Coding revisited

So a couple of months ago everyone was talking about how 2012 is Code Year - how's everyone getting on with their coding lessons?  Personally, I was writing code for years, but got more involved with the product management side of things over time. As I'm currently unencumbered with a day job, I'm exploring some ideas for new products and startups - and rediscovering the joy of writing code myself! There are so many tools and examples, and so much knowledge available on the internet that it's possible to build some powerful prototypes surprisingly quickly.  Here are a few of the things that I've been enjoying.

• Python.  So much power, in so little code, and very intuitive for an ex-C programmer.  If you don't already know it, learn it now.  
• jQuery.  Learn a little bit of Javascript, but don't go too far before you try jQuery.  Manipulate web pages in so few lines of code. 
• Bootstrap.  Hell, I don't care if my prototypes all look like Twitter if they look as good as this - it's a lot better than I will design myself and it's all there on a plate!
• Stack Overflow.  If you're new to the planet and haven't heard of SO: when you're Googling for the answer to a programming question, pick the responses from Stack Overflow and you won't go far wrong.  There's surprisingly little dross here and a lot of very authoritative knowledge.  

And as a bonus to exercise your brain, take one of the free courses at Coursera.  I'm about 2/3 through  Stanford Algorithms I, and loving it.  Just about enough reminders of all the maths that I've forgotten since university, it goes along at a decent pace, and it's only 5 weeks long so it's not like signing up for a life sentence.  (Oh, and did I mention that it's free?!) 

So what am I writing with all this code?  I've made a few changes on Tank Top TV, but I'm currently focussing on a great idea for a social media tool that I hope to be able to share more widely in a matter of a few weeks - watch this space!