Introduction

Intro

The Beginning Programming / Web Development course is a six part tutorial series. It assumes no prior computer programming or web development knowledge. Completing the course will give you a basic understanding of computer programming and web development.

Definitions

A computer program is a sequence of instructions in a programming language for a computer to execute. It is one component of software.
Source code (or just code) is the written code of a computer program.

Programming or coding is the act of writing a computer program.
Software is a packaged computer program or programs that includes instructions and other intangible components.
A programming language is a system of notation for writing computer programs.
High-level programming language: Most popular programming languages are high-level languages. That means they are human readable and have a strong layer of abstraction from the details of the computer. Some high level languages like Java, C and C++ require a separate step of compiling the program into a low-level programming language to create an executable program. In this course we will be learning JavaScript. JavaScript is a high-level language that is automatically compiled by the web browser (or Node.js) just before being executed.

There are many programming languages available. They each have their own syntax and processes for executing tasks. A language can be specific or general purpose:

Domain specific language (DSL): a computer language specialized to a particular application domain (subject area). This includes:

HTML: a markup language used by web browsers to structure a web page.
CSS: a style sheet language used by web browsers to present an HTML document. It adds style to the web page such as colors, fonts, spacing, etc.
SQL: a programming language for accessing, adding or changing data in a database.

General purpose programming language (GSL): programming languages that can be used in a variety of domains.

Most general purpose programming languages have constructs for working with text, numbers, arrays, objects, if/else statements, etc.
JavaScript is a general purpose programming language. In addition to the general purpose constructs just mentioned, it can also be used in a manipulate web pages.
Other popular general purpose programming languages include C, C++, C#, Python, Swift, Ruby, PHP, and many more.

Computer programming vs web development:

Web development is a subset of computer programming and focuses on programming a website or web application.
It is a good starting point into the world of programming because of how practical it is. You can create your own website or web application for real world use or just for practice. And the languages involved, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, are relatively easy to learn.

What is covered in this course?

How to install, configure, and use the VS Code text editor. You need a text editor to write your source code. VS Code is one of the most popular. It is created by Microsoft, works on Windows, Linux, and Mac, and is free of charge.
How to use the Command-line Interface. Mac and Windows have a Terminal application that lets you type in commands on a command line to run programs. Know how to use the command line is critical in computer programming. This tutorial just gives you the very basics of how to open the Terminal, enter commands and navigate the file system.
How to build a website with HTML, CSS and Bootstrap. HTML is the markup language for creating a web page. CSS is the styling language for styling a web page. Bootstrap is a popular free open-source styling framework that you can use to quickly style a good looking website without having to master CSS. This tutorial will give you the basics of creating a website.
Beginning JavaScript. This tutorial covers the basics of the JavaScript programming language. It covers how/where to run JavaScript code. The programming concepts of data types, variables, expressions, operators, booleans, if statements, functions, strings, objects, classes, and arrays. And how to use JavaScript to manipulate web pages.
Beginning JavaScript Project - build a To-Do list application. Utilize your new found knowledge of JavaScript by building a very simple To-Do list application with HTML, Bootstrap, and JavaScript.
Introduction to the Node.js Express web framework. Websites that provide services are called web applications. Web applications are generally built using a web framework that creates a web server and manages the requests to the server. JavaScript has a popular web framework in the Node.js environment called Express. In this tutorial we will create a simple blogging web application that includes a simple database for storing articles. It will display a list of all articles, display individual articles, and have forms to add articles, update articles, and delete articles.

Who should take this course:

People who just want a basic understanding of computer programming but aren't interested in pursuing a career in programming or an in depth hobby. Similar to taking a Chemistry class in High School even though you have no interest in pursuing a career as a chemist.
People new to programming that want become proficient in computer programming for either a career or hobby. For those people, everything covered in this series is something you will use a lot as a programmer / web developer. In fact you should have everything in this series memorized at some point in your career because you will use it that often. For these people, there is a follow up series of courses that are much more in depth and will bring you up to Intermediate level.
People already proficient in programming but not Web Development. For those people this series will be easier pick up. Particularly the JavaScript tutorial since it uses the same principles as other programming languages, particularly C++. If you are not already using VS Code, it is recommended you try it since it integrates well with web development, or you can just use your favorite text editor. You are probably already familiar with the Terminal/command line so you can skip that tutorial. Except you do need to install Node.js on your computer.

Who should not take this course:

People who want to build a basic website for their hobby or small business but don't care about learning computer programming. For those people I recommend creating your website using Wordpress. Wordpress is a free open-source tool for creating simple websites that requires no knowledge of computer programming, HTML, or CSS. There are web hosting services where you can buy a domain name and host a Wordpress website for around $100+ per year. You can create a simple site in a day, or hire someone to do it for you.