Why Learn Basic Programming Skills?

[traynor]

Originally Posted by DeltaLover

Great book for the beginer!

That was what impressed me so much about Mehrin Hasami's intro to computer science (I think 106) at Stanford (complete videos and much else available free online). It is a natural progression that assumes no prior experience in programming and--much like David Malan's CS50 at Harvard--teaches students how to think first, and write code second:
http://online-learning.harvard.edu/c...mputer-science

"This is CS50x, Harvard University's introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science and the art of programming for majors and non-majors alike, with or without prior programming experience. An entry-level course taught by David J. Malan, CS50x teaches students how to think algorithmically and solve problems efficiently."

[traynor]

A quick overview of why Malan's CS50 is so popular:

http://www.businessinsider.com/why-s...s-cs50-2014-10

[AltonKelsey]

10 Goto 10

That was what I submitted for my Masters in Basic Programming 30 years ago. Still waiting to hear back.


All kidding aside, this guy predates any current efforts to bring programming to the unwashed masses by at least 35 years.

https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Guide-.../dp/0939151235

[traynor]

An interesting read for those familiar with the manipulative aspects of controlled language in discourse communities--especially closed or restricted-access communities.

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/5...wsltr_20170128

"Twitter stopped the bleeding by replacing large pieces of the service’s plumbing with a language called Scala. It should not be surprising that Scala, like OCaml, was developed by academics, has a powerful type system, and prizes correctness and performance even at the expense of the individual programmers’ freedom and delight in their craft.

Much as startups “mature” by finally figuring out where their revenue will come from, they can cleverly use the power of programming languages to manipulate their organizational psychology."

I am quite familiar with the techniques and strategies employed to alter, control, and create various aspects of organizational behavior and corporate identity. This is an interesting spin, because the manipulation is through a secondary channel. Or--as Petty and Cacioppo argued in their Elaboration Likelihood Model (informally known in business as the "Yale Model of Persuasion"--the effect and effectiveness is increased by using a peripheral route rather than a direct route.

[traynor]

Relatively new series on YouTube, Derek Banas, Python. Series of 20-30 minute videos, lots of code examples with (relatively) clear explanations that can be downloaded and studied at leisure. Might be useful if you are trying to learn (or are learning) Python.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU8L...FgYbDpXBWA557U

[traynor]

And for those who have managed to get past the If, Else stage of coding, something to seriously consider:

http://making.duolingo.com/rewriting...wsltr_20170204

Before you immerse yourself totally in Python, Visual Basic, Ruby, or whatever, you might consider dusting past the crowds and going straight for Scala. Doing stuff the "easy way" is not always the most useful decision.

[traynor]

And yet another reason:

https://www.wired.com/2017/02/progra...ue-collar-job/

Avoid being overwhelmed by "creative descriptions" of how incredibly complex programming is to learn. It is actually pretty simple. And for the vast majority of programming jobs in the real world, only relatively modest skills are necessary.

[AltonKelsey]

Programming Skill =25%

Debugging Skill=75%

[traynor]

Originally Posted by AltonKelsey

Programming Skill =25%

Debugging Skill=75%

I agree. Fortunately, debugging is the easy part. While some would claim it is some ultra rare, esoteric, semi-intuitive skill, in most cases it is simply stepping through blocks of code to see what they do (or don't do that they should). I actually enjoy it. Fortunately, there are (and have been since olden times) enough sloppy programmers in the world to keep anyone who does debugging quite busy, and very well compensated.

[traynor]

Great resource:

https://www.syncfusion.com/resources/techportal/ebooks

Free downloads of 100 or so well-written, succinct programming and tech books, most around 100 pages. Not much fluff and wandering aimlessly. Lots of good stuff. Well worth a look. All available in PDF or e-book format. All FREE.

[Actor]

Originally Posted by traynor

I agree. Fortunately, debugging is the easy part. While some would claim it is some ultra rare, esoteric, semi-intuitive skill, in most cases it is simply stepping through blocks of code to see what they do (or don't do that they should). I actually enjoy it. Fortunately, there are (and have been since olden times) enough sloppy programmers in the world to keep anyone who does debugging quite busy, and very well compensated.

My first programming job was strictly debugging other people's work (known in the biz. as "foreign code"). As the new kid on the block I was not allowed to write my own programs from scratch for a year or two.

They say it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. That's five years of full time work. That's how long it took me to really master programming. I learned programming in college and as a scientist/engineer I wrote some code but only as the need arose. Engineers generally write lousy code.

