Learning Programming

Bobie8 · 12 Feb 2017 at 22:14

+1 for udacity plenty of free material for android app development

https://www.udacity.com/courses/android

a66as · 13 Feb 2017 at 00:23

A problem i have found with videos is, that some of the content can get a bit boring to follow, and then they give you exercises that you have no clue on how to do. Ofcourse everyone is different so it may suit you.

Trying to learn C# myself so if anyone find a good online course in udemy for example then let me know.

Also does anyone know what the purpose of parsing is? for example:

String Input = Console.ReadLine();
Int MovieChoice = Int.Parse(Input); //Or this could be Convert.ToInt32(Input);

is it to convert the string to an integer so the user can input as a number?

Gzero · 13 Feb 2017 at 01:24

a66as;30497586 said:
A problem i have found with videos is, that some of the content can get a bit boring to follow, and then they give you exercises that you have no clue on how to do. Ofcourse everyone is different so it may suit you.

Trying to learn C# myself so if anyone find a good online course in udemy for example then let me know.

Also does anyone know what the purpose of parsing is? for example:

String Input = Console.ReadLine();
Int MovieChoice = Int.Parse(Input); //Or this could be Convert.ToInt32(Input);

is it to convert the string to an integer so the user can input as a number?

It reads the line from the console as a string. But MovieChoice is of type int, you therefore need a a way to read Input as an int, that is what Parse and Convert will try to do (with no error handling).

a66as · 13 Feb 2017 at 01:31

Gzero;30497634 said:
It reads the line from the console as a string. But MovieChoice is of type int, you therefore need a a way to read Input as an int, that is what Parse and Convert will try to do (with no error handling).

Ok thanks

FoxEye · 13 Feb 2017 at 01:39

Do any of these place actually teach you how to program *well*? Because anybody can "learn programming". The basic concepts are really quite simple.

But like anyone can write a book in their mother tongue, and not everybody can or does write a best-seller, so I gather it is with programming. I'm familiar with a number of languages but never wrote a program that wasn't a **** sandwich

Which of these courses teach you more than just the basics; which of them teach you how to be a good programmer? Or does that just come with taking on (and completing) enough work so that you "get good" eventually?

Bobie8 · 13 Feb 2017 at 02:08

FoxEye;30497645 said:
Do any of these place actually teach you how to program *well*? Because anybody can "learn programming". The basic concepts are really quite simple.

But like anyone can write a book in their mother tongue, and not everybody can or does write a best-seller, so I gather it is with programming. I'm familiar with a number of languages but never wrote a program that wasn't a **** sandwich

Which of these courses teach you more than just the basics; which of them teach you how to be a good programmer? Or does that just come with taking on (and completing) enough work so that you "get good" eventually?

Programming is like any other craft. You'll learn to program well by programming. Every time you get stuck or dont know how to do something you look it up, consult the documentation or speak to someone more advanced than you. There are resources out there that label themselves as intermediate or advanced. But I dont think any of them will make you a good programmer, that will come with time.

FoxEye · 13 Feb 2017 at 02:20

Bobie8;30497660 said:
Programming is like any other craft. You'll learn to program well by programming. Every time you get stuck or dont know how to do something you look it up, consult the documentation or speak to someone more advanced than you. There are resources out there that label themselves as intermediate or advanced. But I dont think any of them will make you a good programmer, that will come with time.

Trouble with me is, I have an idea, and immediately start making it. Then after a couple days or weeks I look at what I've done, and it's a complete mess. I already hate it because it's not elegant and barely works, then I get demoralised and shelve whatever it is I was working on

So for me it's about a lot more than just knowing the basics of a language. It's about how (or not) you can manage your own work. Which I'm terrible at, because I'm terrible at planning things.

Maccy · 13 Feb 2017 at 08:33

I'm currently using Treehouse to learn Java; not sure if I like it at the mo as I'm finding it a bit slow and the videos are a bit immature/cheesey so I might look for other options.
That Core Java for the Impatient looks a good buy though...

android-fan · 13 Feb 2017 at 11:13

Surprised no one has mentioned Pluralsight, the quality is superb, lots of high material.

The have "learning paths", which give you an initial test to gauge your current level, and then provide a path to becoming an "expert" in that area.

Not free, but I feel the quality justifies the cost.

Bobie8 · 13 Feb 2017 at 11:15

FoxEye;30497668 said:
Trouble with me is, I have an idea, and immediately start making it. Then after a couple days or weeks I look at what I've done, and it's a complete mess. I already hate it because it's not elegant and barely works, then I get demoralised and shelve whatever it is I was working on

So for me it's about a lot more than just knowing the basics of a language. It's about how (or not) you can manage your own work. Which I'm terrible at, because I'm terrible at planning things.

