Coding For Dummies

Chapter 3

Becoming a Programmer

IN THIS CHAPTER

Learning the process programmers follow when coding

Seeing the different roles people play to create a program

Picking tools to starting coding offline or online

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.

— WALT DISNEY

Programming is a skill that can be learned by anyone. You might be a student in college wondering how to start learning, or a professional hoping to find a new job or improve your performance at your current job. In just about every case, the best way to learn how to code is to

• Have a goal of what you would like to build.
• Actually start coding.

In this chapter, you discover the process every programmer follows when programming, and the different roles programmers play to create a program (or, more commonly these days, an “app”). You also learn the tools to use when coding either offline or online.

Writing Code Using a Process

Writing code is much like painting, furniture making, or cooking — it isn’t always obvious how the end product was created. However, all programs, even mysterious ones, are created using a process. Two of the most popular processes used today are

• Waterfall: A set of sequential steps followed to create a program.
• Agile: A set of iterative steps followed to create a program. (See Figure 3-1.)

FIGURE 3-1: The waterfall and agile processes are two different ways of creating ...