Codeacademy

[KU0DM]

Check it out: http://www.codecademy.com/learn

I already know HTML, CSS, JS and jQuery but I started on the Python tutorial and thought I would do the web fundamentals as well just for kicks, and it's just flat out enjoyable. Once I'm finished with Python I have some projects to work on, but I'm excited to do the Ruby track too.

This should be in our schools! Free lessons in problem solving and you can get a job with it afterwards.

[N1LAF]

Bookmarked! Thanks Duncan.

What will be your field of study in college?

[KU0DM]

Decided: Spanish.

Undecided: finance, journalism, or computer engineering.

I still have some time to nail it down. :cool2:

[X-Rated]

3 words. William Allen White.

[N1LAF]

Decided: Spanish.

Undecided: finance, journalism, or computer engineering.

I still have some time to nail it down. :cool2:

Nice list, Duncan, and it is always important to go into a field that you enjoy doing. If your best field is not a hot career path, it may be prudent to do a major/minor or dual major, with another path you would like to take, and will have a future. I am not telling you what to do, but to bring up points to think about.

Spanish would work nicely with #16
http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/rankings/the-100-best-jobs?page=2
Also #32, #42, #61
http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/rankings/the-100-best-jobs?page=4
http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/rankings/the-100-best-jobs?page=5
http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/rankings/the-100-best-jobs?page=7

Also
http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/rankings
http://www.forbes.com/pictures/efkk45hfif/best-jobs-for-2012/

[XE1/N5AL]

Make sure you choose a field of study which you find interesting and that has real job potential! How about a major in Castilian existential poetry of the 15th century? :)

[NM5TF]

thanx for the link Duncan...

a friend is an old COBOL engineer that just got downsized & is
looking for work now...this may help him!!!

[n6hcm]

Decided: Spanish.

i have to ask ... why spanish? why not mandarin, or russian, or ... ? (nothing against spanish--i have 15 credits in it myself) ...

i like the way your undecideds have nearly no overlap with each other. good luck with whichever you choose.

[XE1/N5AL]

Spanish comes in pretty handy here.

[NM5TF]

Spanish comes in pretty handy here.

uhhhhhhh...yeah!!!!!!!!!!:doh:

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

[X-Rated]

Duncan is planning to work in Chicago. Spanish is nearly required here.

[W3WN]

Can't get into the site. It wants Chrome, Firefox, or Opera... we're still on IE here at work (don't say it, and it's not my decision!)

Do they have a tutorial on SQL?

[n2ize]

i have to ask ... why spanish? why not mandarin, or russian, or ... ? (nothing against spanish--i have 15 credits in it myself) ...

i like the way your undecideds have nearly no overlap with each other. good luck with whichever you choose.

When I was studying math at the undergrad level the recommended languages were French, German, and Russian.

[n2ize]

thanx for the link Duncan...

a friend is an old COBOL engineer that just got downsized & is
looking for work now...this may help him!!!

Ah... COBOL. I remember taking a course in COBOL a long time ago. Never used it after that.

As far as older programming langauges go I still use Lisp and FORTRAN.

As far as newer languages go I have learned and used C, C++, Java, and Perl and php. Perl used to be very popular for web programming. I would also like to learn Python.

[K7SGJ]

thanx for the link Duncan...

a friend is an old COBOL engineer that just got downsized & is
looking for work now...this may help him!!!

I remember seeing a documentary on the Lords of Kobol. I believe Lorne Greene was describing it while on the bridge of a ship of some kind.

[X-Rated]

Due to issues with the local weather, I am relearning SNOBAL.

[W3WN]

Just tried to access the site from an alternate machine. I'm getting a malware alert from Avast.

[W4GPL]

I ran through the Python course a few days ago (very good by the way).. didn't run into any trouble. I could see why Avast might see their code samples as troublesome.. but I think it's a false warning. :dunno:

[NM5TF]

Ah... COBOL. I remember taking a course in COBOL a long time ago. Never used it after that.

As far as older programming langauges go I still use Lisp and FORTRAN.

As far as newer languages go I have learned and used C, C++, Java, and Perl and php. Perl used to be very popular for web programming. I would also like to learn Python.

I also took courses in COBOL & FORTRAN IV a very long time ago.....early 1970's....never had chance
to use them very much....learned BASIC & VAX on the job....remember the old DEC PDP-11/75???

I am working my way thru java at this time....finding it similar to FORTRAN with the conditional statements
IF, ELSE, ELSE IF, DO, WHILE, FOR etc....according to the 'gurus', JS is the new Perl for internet apps....

also started the Python tutorial......at the least syntax part....

and yes, I had trouble with Firefox & had to use Chromium.....works great & seems to be faster than FF.....

[XE1/N5AL]

When I was studying math at the undergrad level the recommended languages were French, German, and Russian.My university required one of those languages for post-grad students in engineering. Undergrad engineering students had no foreign language requirements.

In those days, research papers of interest to the profession were usually written in English, or one of those other three languages. Although, I read somewhere that English has since gained an even bigger lead in number of papers published against the others. Spanish wouldn't count towards the engineering school requirement for foreign languages.

Being in a Texas university, taking Spanish was a bit risky: the poor beginning language student might arrive for his first day of Spanish class only to discover that half the class was already fluent in the subject. :)

[AB3MV]

a friend is an old COBOL engineer that just got downsized & is
looking for work now...this may help him!!!

The words "COBOL" and "engineer" do not belong in the same sentence. COBOL is one of the least technically-oriented programming languages on the planet. COBOL is an acronym that stands for COmmon Business Oriented Language. Unlike most of the programming languages that are currently in use, COBOL is a non-algorithmic/non-algebraic language.