Programming for poor people
From MacShadows KB
This article offers an introduction to gaining resources in order to learn programming, on a budget.
Contents |
Introduction
Let's be frank: Not everyone can go out and buy a $40 (USD) book on learning a programming language or concepts, etc, and probably can't afford to pay for expensive programming classes either. This article will not teach you programming, but rather how to gather the resources to learn these without spending much, if any money. I am in the US, so this will be based on where I live.
Resources
Internet
Original Documentation
In many cases the documentation available at the language developer's website is far better than most tutorials around, so before you spend hours on the internet searching or fork out big bucks on a book, take a look at the language's website. Great examples of this include Python and Java. Both languages are very well documented, and have their own tutorials, as well as links to others on their website.
Try typing in '"language_here" programming tutorials'. Be on the look out for decently good tutorials, not just a step-by-step tutorial on accomplishing a certain task in the language, such as a login script for PHP; unless you learn best through trial and error (experience).
Paper Books
Books are an age-old resource, literally. They've been around for centuries and will probably be around for a great deal more. The advantage of a book is that you can usually take it just about anywhere, and it doesn't require a power source of any kind (unlike digital media, such as .pdf and .ps files). Books also happen to be plentiful, although they can admittedly be a bit expensive.
Library
What kind of person would I be if I didn't mention the public library? Most people have a public library that isn't too far away. It doesn't cost a dime to sign up at the local library, just proof of residence, and most libraries now are 'chained' by county. This means if you live 30 miles away from the library that has the book you want, yet it's in the same county you live in, the library will usually transport this book to 'your' library for a small fee. The only drawback about the library is that you can only keep the books for a certain amount of time (two to three weeks), and if you're late on bringing them back, you'll have to pay a late fee which usually increases depending on how many days you are late.
Thrift store
Also known as a 'junk store' or 'second hand store' (the name says it all, these are places that deal in all sorts of used goods) , they are remarkably great places to get books on programming (any many other things). When college students leave college, many of them will take their (now not needed/wanted) books to these places, some of which pay a small fee for them. I have found four books on C programming at different stores over a period of a month or two, and payed at most $3 for all of them combined. When I look on the covers of the books, and add up the retail prices for them, they come to about $100 USD. I think that pretty much says it all...
Used book store
Used book stores are typically more expensive than thrift stores because they only sell books, and don't have other popular used items to bring in revenue, but they also usually have a much larger selection of books to choose from (for obvious reasons).
Amazon.com
Amazon is a fairly well known book resource, which sells both new and used books. As a note, be sure to factor shipping in before you purchase.
eBay.com
Pretty much the same as Amazon. You can generally find pretty good deals on eBay (especially on more expensive books), but you have to watch shipping.
Why used?
When buying used books there are disadvantages, and advantages. They could have missing or damaged text, or items that came with the book (such as a CD-ROM), and there could be 'graffiti' (doodling in the margins), highlighting, or the previous owner's name plastered all over the book. Generally, however, you can find these books in pristine condition, for very low prices.