Back in the days before Microsoft and the PC there was no standard operating system. All the engineers had their own machine and they ranged from Commodore 64s to little HP machines and brands that are long forgotten. We also had a mainframe. (I recall paying $100,000 for a 120 megabyte hard drive.) When the PC made its debut about 1983 management decided to get rid of the mainframe and all the guess-what computers, buy everyone a PC and link them together with a network. My job was to take all the software written by the engineers/scientists and port them to the PCs. That kept me busy for 2 or 3 years. Fun work and I was well paid for it.

One program I worked on for a long time was written in Fortran to work on one of the guess-what machines. When I finally got it to work on a PC I was told "Gee, that's great. We never could get it to work on the guess-what."

[traynor]

Originally Posted by Actor

My first programming job was strictly debugging other people's work (known in the biz. as "foreign code"). As the new kid on the block I was not allowed to write my own programs from scratch for a year or two.

They say it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. That's five years of full time work. That's how long it took me to really master programming. I learned programming in college and as a scientist/engineer I wrote some code but only as the need arose. Engineers generally write lousy code.

Back in the days before Microsoft and the PC there was no standard operating system. All the engineers had their own machine and they ranged from Commodore 64s to little HP machines and brands that are long forgotten. We also had a mainframe. (I recall paying $100,000 for a 120 megabyte hard drive.) When the PC made its debut about 1983 management decided to get rid of the mainframe and all the guess-what computers, buy everyone a PC and link them together with a network. My job was to take all the software written by the engineers/scientists and port them to the PCs. That kept me busy for 2 or 3 years. Fun work and I was well paid for it.

One program I worked on for a long time was written in Fortran to work on one of the guess-what machines. When I finally got it to work on a PC I was told "Gee, that's great. We never could get it to work on the guess-what."

My first exposure to computers was in college, WAY back. It was called "data processing" and involved keypunching COBOL syntax into a stack of Hollerith cards, to be fed into the college's IBM360--that took up the whole wall of the computer room. It was great fun. I got the only A in the class because the final was writing a specific code function, with the instructor's "perfect program" as a benchmark. I duplicated his best in fewer steps.

[traynor]

http://en.rocketnews24.com/2017/02/2...wsltr_20170304

No, you are not "too old to learn new technology."

[traynor]

By far the best book I have ever found for those who would like to learn basic programming skills, have little or no previous experience, and (usually) fall asleep listening to some bozo blahblahblah on YouTube:

"Practical Programming, 2nd Edition

This book is for anyone who wants to understand computer programming. You'll learn to program in a language that' s used in millions of smartphones, tablets, and PCs. You'll code along with the book, writing programs to solve real-world problems as you learn the fundamentals of programming using Python 3. You'll learn about design, algorithms, testing, and debugging, and come away with all the tools you need to produce quality code.

In this second edition, we've updated almost all the material, incorporating the lessons we've learned over the past five years of teaching Python to people new to programming. You don't need any programming experience to get started. First, you'll get a detailed introduction to Python and to programming. You'll find out exactly what happens when your programs are executed. Through real-world examples, you'll learn how to work with numbers, text, big data sets, and files. Then you'll see how to create and use your own data types."

Best of all, you can download a pdf version FREE, from:

http://it-ebooks.info/book/3751/

[mikesal57]

Originally Posted by traynor

By far the best book I have ever found for those who would like to learn basic programming skills, have little or no previous experience, and (usually) fall asleep listening to some bozo blahblahblah on YouTube:

"Practical Programming, 2nd Edition

This book is for anyone who wants to understand computer programming. You'll learn to program in a language that' s used in millions of smartphones, tablets, and PCs. You'll code along with the book, writing programs to solve real-world problems as you learn the fundamentals of programming using Python 3. You'll learn about design, algorithms, testing, and debugging, and come away with all the tools you need to produce quality code.

In this second edition, we've updated almost all the material, incorporating the lessons we've learned over the past five years of teaching Python to people new to programming. You don't need any programming experience to get started. First, you'll get a detailed introduction to Python and to programming. You'll find out exactly what happens when your programs are executed. Through real-world examples, you'll learn how to work with numbers, text, big data sets, and files. Then you'll see how to create and use your own data types."

Best of all, you can download a pdf version FREE, from:

http://it-ebooks.info/book/3751/

Having problems getting PDF...How do you get it?

Thxs