If you are like me and want to desperately learn a new programming language but don’t have the time OR the funds to make a full-time commitment, Harvard College is offering an entry level free/paid course in programming as part of their Computer Science program. They discuss theory and practice with a chance to earn a certificate as well. You can study at your own pace and audit the course for free. If your not ready now you can register for other free courses in the future by joining their mailing list. Full details here
Recently, I got an invite to learn jQuery in 30 days. Now, I’m not a programmer by definition but it’s always a good idea to add to your skill set and I love to learn new things so I was definitely curious. First off, I wasn’t really sure what jQuery was and why I would need it.
This is a brief definition of what jQuery is:
“jQuery is a library that makes it quicker and easier to build JavaScript webpages and web apps. Often with jQuery you can write a single line of code to achieve what would have taken 10-20 lines of regular JavaScript code.
jQuery is itself written in JavaScript, and comes in the form of a single .js file that you link to from your webpage. Your JavaScript code then accesses the library by calling various jQuery functions.”
Ok, sounds good, but what does that mean to me? So I go in search of a better explanation:
Huh?? Did you get that?..I sure didn’t. Lets try that again:
Ok..I think I got it. I’m very intrigued now and will see if I can at least wrap my head around the basics in the 30 day tutorial lessons. You can download jQuery and use it for free. There are tutorials available on the site that will get you up to speed fairly quickly. If you use jQuery and have any additional tips I would love to hear them.
