Programming Advice

The past few months my job has involved a fair amount of scripting. I've written some really decent stuff and have enjoyed doing it. As we continue with our major project I foresee being able to program (opposed to just scripting) will be a requirement. A local community college offers a certificate in Computer Science that will provide all the fundamentals for programming. My question is should I hold off on doing language specific stuff until I've completed the certificate? I've been meaning to go full tilt into Python, but worry I will pick up bad habits that could hurt me in the courses I am going to take. I've taken programming course before (Visual Basic, Java, and C++), but the issue I always ran into was I never had a need to use the knowledge thus I didn't pay as much attention as I should have (kicking myself now).

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Vask3n

the_Grinch wrote: »

The past few months my job has involved a fair amount of scripting. I've written some really decent stuff and have enjoyed doing it. As we continue with our major project I foresee being able to program (opposed to just scripting) will be a requirement. A local community college offers a certificate in Computer Science that will provide all the fundamentals for programming. My question is should I hold off on doing language specific stuff until I've completed the certificate? I've been meaning to go full tilt into Python, but worry I will pick up bad habits that could hurt me in the courses I am going to take. I've taken programming course before (Visual Basic, Java, and C++), but the issue I always ran into was I never had a need to use the knowledge thus I didn't pay as much attention as I should have (kicking myself now).

Hey Grinch, do you know what the classes in the curriculum are? I am just wondering if the classes are also going to be language-specific or if you might be doing Java one semester and Python in another. If you have the ability to do the certificate while working full time then I would say go for it! However, at the same time studying programming on your own, language-specific or not is something I feel would be helpful, not detrimental. If anything when you do the courses in the certificate you might have an extra edge.

the_Grinch

Below are the courses:
CSC-105 Fundamentals of Programming
CSC-121 Structured Programming C++
CSC-122 Computer Science I
Computer Programming Elective
MTH 129 Discrete Mathematics
CSC 223 Computer Science II
CSC 240 Computer Organization
Computer Programming Elective

The Electives are language specific (besides the C++ course) and I was going to opt for Java as I am seeing a lot of it at work. Thanks for the advice!

ccnxjr

It may also be constructive.
In learning both concurrently you can compare/contrast the similarities and differences to get a better understanding of programing , as a discipline, works.
You may also find a natural affinity for solving one problem set in , lets say python, and different problem sets in, lets say C++

Of course, if time is an issue, better to focus on one, learn it well and then move on.

If you're going to be quizzed on syntax , or be writing code without the aid of an IDE, that could also complicate things.

You know your learning style best, but don't be afraid to try something new

the_Grinch

Excellent! It will definitely help to know Python with work so I'm going to give it ago. Thanks again!

LinuxNerd

Since python can be ported to mobile devices I think this would be the area of focus if you need to move beyond basic scripting.

Master Of Puppets

I think you are already good with Python. As far as security is concerned, I would think that maybe something like C will be more helpful than Java. A lot of exploits need lower level of understanding and many are built in C. Maybe focusing more on C rather than diving into Java will be more useful for now(unless you have a use for Java at work which would make my argument invalid).

Shdwmage

I enjoy programming. It has always been a lot of fun. I started out many years ago at an internship that taught me structured database design. I've been hooked ever since. I read and build. The concepts took awhile to get down, but my word of advice is to find examples of what you want to do, tear them down, figure out how they work, and then build your own. If you can wrap your mind around object-oriented programming quicker than I did, you will save yourself a lot of headache in programming classes.

UnixGuy

Errmm, I kind of recommend against the certificate in Computer Science. I took heaps of classes with similar name at uni, course like Discrete Math will do nothing to help your programming.

Stick with Python, learn everything, and APPLY the knowledge on the job. Once you mastered one language, you will easily learn the other.

if you're worried about bad habits, keep reading Programming Books, some teach good practices.

the_Grinch

Thanks for all the advice guys! I did some digging just to see what jobs were looking for when it comes to programmers. Seems that most of what I found pointed to experience and a technical degree. I have the technical degree so for now I think I will attempt to learn on my own (as I have for other skills) and see how it goes.