“Programming isn’t about what you know; it’s about what you can figure out”— Chris Pane, author of Learn to code
Learning literature and language is always my main aspiration, why? I have to admit that I’m not the kind of science and technological person. When I was in elementary school, the classmate next to me was able to tell everybody 7+6=13, right after our teacher asked him this question; while I could still calculate the number with my fingers underneath the table and gave out a wrong answer. So, can you imagine a person with the above background could learn to code? Probably not, right?
After graduation, I joined high-tech companies, which was pretty ironic, I got the chance to understand the current technology trend and how it can improve our works and lives. For example, AI could be used in the healthcare industry, SQL and Python could help us to organize the big data well, and “Cloud service” transformed our business into a digital division etcetera. I was aware that these tools might assist our literature background person to earn some credits in this industry if we know how they work. Or, we could also train our brain to think in another way too.
I found an app, which is very suitable to lead me into the programming language world — GetMimo.
GetMimo is an app and website for beginners to learn coding. You can choose SQL, Python, Javascript, or HTML on this App. It can base on your knowledge, purpose to select the level, and goal.
Since I know nothing about SQL, I select the “Basic” and “Casual” way to learn.
This app is pretty cute, to push yourself to reach the goal every day, there is a leaderboard to check how much money you earned and what ranking you are at the moment.
Additionally, you can also set up a Daily reminder, and the “Mimo” will remind you that “it’s a SQL time” every day! If you prefer reviewing the terms or symbols, you can find them in “Glossary” easily.
Let’s take a look at some subjects on my learning through the GetMimo app.
1. It will show you what SQL is with some simple words and you will need to take some quizzes, as you can see, you have 5 hearts above, once you answered wrongly, you will lose 1 heart. If you lose all of them, you need to wait for 3 hours to keep learning.
2. What’s better, it will also give you a table as an example and guide you to finish the code.
3. Once you unblocked some subjects, you can resolve some projects as well.
4. After you finish all the missions, you can upgrade your account to “Pro” to get the certificate.
All in all, GetMimo is really a friendly code-learning app for people without prior coding knowledge and experience. I can learn it at my own pace and I’m also able to join their community to meet many coders too. From the introduction, it’s said you can also code on the mobile, but I haven’t experienced it yet, I plan to figure it out soon.
Is it true that the left brain dominates logical thinking and the right brain operates holistic thinking and imagination? Before I understand that I can learn to code, I think it’s true; while as many researches or articles prove that it is a stereotype. Since no matter we’re performing a logistic or creative task, we’re receiving input from both sides of our brains. It depends on how much and what you train. Also, after the experiment this time, there’s a possibility for us to think in a convergent and divergent method. Don’t limit our potential!
(Reference: Exploding the myth of the scientific vs artistic mind, Left Brain vs. Right Brain: What Does This Mean for Me?)
