Maybe a dumb question but I’ll ask anyway. I’m a pretty basic user of macs (light photo editing, SOME video stuff) I’d like to get more involved with all this power that is available in this computer and learn new things with it. What are some good sites or apps that can help me learn things like coding, web dev or anything else that the machine can do? Thanks!
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16 Inch MBP use question.
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Well, contrary to popular advertising.... you will not learn to be a good programmer by looking at websites. Most web-based tutorials for programming skip over some important fundamentals and are light on the "why" things are done that way. Sure, you can probably find a website such as http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/ and walk your way through it, and unless you already have a background in computer science, many things will just be "magic." I have been writing programs since the late 1980s (middle school) and have a Masters in Software Engineering, and I completely disagree with how programming is taught these days. The fundamentals and basics are skipped, and people are thrown right into higher level languages, and introduced to libraries that do most of the grunt work for them. This is all well and good, until your program starts to exhibit bugs (and it will), without understanding what is going on under the proverbial hood, you will have a very difficult time, and may not even be able to figure out the problem. If your lucky, a web search might provide you an answer, a different person who has the necessary background tells you what to do. Unless you are willing to put in the effort to learn programming the "right" way, I would encourage you to look elsewhere. In fact, a place you could start is Web Page Building (some folks will call it web design, but I could argue where that is different). Check out this site: https://www.w3schools.com/howto/howto_website.asp This isn't the most friendly way to start learning how to build sites using HTML/CSS, but it will get you started and give you a solid foundation. Unlike computer programming, HTML/CSS is really about visual style, and comes naturally for many folks. I suspect you will enjoy that more. Not to mention, all you need is TextEdit and your web browser on your Mac, and you are all set 
Good luck!
Rich S.
Good luck!
Rich S.
Thank you for taking the time to write that post definitely appreciated. I totally understand your points and agree 100% if the fundamentals cannot be taught well for anything the lesson is not fully learned. I just see all this power at my finger tips and know that I am hardly scratching the surface of the things that it can really do and want to take advantage of that opportunity. With how these macs are built these days it seems like they all have so much they are able to do but some actually do very little with them. I’d really just like to invest the time I waste web browsing learning a skill that I can use on it. Like I said I do appreciate your time and the links! Keep them coming if you can think of anything else!
I say give YouTube vids a shot for most of the creative imaging skills. You might be hindered a bit by the applications, since Photoshop, Premiere, Avid, FCPX, etc, have free options, but either want you to pay after the trial or have steep learning curves depending on how far you want to deep dive.
As for coding, you can start with tutorials online then move up to Lynda if you want to really go deeper.
As Link said though, most of these skills aren't something you'll get good at just by dabbling. You'll have to spend hours at it and ideally have a goal in mind.
For instance, I'm on the other side of the spectrum. I spend HOURS a day working in video and post production and I spend my free time learning DIY projects for house so I can build a retaining wall or fix a doorframe. Watching it on YouTube is a good start, but eventually I'll have to go out there with my shovel and get to work.
Pick a path or a project to start with, then dive right in.
As for coding, you can start with tutorials online then move up to Lynda if you want to really go deeper.
As Link said though, most of these skills aren't something you'll get good at just by dabbling. You'll have to spend hours at it and ideally have a goal in mind.
For instance, I'm on the other side of the spectrum. I spend HOURS a day working in video and post production and I spend my free time learning DIY projects for house so I can build a retaining wall or fix a doorframe. Watching it on YouTube is a good start, but eventually I'll have to go out there with my shovel and get to work.
Pick a path or a project to start with, then dive right in.
There are lots of places you can lead to code, develop web sites, etc. YouTube has some, but there are also online courses from places like Coursera, Udacity, Udemy, and almost every university that are more structured.