On Wed, 2004-06-30 at 05:39, Rod wrote:
Actually, at the moment it is possible that you wrote this message then,
but we both know that your clock is borked...
(At this stage I could start making jokes about why bother coding if you
can't set the time, but I'm too happy that you're thinking about coding,
that I won't.)
(I'm also drinking coffee at the moment, so I'm smiling, rather than
snarling :-)
> Anyone know of a good resource to learn how to code? I have been reading up
> on C at the moment, then hopefully progressing to C++ at some stage (got to
> have goals!). Books or online are welcome!
I started a response yesterday and deleted it, because it wasn't being
constructive, but I've got to share at least one thought from that
message, I'll keep it short:
Yikes!
What I mean by that is learning to code and C are not things that in my
opinion go hand-in-hand. I saw the other suggestions for Java and my
response to that would be:
yikes!
The observant ones here would note a slightly less distaste for that as
a place to start.
Now, the hard thing for me is to write this email and not put 24 years
of experience into it, but also try to encourage you to continue. I'll
try that by making some observations, which I'm sure some on this list
will disagree with:
* The more you write software, the better you get at it.
* When you first solve a problem, your solution is based on your
understanding of the problem at the time. After you've solved
the problem, you are just as likely to find a better solution.
* Every language is the same, some are more the same than others.
* Coding is not a skill, designing is a skill. Coding is a tool.
* When I started I read everything there was on BASIC. I wrote
software in that language for about a year. The next tool was
6502 Assembly, then PASCAL, then MODULA-2.
* C++ is a hack on C to attempt to make it more palatable, but it
isn't.
* Learning about object oriented approaches will broaden your
horizon, but you should understand that it is only another tool
to solve problems.
* Starting with an interpreted language, like PHP, Lingo or BASIC
will filter out a lot of the noise in the learning process
related to libraries, linking, compiling and making.
* The more you read, the easier it gets.
* There are a multitude of university courses that supposedly
teach you the things you want to know. I haven't seen one that I
like.
I'm not completely happy with the level of completeness of the above,
but I'm loathe to spend more time. There are excellent manuals for PHP
on-line and I'd recommend going through the tutorial and seeing if you
like what you read.
I'm not saying that PHP is the final answer in programming, but it is a
place to start that won't require you to jump through too many hoops to
get started.
The on-line IRC channel for php is at irc.freenode.net, and if you do
get there, I'm a regular visitor [owh], and the group is very welcoming
to new faces.
Go forth and read!
Onno Benschop
Connected via Optus B3 at S27°52'30" - E151°16'25" (Millmerran, QLD)
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