If you’re new to coding, getting started can feel overwhelming, hopefully this passenger guide will help you with everything you need to begin! 💖
There are two main tracks you can follow for total and complete beginners.
The Learning Processing Track is the newest beginner series on the Coding Train! It covers all of the fundamentals of computer programming (variables, conditionals, loops, functions, objects, arrays) in Java with Processing.
The Code! Programming with p5.js Track focuses on the fundamentals of computer programming (variables, conditionals, iteration, functions & objects) with JavaScript.
In almost all of the videos, you’ll find me using Processing or p5.js. Processing is a software sketchbook and language (built on top of Java) for learning how to code within the context of the visual arts. p5.js is a JavaScript library that comes with a friendly online web editor for creative coding. Both projects are maintained by The Processing Foundation.
If you are interested in learning web development, p5.js is a way to get started with the very basics of JavaScript which will lead you into doing more with HTML (the markup language that defines the structure of a web page) and CSS (a language that defines the style and look of a web page).
For a beginner, I recommend the p5.js web editor, it’s probably the most used coding environment! If you are using Processing, it comes with its own development environment! You can also explore a downloadable text editor like Visual Studio Code for either! I cover tools beyond p5.js and Processing in my 2023 workflow video. There are many text editors out there – feel free to use whichever makes your coding experience comfortable!
Working with “version control” software (like git) and collaborating on platforms like GitHub can be a confusing and intimidating experience when you are first beginning! It’s not something you need to learn immediately, you can stick with p5.js and the basics of coding for quite some time first!
When you have some code you want to share or publish online outside of the web editor, you’ll want to consider signing up for a GitHub account and learning the basics of version control. You can use this website (all of the source code and content is on GitHub) as a place for you to learn!
To learn more, take a ride on the “Git and GitHub for Poets” track. This series is a primer on version control and the difference between git software and the GitHub website.
The videos in cover terminology like branch, fork, merge, pull, push, and remote. There’s even a friendly “playground repository” for you to make your first pull request!
You can also learn more about how I integrate git into my workflow in my 2018 workflow series.