Hi! Don’t know if this is the place to ask this but, basically what the title says.
TL;DR: Where do I start if I want to learn programming and potentially end in cybersecurity? Would computer science be a good decision? Should I learn any specific coding language?
I am a designer but I want to expand my knowledge and learn other things, programming is something that I’ve always kind of struggled with but I’m starting to like it nowadays.
I am currently switching my way over to Linux from W11, I’ve been distro hopping and trying Ubuntu, Fedora (the one I like the most as of yet) and now I will try EndevourOS (I still am not prepared to try pure Arch imho). All this playing around on Linux made me interested in coding, using the terminal, solving problems, analyzing logs, etc.
My main question is: where do I start? I’m not asking what “the best language is” or “which gives you the most jobs”, it’s more like I need advice on where to start with the things I want to do. While using Linux, I’ve been copy-pasting repos, codes, commands, etc., but I sometimes want to know what do those even mean or what the hell I am even doing, I don’t want to be a copy-pasting machine without understanding what it means.
I think my objective is to end up doing Cybersecurity because, for me, it’s one of the most interesting topics. I’ve read that it’s better to start with Computer Science and then I can go with Cybersecurity or if I change, I could go with Soft. Eng., etc
I don’t want to just make websites or apps, and I think I don’t want to do IT (the kind of IT where you just help other people fix their computers), I do struggle with mathematics but if it’s something I need to do to learn these things then I’ll do it. I also would like to learn how to use/build servers.
Just want to make it clear though, I will be doing everything myself, as I don’t have any money to go to a college/university, so if anyone has free resources, I would highly appreciate it.
Thanks in advance to everyone who read this and is able to help/give advice!
Sounds like you have the right idea for what to expect and what you are looking for! This is great. I think what you ultimately need is a passion project. Copying commands might feel kind of janitorial without a passion and drive behind it. When you are personally interested in seeing results, you’ll naturally want to figure out what to do, and the commands will mean something to you.
If you haven’t explored security too much, you might consider learning it as a second step to your programming. That way, you can tackle one thing at a time and get the programming down, then apply your knowledge to security while you learn that. Just my $0.02, though!
You might also be interested in Ruby and Metasploit. Ruby is a friendly language that you can learn and write quickly, and Metasploit is a very comprehensive security tool, mostly for penetration testing. There are a ton of other Ruby libs you can use to hit the ground running, too.
It sounds like you’re ready to try out the OWASP Juice Shop, a vulnerable by design web application that functions like a puzzle box for learning Cybersecurity topics.
Beware, it’s designed to challenge professionals, it’s very difficult. But the early challenges have step by step tutorials.
Code.org maintains a list of resources for learning programming.
