Learning
to code
What it is, why you should,
and how to do it.
Who is this guy anyways?
Seth Etter
- Engineering Lead at Ad Hoc LLC
- Working on healthcare.gov
- Local community organizer
- devICT and Open Wichita
- Coding professionally since 2007
What is coding?
..and why should you care?
Computers
are
Everywhere
..and they power just about everything these days.
But...
Computers
Are
Dumb
So we have to tell them what to do.
Coding is the language
that computers Understand
What can you do with code?
Spoiler: lots of awesome things.
Automation
"Let the robots do the work"
What sort of things can you automate?
- Turn on the lights when you walk in a room.
- Send you a text when it's about to rain.
- Alert the police if a gunshot is heard.
Notice the pattern -- if ____ then ____
SHARING INFORMATION
..to anyone in the world.
You have something to Share
- Tell the story about you and your family.
- Spread the word about your business.
- Share your knowledge and expertise.
There's no better way to reach people than the internet.
Make it a Career
Demand is on the rise!
There's no better time to get into Coding
- Demand growing faster than just about anything.
- BLS expects new 300k coding jobs 2016-2026.
- Often can be done remotely, giving freedom to your life.
Plus, it's creative, collaborative, and challenging.
HAve a different career in mind?
Coding and the web will still give you superpowers!
- Use the internet to get customers or sell your product.
- Save time and energy by automating business tasks.
Every job is an IT job these days.
So, how do I get started?
Getting Started
For adults.
Self-Guided Online Courses
- Free Code Camp — freecodecamp.org
- Udemy (wide variety) — udemy.com
- Code Academy (free to start) — codecademy.com
- Coursera (more formal) — coursera.org
Bootcamps
- Lambda School — https://lambdaschool.com
- Fully remote, free up front, only pay if you land a job.
- Flatiron School — https://flatironschool.com
- Lots of options, flexible scheduling, free intro courses
- App Academy — https://appacademy.io
- Remote option, free up front, only pay if you land a job.
Getting Started
For kids!
Online Resources
- Code.org (K+) — code.org/learn
- Tynker — tynker.com
- Code Avengers (5-16) — codeavengers.com/jr
- Code Combat (9+) — codecombat.com
- Kodable (K-12) — kodable.com
Most of these are great for classrooms too!
Screenless Options
- Robot Turtles — robotturtles.com
- Snap Circuits — circuitry and electrical engineering
- Lots of other games and books available!
Connect With
Others!
Can't stress this enough, there's no better way to ensure success.
Join the community, talk to other people
- Most important step to ensure success.
- Surround yourself with others on the same journey.
- Have a place to ask questions and have discussions.
- Osmosis is a real thing.
Wichita's community is the best
- devICT (local center of gravity) — devict.org
- Women Who Code — womenwhocode.com/wichita
- Schools, join (or start) a coding club!
If you want to get started, or are even curious,
join devICT's Slack now! — devict.org/slack
Ready to get Going?!
The best way to get started is.. to just get started! No excuses!
Adults
KIDS
Join the community, introduce yourself! We're all friendly :)
Learning to Code
By Seth Etter
Learning to Code
A talk given at the Wichita Library for Open Wichita covering the what, why, and how of learning to code (for adults AND kids).
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