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Coding For Dummies

Author Nikhil Abraham
Release Date: 2015/02/01
ISBN: 9781118951309
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Book Description

Hands-on exercises help you learn to code like a pro

No coding experience is required for Coding For Dummies, your one-stop guide to building a foundation of knowledge in writing computer code for web, application, and software development. It doesn't matter if you've dabbled in coding or never written a line of code, this book guides you through the basics. Using foundational web development languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, it explains in plain English how coding works and why it's needed.

Online exercises developed by Codecademy, a leading online code training site, help hone coding skills and demonstrate results as you practice.

The site provides an environment where you can try out tutorials built into the text and see the actual output from your coding. You'll also gain access to end-of-chapter challenges to apply newly acquired skills to a less-defined assignment. So what are you waiting for?

  • The current demand for workers with coding and computer science skills far exceeds the supply

  • Teaches the foundations of web development languages in an easy-to-understand format

  • Offers unprecedented opportunities to practice basic coding languages

  • Readers can access online hands-on exercises and end-of-chapter assessments that develop and test their new-found skills

    • If you're a student looking for an introduction to the basic concepts of coding or a professional looking to add new skills, Coding For Dummies has you covered.

    Table of Contents

    1. Introduction
      1. Introduction
        1. About This Book
        2. Foolish Assumptions
        3. Icons Used in This Book
        4. Beyond the Book
        5. Where to Go from Here
      2. Part I: Getting Started with Coding
        1. Chapter 1: What Is Coding?
          1. Defining What Code Is
            1. Following instructions
            2. Writing code with some Angry Birds
          2. Understanding What Coding Can Do for You
            1. Eating the world with software
            2. Coding on the job
            3. Scratching your own itch (and becoming rich and famous)
          3. Surveying the Types of Programming Languages
            1. Comparing low-level and high-level programming languages
            2. Contrasting compiled code and interpreted code
            3. Programming for the web
          4. Taking a Tour of a Web App Built with Code
            1. Defining the app’s purpose and scope
            2. Standing on the shoulders of giants
        2. Chapter 2: Programming for the Web
          1. Displaying Web Pages on Your Desktop and Mobile Device
            1. Hacking your favorite news website
            2. Understanding how the World Wide Web works
            3. Watching out for your front end and back end
            4. Defining web and mobile applications
          2. Coding Web Applications
            1. Starting with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
            2. Adding logic with Python, Ruby, or PHP
          3. Coding Mobile Applications
            1. Building mobile web apps
            2. Building native mobile apps
        3. Chapter 3: Becoming a Programmer
          1. Writing Code Using a Process
            1. Researching what you want to build
            2. Designing your app
            3. Coding your app
            4. Debugging your code
          2. Picking Tools for the Job
            1. Working offline
            2. Working online with Codecademy.com
      3. Part II: Building the Silent and Interactive Web Page
        1. Chapter 4: Exploring Basic HTML
          1. What Does HTML Do?
          2. Understanding HTML Structure
            1. Identifying elements
            2. Featuring your best attribute
            3. Standing head, title, and body above the rest
          3. Getting Familiar with Common HTML Tasks and Tags
            1. Writing headlines
            2. Organizing text in paragraphs
            3. Linking to your (heart’s) content
            4. Adding images
          4. Styling Me Pretty
            1. Highlighting with bold, italics, underline, and strikethrough
            2. Raising and lowering text with superscript and subscript
          5. Building Your First Website Using HTML
        2. Chapter 5: Getting More Out of HTML
          1. Organizing Content on the Page
          2. Listing Data
            1. Creating ordered and unordered lists
            2. Nesting lists
          3. Putting Data in Tables
            1. Basic table structuring
            2. Stretching table columns and rows
            3. Aligning tables and cells
          4. Filling Out Forms
            1. Understanding how forms work
            2. Creating basic forms
          5. Practicing More with HTML
        3. Chapter 6: Getting Stylish with CSS
          1. What Does CSS Do?
          2. CSS Structure
            1. Choosing the element to style
            2. My property has value
            3. Hacking the CSS on your favorite website
          3. Common CSS Tasks and Selectors
            1. Font gymnastics: size, color, style, family, and decoration
            2. Customizing links
            3. Adding background images and styling foreground images
          4. Styling Me Pretty
            1. Adding CSS to your HTML
            2. Building your first web page
        4. Chapter 7: Next Steps with CSS
          1. Styling (More) Elements on Your Page
            1. Styling lists
            2. Designing tables
