I'm interested in teaching myself Python as my first programming language. What kind of useful/interesting projects are recommended as a long term goal to work towards, given that I'm a total beginner? [more inside]
posted by KilgoreTrout on Dec 10, 2009 - 21 answers

Oh God. Where to start? This is, at its heart, a programming question about C#. It's probably not a very hard programming question, either. [more inside]
posted by kbanas on Dec 1, 2009 - 13 answers

Which forums do the best web programmers hang out at? [more inside]
posted by jackson5 on Jun 26, 2009 - 16 answers

What uses similar skills to computer programming, and is enjoyable in the same way, but does not involve excessive computer use? [more inside]
posted by Not Supplied on Nov 7, 2008 - 29 answers

Is there a standard to preparing a software specification for an outsourced UI designer and programmer? [more inside]
posted by thegmann on Oct 18, 2008 - 4 answers

How does web scraping work with PHP/mySQL? What best practices are there? [more inside]
posted by Foci for Analysis on Aug 6, 2008 - 15 answers

What is a good open-source project to get involved in? [more inside]
posted by Who_Am_I on Jul 3, 2008 - 12 answers

Considering a career change to Coding/Programming. Advice wanted. [more inside]
posted by highfidelity on Jun 25, 2008 - 20 answers

Code-switching while coding: if you speak more than one language and are a programmer or a web-developer, do you write code in one or the other or both? [more inside]
posted by signal on Apr 9, 2008 - 15 answers

In my quest to learn Ruby, I'm struggling to find everyday usable code examples that i can relate to. Might you suggest some ? [more inside]
posted by jmnugent on Mar 1, 2008 - 28 answers

I have a OSX Program idea (solution.) Where can I find people interested in it (if I were to give the idea away) or pay for development? [more inside]
posted by filmgeek on Feb 22, 2008 - 9 answers

Which web development technology should I pursue for a commercial venture - php, python, perl or ruby? [more inside]
posted by mooders on Feb 6, 2008 - 18 answers

Is there a simple way to create a script to check if a specific file exists on a Windows network share? How can I learn to do this? [more inside]
posted by uaudio on Aug 21, 2007 - 9 answers

Which programming languages should I learn? I'm a n00b interested in becoming a GIS analyst. [more inside]
posted by desjardins on Aug 16, 2007 - 9 answers

Can I find freelance work as a Mechanical-General Engineer doing computer programming for customers in the Engineering field? [more inside]
posted by spacefire on May 17, 2007 - 5 answers

Why do I always take the long route when programming? I'm no master programmer - but - I feel like I'm missing something. I'm constantly finding myself trying to tear down one wall or another, in attempt to resolve some issue, only to find halfway into it, that there was a ten minute fix right in front of me. Complications fade away, problem solved. [more inside]
posted by mrgreyisyelling on May 1, 2007 - 18 answers

What coding habits and working methodologies help you maximize productivity while reducing angst? [more inside]
posted by treepour on Apr 13, 2007 - 22 answers

What's good music to program by? [more inside]
posted by Zed_Lopez on Mar 26, 2007 - 43 answers

I use Facebook, and it seems to have a great API. But how can I tie it in to me, and not my visitor? [more inside]
posted by samstarling on Jan 15, 2007 - 3 answers

Songs about coding/programming? [more inside]
posted by blue_beetle on May 12, 2006 - 22 answers

Learning programming via web apps. [+] [more inside]
posted by daksya on Feb 15, 2005 - 21 answers

XPATH hell-I'm trying to XPATH out the (xml) contents of the processVXMLReturn tag in this document. The file contains the exact XML response from a web service; I have no control over the output. I'm just interested in the nested xml payload. Hope my terminology is correct.[M to the Izzay]

Positive Oracle karma offered in exchange! [more inside]
posted by neilkod on Jan 28, 2005 - 13 answers

I'm a graphic designer who is looking to advance my actionscript skills in Flash. What is the best way for "non-coders" to learn more advanced coding? [+] [more inside]
posted by quadog on Jan 20, 2005 - 7 answers

Looking for a reasonably quick introduction to Perl Unix scripting, preferably online.
posted by Krrrlson on Nov 4, 2004 - 7 answers

I am taking a brain-painful networking class (hint: it's all about the routers, baby!) and the studying is intense. It's hard, but I'm holding my own. I see questions here on AskMe that bring really cool answers from lots of folks, with a lot of repeat answerers, which leads me to ask, How Did You Learn What You Know About Computers/the Internet? Was it in school? Did you apprentice with someone who had m4d sk1lz? Did you teach yourself? Other?
posted by Lynsey on Oct 11, 2004 - 18 answers

rent-a-geek: Is there a site/service out there where I can hire someone to do some micro-jobs for me related to running a server? Something like Google Answers but instead of paying someone $10 to find out the history of hemophilia in New Zealand, I would pay someone $10 to fix my WebDav installation, or get mysql working, or some task that would take a Smart Person about 10 minutes of poking around. It's not that I can't figure this stuff out eventually but I am short on time. Such a site would have to have some sort of reputation management, I suppose.

(Geesh, I sound like I'm writing a business plan)
posted by mecran01 on Aug 6, 2004 - 8 answers