to start coding apps.

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tkahn6
> This year, my New Year’s Resolution is this: I am going (finally) to learn
> how to code

This has been my new year's resolution every year since I was 9.

