> I'm only a hobby programmer and the experience wasn't encouraging.
I have come across elitist communities like on SO, also regarding C++. I was downvoted and told to intentionally be spreading misinformation by using the word 'struct', because as you should know, in C++ there are only classes...
I haven't encountered that kind of vitriol when I asked beginner questions about how loops work, on 4chan out of all places.
But there were also times where I spent hours with people chatting on IRC while learning, where people were forgiving and encouraging.
In both places however, it seemed to be unfathomable for people that someone was trying to learn to program, not because they had to because of school or uni.
I have come across elitist communities like on SO, also regarding C++. I was downvoted and told to intentionally be spreading misinformation by using the word 'struct', because as you should know, in C++ there are only classes... I haven't encountered that kind of vitriol when I asked beginner questions about how loops work, on 4chan out of all places.
But there were also times where I spent hours with people chatting on IRC while learning, where people were forgiving and encouraging.
In both places however, it seemed to be unfathomable for people that someone was trying to learn to program, not because they had to because of school or uni.