Hello everyone! I'm excited to join this community! I’m a nurse with a strong interest in coding, and I’m eager to learn the basics and start building my skills. As someone coming from a healthcare background, I’m looking to explore how coding can complement my experience, and perhaps open up new career opportunities down the road. I’m curious to know where to begin and what resources would be best for someone just starting out. Also, I’d love to hear how others taught themselves to code and any tips you have for a beginner. Looking forward to learning from all of you!

Welcome! I've taught a few people coding 1:1 as a hobby, so I have opinions. Though I'm on the other end of the spectrum from vocational approaches like coding bootcamps. My goal is to teach people enough to get them to "yearn for the vast sea of computation," with apologies to Saint-Exupéry. My most recent attempt is a series of exercises that tries to teach programming purely by asking questions and showing answers, all in an interactive environment where you're free to modify programs and experiment. I don't know anything about teaching, though. Since I made this, I took a course on teaching, and I've been trying to make my lessons less one-dimensional. But those changes haven't made their way here yet. Let me know if you'd like to try this. It's relatively easy to set up on a computer or Android, but iOS requires you to also own a Mac and jump through some hoops.

Welcome! It's hard to give good advice without a clear idea of what you expect to do with the coding experience you are aiming at. You say "healthcare" but that remains vast. Programmable machines in healthcare require very different kinds of software than the management of patient records or public health surveillance. I don't know any of these well enough to give actual advice, but if you can define your goals more precisely, maybe someone else here can chime in.

I have a little bit of experience helping beginners, although a little bit more for kids than adults. I ran a CoderDojo for a couple of years, and I did some mentoring in a CodeNewbie group. It would help to know a little bit more about where you're at and what you're interested in. Are you an absolute beginner?

Thank you everyone for your input, I probably wasn’t very clear in my first post. Here is a little bit more of a background about me that might help. I’m an ex-military nurse, and my interest in coding was sparked during my time managing the development of a women’s health application for the military. While I wasn’t directly involved in the coding process, that experience ignited a strong interest in the field. I’ve since found a coding training program offered by a bank specifically for ex-service personnel. I’m eager to apply and take this next step, but before diving into the program, I want to make sure I have a solid foundation in coding. My primary focus right now is to build this skillset, and I believe this training program will provide a great opportunity to explore different areas of coding within the financial sector. Although healthcare is an area I’m familiar with, it’s not my main focus at this time. With that in mind, I’d love some advice and guidance from those who’ve been in similar positions: • Are there any books you would recommend for someone just starting out? • I’ve already signed up for a beginner course on Codecademy to learn Java (the language I’ll be using if I’m selected for the program), but any other resources or tips would be greatly appreciated! Would anyone recommend another free beginners course into Java? • Has anyone else transitioned from a healthcare or military background into tech, and if so, what was your experience? I’m really excited to develop this new skill set and would be grateful for any insights or suggestions you may have. Thanks in advance!

I think Head First Java might still be one of the best intro books in that department. Make sure to get the latest version. Its this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/1491910771