Yea refactoring your code is a big part of progressing and becoming a good programmer. Its good practice to go over old code and programs and see how you can improve them. In the short term though you have to learn to be satisfied with OK code. There are many solutions to programming problems and if your constantly looking for the "best" solution your going to slow yourself down. In my opinion as long as your code solves the problem you set out to solve then its a success. Chances are you'll have a eureka moment when working on something else and you'll realize how you could have done things better.

Mr^B · 13 Feb 2017 at 11:54

a66as;30497586 said:
A problem i have found with videos is, that some of the content can get a bit boring to follow, and then they give you exercises that you have no clue on how to do. Ofcourse everyone is different so it may suit you.

Trying to learn C# myself so if anyone find a good online course in udemy for example then let me know.

Also does anyone know what the purpose of parsing is? for example:

String Input = Console.ReadLine();
Int MovieChoice = Int.Parse(Input); //Or this could be Convert.ToInt32(Input);

is it to convert the string to an integer so the user can input as a number?

Console.ReadLine() only returns a string, so if you need the user to be able to enter "1" and have that stored in "MovieChoice" as the integer 1, you'll need to convert/parse that string into an integer.

Int.Parse and Convert.ToInt32 do very similar things, the only difference is that if "Input" is null, Convert.ToInt32 will return 0, whereas Int.Parse will throw an exception.

Bobie8 · 13 Feb 2017 at 12:20

I dont know C# but just to add to what Mr^B was saying.

Most languages return input from the user as a string and depending on whether a value is a string or an integer can yield 2 different results.

Here is a simple python example.

Code:

apples = input("Please enter how many apples you have: ")
oranges = input("Please enter how many Oranges you have: ")

total_fruit = apples + oranges

print(total_fruit)

Please enter how many apples you have: 5
Please enter how many Oranges you have: 5
55

As you can see the values are concatenated rather than summed.

Code:

apples = input("Please enter how many apples you have: ")
oranges = input("Please enter how many Oranges you have: ")

total_fruit = [B]int([/B]apples[B])[/B] + [B]int([/B]oranges[B])[/B]

print(total_fruit)

Please enter how many apples you have: 5
Please enter how many Oranges you have: 5
10

Here the values have been converted to integers so are summed together by the interpreter.

Chaos · 13 Feb 2017 at 15:13

If you are just starting out I would skip Udemy and do the free courses from Universities.

Harvard does an Introduction To Programming And Computer Science, this uses C and Python as the languages but its more about problem solving than the language.

https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-computer-science-harvardx-cs50x#!

MIT does Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python -

https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-computer-science-mitx-6-00-1x-9#!

The University Of Helsinki does a beginner Java course -

http://mooc.fi/courses/2013/programming-part-1/

dowie · 13 Feb 2017 at 15:20

Chaos;30499299 said:
If you are just starting out I would skip Udemy and do the free courses from Universities.

^^^ this, I don't understand why people are paying for courses when there is so much high quality education available for free...

first three courses here for example - first one uses Java and the other two C++ but they're also focused on teaching programming concepts in general

https://see.stanford.edu/Course

AndyCr15 · 13 Feb 2017 at 18:11

For me, the level the free ones I found only went through very basic stuff. I could assign variables, do some things with them, set some arrays and print things out. The two free ones I looked at, stopped there.

A few people mentioned Udemy, looked to be highly thought of, so for £15 I'#m happy with it so far.

Probably my impatience, if I'd waited a few days maybe these free ones above would suffice too, but I've done it now, wasn't expensive, so no issue.

How about certifications and such? Do these matter, or if I'm heading towards Android Development will it be more about a portfolio of apps?

If they are handy, what Certifications and how do you work towards them?

dowie · 13 Feb 2017 at 18:28

I don't think certificates are particularly useful for programming.

Mr^B · 13 Feb 2017 at 20:07

I have an MCSD.Net.

It's utterly worthless but cost the company I was working for at the time an absolute fortune.

I don't even put it on my CV.

AHarvey · 13 Feb 2017 at 20:18

dowie;30499948 said:
I don't think certificates are particularly useful for programming.

I've said the same before but it seems that it's country specific.

India for example really do hold certification in high regard, whereas the USA and UK don't really seem to.

dowie · 14 Feb 2017 at 20:30

I'm not sure how that is relevant to anyone? Bit of a backwards move to seek work in India unless you're going over there as an expat in which case you've likely already got a job over here and it still doesn't apply.

AHarvey · 15 Feb 2017 at 00:58

How can you agree with someone, expand on it and they still get funny about it...