          2. Selecting Elements to Style
            1. Styling specific elements
            2. Naming HTML elements
          3. Aligning and Laying Out Your Elements
            1. Organizing data on the page
            2. Shaping the div
            3. Understanding the box model
            4. Positioning the boxes
          4. Writing More Advanced CSS
        5. Chapter 8: Working Faster with Twitter Bootstrap
          1. Figuring Out What Bootstrap Does
          2. Installing Bootstrap
          3. Understanding the Layout Options
            1. Lining up on the grid system
            2. Dragging and dropping to a website
            3. Using predefined templates
            4. Adapting layout for mobile, tablet, and desktop
          4. Coding Basic Web Page Elements
            1. Designing buttons
            2. Navigating with toolbars
            3. Adding icons
          5. Build the Airbnb Home Page
        6. Chapter 9: Adding in JavaScript
          1. What Does JavaScript Do?
          2. Understanding JavaScript Structure
          3. Using Semicolons, Quotes, Parentheses, and Braces
          4. Coding Common JavaScript Tasks
            1. Storing data with variables
            2. Making decisions with if-else statements
            3. Working with string and number methods
            4. Alerting users and prompting them for input
            5. Naming code with functions
            6. Adding JavaScript to the web page
          5. Writing Your First JavaScript Program
          6. Working with APIs
            1. What do APIs do?
            2. Scraping data without an API
            3. Researching and choosing an API
          7. Using JavaScript Libraries
            1. jQuery
            2. D3.js
          8. Searching for Videos with YouTube’s API
      4. Part III: Putting Together a Web Application
        1. Chapter 10: Building Your Own App
          1. Building a Location-Based Offer App
            1. Understanding the situation
            2. Plotting your next steps
          2. Following an App Development Process
          3. Planning Your First Web Application
          4. Exploring the Overall Process
          5. Meeting the People Who Bring a Web App to Life
            1. Creating with designers
            2. Coding with front- and back-end developers
            3. Managing with product managers
            4. Testing with quality assurance
        2. Chapter 11: Researching Your First Web Application
          1. Dividing the App into Steps
            1. Finding your app’s functionality
            2. Finding your app’s functionality: My version
            3. Finding your app’s form
            4. Finding your app’s form: The McDuck’s Offer App design
          2. Identifying Research Sources
          3. Researching the Steps in the McDuck’s Offer App
          4. Choosing a Solution for Each Step
        3. Chapter 12: Coding and Debugging Your First Web Application
          1. Getting Ready to Code
          2. Coding Your First Web Application
            1. Development environment
            2. Pre-written code
            3. Coding steps for you to follow
          3. Debugging Your App
      5. Part IV: Developing Your Coding Skills Further
        1. Chapter 13: Getting Familiar with Ruby
          1. What Does Ruby Do?
          2. Defining Ruby Structure
            1. Understanding the principles of Ruby
            2. Styling and spacing
          3. Coding Common Ruby Tasks and Commands
            1. Defining data types and variables
            2. Computing simple and advanced math
            3. Using strings and special characters
            4. Deciding with conditionals: If, elsif, else
            5. Input and output
          4. Shaping Your Strings
            1. String methods: upcase, downcase, strip
            2. Inserting variables in strings with #
          5. Building a Simple Form-Text Formatter Using Ruby
        2. Chapter 14: Wrapping Your Head around Python
          1. What Does Python Do?
          2. Defining Python Structure
            1. Understanding the Zen of Python
            2. Styling and spacing
          3. Coding Common Python Tasks and Commands
            1. Defining data types and variables
            2. Computing simple and advanced math
            3. Using strings and special characters
            4. Deciding with conditionals: If, elif, else
            5. Input and output
          4. Shaping Your Strings
            1. Dot notation with upper(), lower(), capitalize(), and strip()
            2. String formatting with %
          5. Building a Simple Tip Calculator Using Python
      6. Part V: The Part of Tens
        1. Chapter 15: Ten Free Resources for Coding and Coders
          1. Learning-to-Code Websites
            1. Codecademy
            2. Coursera and Udacity
            3. Hackdesign.org
            4. Code.org
          2. Coding-Reference Websites
            1. W3Schools
            2. Mozilla Developer Network
            3. Stack Overflow
          3. Tech News and Community Websites
            1. TechCrunch
            2. Hacker News
            3. Meetup
        2. Chapter 16: Ten Tips for Novice Coders
          1. Pick a Language, Any Language
          2. Define a Goal
          3. Break Down Your Goal into Bite-Sized Steps
          4. Distinguish Cupcake from Frosting
          5. Google Is a Developer’s Best Friend
          6. Zap Those Bugs
          7. Just Ship It
          8. Collect Feedback
          9. Iterate on Your Code
          10. Share Your Success and Failure
      7. About the Author
      8. Cheat Sheet
      9. More Dummies Products
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