Learning Languages

I’ve been looking at a number of different sites for tips on how to learn new languages and here’s a summary of what I’ve found.

To get you started, here’s a list of 10 puzzle websites to sharpen your programming skills. I would like to strongly recommend Project Euler, which I used for learning Ruby.

I did try to solve the problems again, this time using Scala. I got stuck doing this, because my solutions were so ugly and the “official” solutions seemed a bit complex. This was a while ago and looking at some example solutions, I think it’s just a matter of understanding some new concepts, like what a Stream[int] is and how zip works.

Another site from the list I want to point out is Python Challenge. It’s a spin off from a popular website called Not Pron, which is a puzzle website that has kept me busy for many many hours. Anyway, after just an hour or two of solving problems from the Python Challenge, I had learnt quite a few Python concepts, and this is as a complete beginner before I started. Highly recommended!

When it comes to Scala, there are lots of other resources. The Scala School and the Scala Koens should get you (and me) started.

If you have any other tips for how to learn a language, please write a comment below!

Posted by Viktor Nordling