Beginners
This page is intended for those students new to programming in a “Real Language”, that is, more than just something with blocks.
There are no prerequisites (pre-work) to this tutorial, but it’s recommended that you have at least finished an Hour of Code. Don’t worry, it probably won’t take you an hour. Feel free to choose whatever activity interests you.
Link: Hour of Code from Code.org
Javascript
Javascript (also known as JS) is a programming language. Programming languages are how programmers (you) tell the computer what to do. There are many other languages, like Python and Java, but we use JS here for this tutorial because of the following reasons:
- It’s is one of the most popular languages right now.
- It’s everywhere, including web browsers, web servers, phones, games, and more.
- It’s easier to learn than many other languages.
- All programming languages have similar, if not the same, concepts. Learning one well can set you up for success… so we picked one.
Tutorials
We currently recommend the following tutorials to get started. Please note, you really only need to complete one. Each tutorial will take 2-5 weeks to complete. Don’t worry! We’re here to help you if you’re stuck at any point, and you can start or stop at any time.
FreeCodeCamp: FreeCodeCamp has many tutorials, spanning common web technologies, design, CS concepts, and more. For the purposes of a beginner course, however, we’ll use the Basic Javascript section. While this tutorial does not require an account to use, I recommend creating one (email required, ask your parents if under 13) so you can track your own progress, too!
Link: Basic Javascript from FreeCodeCamp
Codecademy: Codecademy offers considerably more tutorials across all sorts of disciplines. For our purposes, we’ll use their Introduction to Javascript course. This tutorial requires an account to use (email required, ask your parents if under 13), but offers a more professional interface. This is a free tutorial, but unlike FreeCodeCamp CodeCademy offers paid courses.