learn programming

I missed one day of this class and I’m totally lost. We’re learning about recursive programs… at the same time I’m taking Discrete Structures where we’re learning about recursive equations. That class is super easy, and I totally understand what a recursive program is. But I think from not using Java all summer I totally forgot how it works and everything, and I needed a review, which I didn’t give myself. So now when I try to do recursive problems in it, I’m not really sure how to make it work. I’m going to have to spend some time today reviewing and practicing, if I want to start the year off right. The professor is pretty helpful anyway, he lets people ask extremely stupid questions and will spend pretty much the entire class going over them. AND when he assigns homework, it’s okay to turn in programs that don’t compile and stuff, he only checks that you tried. (I’ve had him before.) So yeah, I should be okay but that’s just me, I worry if I don’t get everything going on in every class.

Okay, cool… I’ll write more later or another day about how this goes. I’m sure one day of remediation will put me right to the front of the class…

Well I found a couple of resources for learning and practicing programming: github.com, stackoverflow.com, and codeacademy.com

And this semester I’m taking Discrete Structures (which is a math class that is required for computer science), and Data Structures (which is a Java class). So hopefully those will help me and I can work on my own projects in the meantime. I’m going to try to come up with one project I really want to do, and work on it until I finish it, asking for help if I need to.

I have completed 12 lessons from this C++ tutorial in two days. There are only 16 lessons, so I’ll be onto the advanced tutorial soon.

I found a list of “10 programming languages you should learn today,” so I’m going to work through it after C++. I’m also trying to learn web scripting languages at the same time, busy busy.

To get some practice, I made up a couple programs to write. One accepts the amount of times you did something in a week and gives you back statistics on it. The other accepts questions about a topic and gives back answers to the common ones.

If anyone has some useful C++ programs I could write for practice (or even better, a website full of them), let me know. :)

Well, as I said in my previous entry, I already downloaded the necessary programs to start learning/practicing code.

I had decided on C, but I changed my mind to C+. It’s funny, most websites say you should learn C, then C+, then Java, but I already learned Java in school. From what I’ve read, C++ is much more useful than C, so I’m learning this one.

Today, I learned how to use MS Visual C++ command prompt to open, compile, run (etc.) C++ programs. I also mastered 5 1/2 chapters of an excellent online tutorial I found. The sixth one is about Pointers and my brain is having trouble grasping the concept at 2 am, so I will reread it tomorrow.

All in all, I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot and that I am definitely on my way to programming now! I actually can’t wait to go back to school in the fall and take more computer science courses.

Well, I decided I am going to learn C so that I can learn everything else more easily. I found a WikiBook to study with it, and I’ve downloaded the necessary compiler and text editor.

Tomorrow (hopefully) I am going to learn to use these programs and I am going to start learning some code. I am excited and I hope I can keep this motivation and learn to do the things I want to.

Well, I have tried to learn both computer and web programming in the past. For one thing, I am completing a minor in computer science. I’ve already taken CS 101 and 102, so I know basic Java, but I need a lot more practice and advanced techniques.

I am also trying to teach myself different kinds of web programming from the lovely website, w3schools.com… but I find it difficult to pace myself and I can never come up with projects to practice each specific piece of code they teach you.

I want to learn programming both for job prospects (I know even freelance programmers are in high demand), and because I am trying to start my own nonprofit which is largely web based. Obviously I know that, although I can hire a web programmer, I will give myself a great advantage if I know what I’m doing.